Jennifer Burden WV Quote 500As I prepared last October to head out as part of a Shot@Life delegation to Uganda, information was being chatted, e-mailed, phoned and texted to me:

“Take the malaria pills. Don’t forget to start them 2 days before your trip!”

“Get a squishy hat that can tie easily to your bag.”

“Get the typhoid vaccine.”

“Brush your teeth with bottled water!”

“Your kids will be fine while you’re gone. It’s only one week!”

“Have a backpack or adjustable bag, so it doesn’t hit the ground if you are somewhere that you’ll need to squat.”

“What shoes are you going to wear?  How about these: (sends link to shoes).”

“If your stomach gets sick, don’t make the mistake my dad made.  Take the antibiotic pills!”

“I may be able to come meet you from Kenya!”

When I told the World Moms Blog contributors that I would soon be on my way to Uganda by invitation of the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign last October, they were incredibly excited and supportive.  We have been advocating for life-saving vaccinations for children in the developing world for over a year now, and I had the chance to observe some of those programs in action.

What I also soon realized was that I had direct access to some of the most traveled, international moms on the planet as I prepared for my trip (extra special thanks to Dee Harlow in Laos!).  They shot out great advice at me, left and right, and I couldn’t be more appreciative.

World Moms Blog writes from over 20 countries on motherhood, culture, social good and human rights.  We now have an international volunteer editing team of over 15 mothers, too.  Without all their time and dedication to our mission, the website couldn’t be what it is today. Their dedication was recognized in a major way when World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman in their “Top 100 Websites for Women 2012.” And even more recently, our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan of the Alchemist’s Blog,  won a BlogHER International Activist Blogging Scholarship and will be presenting at the BlogHER ’13 Conference in Chicago this July.

Our mission statement reads:

▪             Connecting mothers around the world through their stories.

▪             Promoting understanding and tolerance of other cultures, religions and nationalities.

▪             Encouraging discussion of important motherhood, parenting, cultural and human rights topics.

▪             Creating a support system for mothers via the web site.

▪             Helping to promote our writers.

▪             To strive to create opportunities for social good to make the lives of mothers and children better around the planet.

Spending over 2 years growing World Mom Blog has turned into a big sistership behind the scenes.  We come together in support when times are tough for a fellow mom, for example, pregnancy loss, sickness, death of a family member, etc.  I expected we’d be doing a lot of writing, but I didn’t realize that it could all get so profoundly personal. This global motherhood connection has been the biggest bonus of it all, and sharing our stories with our readers.

As I headed out last October on one of the most exciting, rewarding and motivating journeys of my life, I realized how many women around the globe were with me in spirit on this journey.  And I’m grateful for how much amazing advice they have in their arsenal when it comes to travel and their genuine interest to look out for me as their fellow World Mom.

How long have you been following World Moms Blog? What do you think of our international twist on motherhood? 

Photo credit to the author. 

  

 

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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