Apr26

VOX Populi With Sean Astin Launches Season 2 On TradioV

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VOX Populi With Sean Astin Launches Season 2 On TradioV

VoxPopuli - Promotional Graphic

Disclosure: This post was written in partnership with Sean Astin to promote his radio show. I received a Thank You gift in return for doing so, as always all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Back when I worked in film production I worked for a while on some political TV commercials. I had never been very political, but after that job, I actually became apolitical for a period of time. I was totally turned off by the negative way in which the campaigns had being conducted and became entirely disenchanted by politics.

Something funny happened when I became a parent though. I found I had strong opinions on some matters, especially when they impacted my children, and I began to tune into politics again a tiny bit.  Concerned with global health, one of the issues that broke my heart was the thought that mothers in developing countries were losing their babies to vaccine preventable diseases.  I became a United Nations Foundation Shot@Life Champion due to that empathy for other mothers and children around the world.   During my first Shot@Life Summit I found myself, quite by surprise, on Capitol hill visiting my state representatives, advocating for global vaccines. I had somehow become an accidental advocate.  It was that process that really engaged me, and taught me that my representatives want to hear from their constituents, and if I had an issue that I cared about they would listen.  I still am not a fan when politics get heated, I prefer reasonable open-minded discussions, and that is why I was happy to help promote Sean Astin’s second season of his political radio show Vox Populi on TradioV.Sean Astin Radio

The name Sean Astin may ring a bell, though it might seem out of context to think of the actor from The Goonies, Lord of the Rings, and Rudy in the political arena, but this is the second season of his political radio show for “the occasionally interested people” and it launches on May 1st on a new network, TradioV.   Sean’s interest in politics and representing the people’s voice comes from his genuine desire for people to understand what is happening with the government, even when it seems too complicated. Whether you are or aren’t interested in politics, he offers an intellectual discussion and doesn’t just want to be heard, he wants to hear the people and their concerns, all while keeping it civil.

If you are like me, wanting to stay informed and engaged in what’s going on, but out of the fray, then this may just be the exact type of political discourse you have been looking for. You can check out  Sean’s site ,  and listen to the broadcast premier on May 1st. Follow Sean on Twitter, at #RaiseYourVox,  Facebook , YouTube, and catch the broadcast every Thursday from 12-2 PT on TradioV.

ENMNetwork disclosure

Apr25

A Way To #HonorYourMom This Mother’s Day

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A Way To #HonorYourMom This Mother’s Day
Mom

Photo of my sister-in-law, my mother, and me.

Mother’s Day  is coming up on May 11th, and I have to admit that it brings a tinge of  bitter-sweetness for me.  My own mother passed away just three months before I first became a mother myself, so of course I think of her, and miss her on that day of the year more than all others.    I say just a tinge though, because the bitter of  missing her is nearly obliterated by the sweet immense joy, chaos, and love my own four children bring to me each day.  Still, for that reason Mother’s Day is an emotional one for me.  As anyone who has lost a parent knows, it doesn’t matter how old you are, or how prepared you believed you were. It is an acutely felt loss, where the umbrella of the generation before you is closed, exposing you to the world in a new unsheltered way.  Granted I was an adult when she passed away, and so I am grateful for the thirty-three years of my life that I had her, I know how fortunate I am to have had that.

Children need their mother; they need their mother’s love and protection, the devotion above all else that only a mother gives.  I know I was blessed to have grown up with that, but I don’t think I knew how much I truly needed her until I gave birth to my own first child. Like most of us I had just lovingly taken for granted that she was there. Quite suddenly when I gave birth to my own daughter, I understood.  As a new mother I felt I needed her more than ever, really it was not that I needed her more, but that I wanted her more than ever.  It is impossible to register what your own mother went through with pregnancy, birthing, nursing, caring, and nurturing, the scope of physical, and emotional outpouring that motherhood demands, until you are in the midst of it yourself.

Photo by Michelle Amarante

With my own little people , Photo by Michelle Amarante

I can no longer express that gratitude to her in person, but I think, and hope that I did well enough when she was still alive. Instead I know that I can honor her by being the best possible mother that I can be to my own children. I try to pass on her legacy of love, and compassion.  That is why I think Samahope’s #HonorYourMom campaign resonates with me so deeply. It gives me the opportunity to honor my own mother while giving another mother the opportunity for her children to grow up under the umbrella of her love by providing a safe birth.  So if you are thinking about ways to #HonorYourMom that would be truly meaningful this Mother’s Day, check out the Samahope #HonorYourMom campaign page and see the beautiful tributes that have already been posted.  Here is how it works:

HYM Screenshot

1. Pick a photo of you & your Mom – Upload a childhood picture of you and Mom on the #HonorYourMom website, and write what makes her so amazing to you. (You can also add an Instagram video.)
2. Donate in your Mother’s Name – Make a donation to support safe births and life-changing medical treatments for other moms in need.
3. Your mother will get a gift she’ll cherish – A special dedication page is created for your mom, and she’ll get a personalized gift in the mail for Mother’s Day.

 

Those of us fortunate enough to know our mother’s love, and to be able to pass that on to our own children, can’t take those gifts for granted. Too many mothers still die in childbirth; too many children are forced to grow up without their mother.  This can often cause them to end up stuck in the cycle of extreme poverty. No mother should lose their own life-giving birth, and no child should have to grow up without their mother’s love. Samahope hopes to provide 1,000 safe births to mothers in need with the #HonorYourMom campaign. What better way to honor mothers everywhere this Mother’s Day.

 

Apr10

The Kampala Children’s Center For Hope & Wellness

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The Kampala Children’s Center For Hope & Wellness
From http://www.kampalahope.org

From http://www.kampalahope.org

The DeCesare family could never have imagined how greatly their lives would be impacted when they agreed to host kids from Uganda on tour with the Destiny Aftrica choir last year.   By the end of their stay the family had fallen in love, and gained new insights into how different the kids lives back home in Uganda were.  Today they find themselves spearheading an effort to raise $70,000.00 to establish a medical center for the kids at their home in the Kampala Children’s Center.   The members of the Destiny Africa choir were all orphans adopted into a unique village called the Kampala Children’s Center.

The DeCesare’s mission began when they heard the news that one of the children in the choir, Martine, had died unnecessarily from preventable causes back home in Uganda. She simply could not get the healthcare she needed or be transported to a medical facility quickly enough to be saved.  This was a heartbreaking event that highlighted the fact that clearly a community filled with so many children needed access to medical care on hand. The Kampala Children’s Center also serves as a school to the broader surrounding villages and their children. In Uganda, Malaria, respiratory infections, and diarrhea are the primary causes of death among children. The highest percentage of kids who die from these causes are under the age of five. This is an area of the world where more than 940,000 Ugandans have HIV/AIDS, leaving more than 1.2 million children who have lost one or both parents to this disease. The value of a quality medical facility providing much-needed health services to the Kampala Children’s Centre, and its surrounding communities, can not be emphasized enough.

The DeCesare’s quickly assembled a team of volunteers and set their goal to raise $70,000 by June of 2014 so that construction on the medical facility could begin right away.  As of today, through fundraising efforts and tickets sold to an upcoming Gala Event on May 15, 2014 at The Newport Yachting Center, ground on the facility has been broken, and they are a third of the way to their fundraising goal.  They are a truly incredible couple, dynamically talented, and a testament to what can be achieved by just two people when they set their mind to it.

DeCesare Collage

The Kampala Children’s Center was founded by Arnold Muwonge and his wife after initially taking in several local children who had been left orphans by the AIDs epidemic in Uganda.  When more and more kids began to show up on their doorstep needing food and shelter, he knew that he had to establish a place for them. Children are adopted by the Kampala Children’s Center to live in group homes on campus with a den mother.  In this way they become part of the greater family of the center.  The Destiny Africa choir began with the children routinely singing with their den mothers, and coming to realize that others might want to hear their music too. Through music, dance and the art of choir the kids share their story of hope and the ability to change lives. Through their musical tour  the Destiny Africa children have captured the hearts of many along the way. This is how they came into the DeCesare’s life, impacting a change to their lives for sure.

 The rebel war in northen Uganda left over 1.5 million displaced people. Meanwhile, HIV/AIDS claims the lives of thousands, leaving many children orphaned and struggling for survival. Desperate poverty traps many living in the city centre slums. Children are suffering from malnutrition and are left vulnerable to child labour and violent physical and sexual abuse. These are the children we are reaching out to help.-Kampala Children’s Center

If you would like to be part of this incredible project to improve the lives of children who have been through so much, here are some ways you can help:

Click here to buy tickets to the event in Newport Rhode Islandhopectr copy
Click here to donate to the Kampala Children’s Center For hope & Wellness
Click here to learn more and see the beautiful website Nick DeCesare built

You can contact Leah DeCesare through the Mother’s Circle contact page or through the Kampala Hope contact page with any questions.

The Kampala Children’s Centre from Nick DeCesare on Vimeo.

Apr4

USAID Launches Global Development Lab

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USAID Launches Global Development Lab

As we close in on 2015 the Millennium Development Goals will hit their deadline. USAID has just launched the Global Development Lab, which takes MDG # 8, to  Develop A Global Partnership For Development, into the next set of goals to be reached by 2030. USAID has partnered with 32 companies and organizations to reach the mission:

To discover, test, and scale breakthrough development innovations to solve development challenges faster and cheaper in support of U.S. foreign policy and development goals and to accelerate the transformation of USAID as the world’s premier development agency.-USAID Global Development Lab Mission Statement

I am excited to see the amazing partners involved, including my neighbors Plan, and Nike, as well as some of my other favorites, Save The Children, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Johns Hopkins University (my husband’s an alum). The lab launched Thursday April 3rd,  and I can’t wait to see the breakthroughs a collaboration of this magnitude is sure to bring! Watch the video below to find out what it’s all about.

Mar29

#March4Nutrition: The Critical Role of Nutrition From Pregnancy To The Age of Two

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#March4Nutrition: The Critical Role of Nutrition From Pregnancy To The Age of Two

Infographic-Power-of-1000-Days-FINAL copy

Searching for food pantry donations to add to my shopping cart, I realized that as much as some of the the food I’d choose would fill bellies, it might not provide much actual nutrition. I had to switch modes from trying to find pantry items with shelf life, to pantry items with nutritious value.  Hunger and nutrition go hand in hand, but are really two separate elements of the same problem. Nutrition has been found to be especially critical during the period through pre-natal care up to a child’s second birthday when human development is most rapid.  

March is  National Nutrition Month, and the 1,000 Days Partnership organized an online #March4Nutrition to raise awareness about the critical role of nutrition in the 1,000 day window from a woman’s pregnancy to the child’s second birthday.  Healthy mothers have healthy babies, who in turn grow up to be healthy mothers who have healthy babies themselves.  The impact of good nutrition early in life can not be stressed enough. Good nutrition has long reaching positive impact that carries through into the child’s future.  When a children grow up to lead healthy and productive lives, families,  communities, and ultimately countries are positively impacted, and can break the cycle of poverty.

Leading scientists, economists and health experts agree that improving nutrition during the critical 1,000 day window is one of the best investments we can make to achieve lasting progress in global health and development.-www.Thousanddays.org

This months campaign broke down the 1,000 day period into stages, highlighting important aspects at each point.

  • Pre-Pregnancy to Birth: During pregnancy not getting proper nutrition can have a detrimental effect on the healthy growth and development of the child.  This increases the risk of death as  a newborn and make the baby more likely to suffer from cognitive delays or physical defects, and possibly chronic health problems later in life.
  • Infancy, Birth To Six Months: Great emphasis is put on the importance of breastfeeding during this time period, and the need to support mothers to do so. According to The World Health Organization breast milk, which is readily available and affordable, is the ideal food for a newborn. It provides both nutrients and antibodies that can help protect infants from common illnesses.
  • Toddlerhood, Six months To Two Years Old: At this stage continuing breastfeeding if possible, and adding in nutritious foods, plenty of water, and maintaining good hygiene can have life long health benefits.

Malnutrition is a global issue, and the leading cause of death of young children throughout the world. It happens here too, according to my local food bank 1 in 3 customers they serve will be children.  Having learned what I did this month throughout the #March4Nutrition, as I finished my shopping the other day I was sure to add in protein like Peanut butter, tuna fish, and beans. I chose whole grain products and canned fruits, and vegetables. Although I’m aware it is just a drop in the bucket, I believe every child deserves a chance to grow to their full potential. Raising awareness and donating what I can is how I can put my beliefs into action.

 Learn more by following the #March4Nutrition hashtag with @The1,000DaysPartnership if you believe that every child, everywhere, deserves the right nutrition to grow, learn and thrive.

global teamI wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health. Our Motto: Individually we are all powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.