May4

5 Great Mother’s Day Gifts Ideas

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5 Great Mother’s Day Gifts Ideas

1. Godiva Chocolate in a FEED bag! What could be a better combination than chocolate, philanthropy and fashion?! Each FEED 10 bag provides 10 school meals for children, and women in Liberia handcraft each one.

 

 

 

2. Anything Tory Burch, but  Shop for a cause makes spending all that money feel better! All purchases from the Tory Burch Shop for a Cause store donate a portion to the Tory Burch Foundation  which provides economic opportunities to women and their families in the United States.

 

3. For the eco-conscious mom who loves to entertain, this beautiful Sparq cheese plate is made from re-purposed soapstone.  Soapstone absorbs and retains various temperatures, so it functions as a warmer to keep appetizers warm, or a cooler that keeps cheese plates or sushi cool. Just stick it in the oven or freezer before setting out your food. This one was sent to me to try out and I totally love it, for both its form and function!

 

4. Felix Doolittle stationary Products: You will find the most beautiful designs in book plates, food labels, stationary and note cards. It is just hard to choose one design!

 

 

 

 

 

5.Sentimental Jewelry like the birds nest necklace from uncommon goods, or Heather Moore charms that can be personalized are always a hit.

 

 

 

Don’t forget the option of a homemade gift; those are always my favorite ones as a mom!

 

*  I received a free Sparq soapstone thermal appetizer plate for reviewing purposes. (and I totally love it! Thank you Sparq!)  All my opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources.

May2

Camel Auction, KSA Part 3

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Camel Auction, KSA Part 3

The dust from the road mushroomed up around the car as we drove on, Batil and Yahya could still not find the camel auction for which we searched.  It was held daily outside of Riyadh within the labyrinth of camel corrals we now passed through.  They were deeply apologetic, but really it was fine because, despite the fact that earlier that day at the souq we had purchased camel saddles, and had just bought a saddle bag from a woman selling camel accessories, they were just to bring home as souvenirs.   It’s not like we were actually going to bid on a camel that day anyway.   My husband and I were already transfixed and entertained by our surroundings. As far as the eye could see the camel corrals surrounded us. They each held anywhere from one to ten camels and the desert stretched into the infinity beyond.

Our friends Batil and Yahya

To Batil and Yahya, (who both worked for the hospital where my husband’s conference was being held and were kind enough to take us to see the camels we had asked about), this trip must have seemed mundane.  Where as just the process of driving out from the center of a bustling modern metropolis, through the construction filled surrounding suburbs, that then suddenly gave way to desert and camel territory, to us was amazing.  The camels in Saudi Arabia are Dromedaries with one hump.  In our eyes the camels are exotic and humorous creatures, and we were thoroughly entertained just observing them as we passed by.  To Saudi Arabians camels are as common as a horse is to Americans.

Batil explained that the white ones were particularly valuable and a really good camel can be worth as much as almost a million dollars.  In the KSA camel racing is a form of entertainment, and a great source of pride to the trainer and owner of the winning camel.  Spectators come from around the world for the big races.  In the camel market men wearing the traditional long robe called a thobe, led small packs of camels through the path.   Baby camels trying to make a run for it had to be chased down by these guys, and they reminded me of running after my children as toddlers when they would make a break for it (except I didn’t have that long stick they used to thwack them back into line).  Finally we gave up our search for the auction, happy with what we had been able to see of the coral area itself.  We pulled over at a roadside camel milk stand outside of the market to pose with the camels for pictures and I squealed as they sniffed my headscarf and neck while I tried to smile for the camera.

Doesn't it look like the camel is smiling for the camera!?

This was a very friendly bunch, and it turns out camels can be friendly and docile creatures if treated well. They have been domesticated in the Arabian Peninsula for thousands of years and are ingrained in the culture of the region.  We didn’t get to bid on a camel after all, but loved our glimpse of the Saudi Arabian camel culture.

Apr25

Malaria,Garlic, and DEET

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Malaria,Garlic, and DEET

Caroline

We were given a pharmacopeia of Malarial drugs and told to pack 100% DEET insect repellent for our 6 month overland trip to Africa years ago.  It worked pretty well, until we hit Sub-Saharan Africa that is (where the Malaria is really a problem).  There we found the mosquitoes laughed at our DEET, and feasted with abandon on our flesh.   Our driver, who had been this route before, laughed at our flailing dances as we slapped at the insects.  He told us the one sure preventative he had found to work, and it wasn’t pretty, but miraculously effective. We each ate a whole clove of garlic a day, and that seemed to keep the mosquitoes away.  Go figure! This was at the point in our trip when we were crossing through remote areas where we went for almost a month without a proper shower. We were camping the whole way and would resort to standing out in the occasional torrential rainstorm with shampoo and a bar of soap to do the best we could.  Scientist theorize that the garlic oil exuded from the skin after eating garlic forms a natural repellent barrier to mosquitoes, possibly obscuring the scent that attracts them.  This may be where the garlic repelling vampires comes from.  As you can imagine we stank something terrible, but since we were all in the same shape it didn’t really seem to bother us.

About a year later, my friend Caroline who had been on the Africa trip, and now lived in Washington D.C., became very ill.  Her fever was extremely high, but then the next day it was completely gone, and she felt fine.

Caroline in Africa

This repeated itself for a few days before she went to the doctor, who was also perplexed.  I can’t remember exactly how they came to the diagnosis of Malaria, but when they did the teaching hospital was apparently excited to have a live case to present it’s residents. She was treated and completely cured, the only lasting effect being a great story to be told.

Although malaria was eradicated in the U.S. in the 1950s, cases do appear every year mostly brought back by travelers.  Mosquitoes here still pose the slight threat of encephalitis and West Nile virus which can both be deadly.  I have avoided the 100% DEET since my Africa trip, but that’s not to say I can get away with eating a clove of garlic a day either. I would keep much more than just the mosquitoes away if I did!  As a mother I like to avoid chemicals as much as possible and the American academy of Pediatrics recommends that repellents used on children contain no more the 10% DEET. Some of their examples are:

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

OFF! Skintastic for kids pump/spray has 5%DEET

OFF! Skintastic Fresh Scent Lotion 7.5% DEET

Just for Kids pump/spray 5% DEET

Repel Camp Lotion for Kids Lotion 10% DEET

Above all else, I prefer to use all natural products on my children such as Brittanie’s Thyme Outdoor Harmony Organic Bug Spray which can be found at Whole Foods or ordered online. Brittanie’s Thyme was kind enough to send me a sample of their bug spray and bug bite relief (both organic) to review in my quest for organic products to use on my family.  I like the fact that this is a company owned by women committed to organic, safe, sustainable and socially responsible products.  Though the scent is very strong when first applied, it is that which keeps the bugs at bay.  The bug bite relief is soothing and has natural anti-itching and antibacterial properties as well.

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

 

Unfortunately outside of this country a child still dies from Malaria every minute.  Today has been declared World Malaria Day in an effort to bring attention to a preventable and curable disease who’s victims are most often under 5 years old. The simple step of distribution of  insecticide-treated bed nets can save lives.

World Malaria Day 2012 #endmalaria

www.malarianomore.org/minute

 

Watch the brief video below for more information:

click to watch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*  I received a free sample of Brittanie’s Thyme Organic Bug Spray and Organic Bug Bite Relief for reviewing purposes.   All my opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources.

Apr23

The Power of ONE; Bringing Vaccines to Ghana

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The Power of ONE; Bringing Vaccines to Ghana

In the developing world more than 7.6 children die each year before they reach the age of 5 due to preventable or treatable diseases. Many of these deaths could be prevented through simple, cost-effective vaccines that fight diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, and polio.  Here in the U.S.A. we take the availability of vaccines for granted, but for millions of parents across the world they are simply inaccessible.

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

Today ONE.org is on the ground in Ghana with a team of Bloggers from ONE Moms to document the inoculation of children there for the first time with vaccines to prevent pneumonia and diarrhea.  The White House credits ONE and it’s supporters with pushing for monetary commitments to help fund the GAVI campaign  (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations) last year. By 2015 millions of lives will be saved by actions you may have taken to support the campaign.  All this goes to once again prove the power of one.

You can follow along on the trip on Facebook and Twitter (#ONEMoms @ONECampaign #vaccineswork #GAVIAlliance) and of course the ONE Moms Blog to get the latest information from the field.  You can also follow the blogs and tweets of those traveling with us to Ghana:

 

Ana Roca Castro, Babble Voices @AnaRC @BabbleEditors

Amy Graff, BabyCenter, @bayareamoms

C.C. Chapman, CC Chapman/Passion Hit TV @cc_chapman                                  

Rich Galen, Mullings @richgalen

Bryant Shannon, Life In Rupees, @BShannon