by Alison Fraser | Sep 24, 2013 | 2013, Africa, Canada, Childhood, Education, Eye on Culture, Family, Girls, Human Rights, Humanitarian, Humanity, Inspirational, International, ONE, Philanthropy, Poverty, Uncategorized, United Nations, Women's Rights, World Voice
City of Kitchener Councillor, Kelly Galloway-Sealock, and the author’s three daughters at a 2012 International Day of the Girl Child event
Mark your calendars and celebrate October 11th with your families and in your communities! Why you might ask? Well, the reasons are two-fold. Firstly, October 11th is Eleanor Roosevelt’s birthday. Eleanor was a world-renowned advocate for human rights and world peace. She was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So, how fitting is it that the United Nations has declared October 11th as the International Day of the Girl Child.
This October 11th marks the second annual International Day of the Girl Child. This day will be celebrated worldwide in an effort to bring attention to the human rights of girls around the world, and to highlight the gender-based struggles that so many young girls face daily.
Forced childhood marriages, rape, and female genital mutilation are just some of the issues that many little girls are forced to deal with at very early ages. In many countries, young girls are not valued and as a result are not invested in, particularly when it comes to schooling. The resulting long-term effects are alarming and have been documented in an eye-opening video by the Girl Effect movement. Please watch this video and share with friends and family – it will change the way you see the world. Girl Effect – the clock is ticking!
Last year, the focus of the very first International Day of the Girl Child was child marriage. This year, the focus will be on education. There are so many wonderful ways that you can participate in this important day. Whether you plan a family event or a community event, we all need to ensure that this very important day is recognized. Spread the word – girls are important and need to be valued, respected and treated as equal partners in our local and global communities.
What can you do to honour this important day? You can host a community screening of the Girl Rising film that is receiving acclaim worldwide. You can act to spread the word about struggles some young girls are facing in the world today. You can talk to your children about these critical issues. You can ask your child’s teacher to discuss this day with their class. You can organize a fundraising event in your office/workplace. Whatever you choose to do, whether it be large or small-scale, YOU can make a difference on October 11th!
Last year, my three young daughters tied pink ribbons in their hair and joined a local city councillor on a hike discussing the importance of human rights for all girls. It was a simple but highly effective way to celebrate this day. So many people asked them why they were wearing the ribbons, allowing them to speak about the day in their own words describing what it meant to them. It was so great to see the passion being shared by a younger generation, especially given that many of these issues are often difficult for them to understand and rationalize!
This year, we are planning a yoga event at a local studio for young boys and girls in the community. We are asking for small donations, which will then be used to support the educational needs of girls in Tanzania. In addition, my two older daughters have done small research projects on the significance of the International Day of the Girl Child, and will be presenting all that they have learned to their classmates on October 11th, thanks to the support of their teachers. I encourage you to plan an event too!Your event does not have to be fancy or sophisticated. Sometimes the smallest and simplest acts can have the greatest impact.
Let’s all celebrate October 11th together – girls are worth it!
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said;
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
In what way might you celebrate the Day of The Girl Child?
This is an original World Moms Blog post written by Alison Fraser.
Alison Fraser is the mother of three young girls ranging in age from 5 to 9 years old. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Alison works as an Environmental Toxicologist with a human environment consulting company and is an active member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). She is also the founder and director of the Canadian Not for Profit Organization, Mom2Mom Africa, which serves to fund the school fees of children and young women in rural Tanzania. Recently recognized and awarded a "Women of Waterloo Region" award, Alison is very involved in charitable events within her community including Christmas Toy and School Backpack Drives for the local foodbank.
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
by Jennifer Burden | Sep 21, 2013 | 2013, Social Good, World Voice
We can’t wait to head to New York City tomorrow to attend this year’s Social Good Summit! This is one of our favorite conferences, and a great place to catch up with many of the people and foundations, including some that are a part of our #Moms4MDGs campaign, that we work with online throughout the year. It will take place at the 92nd St. Y in Manhattan from Sunday, September 22nd through Tuesday, September 24th in tandem with the Summit at the United Nations.
World Moms Blog editors and contributors, Elizabeth Atalay, Nicole Melancon, Nicole Morgan and LaShaun Martin are on their way to New York City! And my very good friend, Kelly Pugliano from EatPicks and Mom Got Blog, will be coming to the Social Good Summit for the first time with us. We’ll be attending both, sessions at the Social Good Summit, and thanks to ONE.org and the GAVI Alliance, panels at the United Nations. There will be so much to learn and to write home about! We will also be meeting Wateraid and attending a special lunch with ONE.org, Save the Children and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And LaShaun will be speaking at the summit for Shot@Life! And Nicole Morgan will be on stage to tell her wishes for her children! We can’t wait!!
And to top it all off this week, we’ll be meeting World Moms Blog contributor, Nancy Sumari from Tanzania! She is the former Miss Tanzania and Miss Africa World and current social entrepreneur. We are over the moon excited about meeting her!!!
I also have something else super excited to tell you — this year, I was awarded a “Global Influencers” Fellowship by the UN Foundation. Along with 9 of my peers in various places of the media industry, I will be up early and taking special classes to discuss and brainstorm the MDGs and more with guest speakers prior to the start of the conference each day. I’m really looking forward to telling you all about this!
Speakers this year include Al Gore, Melinda Gates, Will.i.am and more!
And the good news is that you don’t have to wait until we attend the summit to hear all about it. There is a live stream that you can join in!
Click here for the live stream: Social Good Summit 2013 LiveStream.
Follow the Social Good Summit’s hashtag on Twitter: #2030Now
Be part of the conversation! Let’s make a difference!
Jennifer Burden, Founder, World Moms Blog.
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.
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
by Elizabeth Atalay | Sep 17, 2013 | 2013, Education, Humanitarian, International, Millennium Development Goals, Uncategorized, World Moms Blog, World Voice
In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge turned into the eight Millennium Development Goals, and was written as the Millennium Goal Declaration .- United Nations Development Programme
This month as we continue our #Moms4MDG campaign we are excited to be joining forces with Save the Children to talk about MDG #2! Save the Children is an international non-governmental organization that serves to improve the lives of children in developing countries through better education and access to health care. Since 1919 Save the Children has been providing emergency aid to children in natural disasters and relief in conflict or war torn areas.
Millennium Development Goal #2 is to achieve universal primary education. Children need primary education to reach their full potential, and countries need to educate their children to succeed economically. MDG 2 strives for equal access to education for both boys and girls, and although according to the United Nations, primary school enrollment in developing nations is up to 90%, that still leaves around 57 million kids out of school. Imagine the progress that could be made with that many more educated minds.
Join us tomorrow on September 18th for our #Moms4MDGs Twitter party to discuss Global Education and MDG 2 with Save The Children. Twitter Party participants will have the chance to win a giveaway from National Geographic Kids! We hope to see you there.
P.S. Never been to a twitter party before? Go to www.tweetchat.com and put in the hashtag: “#Moms4MDGs during the party times. From there you can retweeet and tweet and the hashtag will automatically be added to your tweets. And, from there you can also view all of the party tweets!
Now head over to World Moms Blog contributor Martine De Luna’s post about MDG 2 on the Save the Children site!
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by World Voice Editor, Elizabeth Atalay of Documama in Rhode Island, USA.
Elizabeth Atalay is a Digital Media Producer, Managing Editor at World Moms Network, and a Social Media Manager. She was a 2015 United Nations Foundation Social Good Fellow, and traveled to Ethiopia as an International Reporting Project New Media Fellow to report on newborn health in 2014. On her personal blog, Documama.org, she uses digital media as a new medium for her background as a documentarian. After having worked on Feature Films and Television series for FOX, NBC, MGM, Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and Castle Rock Pictures, she studied documentary filmmaking and anthropology earning a Masters degree in Media Studies from The New School in New York. Since becoming a Digital Media Producer she has worked on social media campaigns for non-profits such as Save The Children, WaterAid, ONE.org, UNICEF, United Nations Foundation, Edesia, World Pulse, American Heart Association, and The Gates Foundation. Her writing has also been featured on ONE.org, Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.com, EnoughProject.org, GaviAlliance.org, and Worldmomsnetwork.com. Elizabeth has traveled to 70 countries around the world, most recently to Haiti with Artisan Business Network to visit artisans in partnership with Macy’s Heart of Haiti line, which provides sustainable income to Haitian artisans. Elizabeth lives in New England with her husband and four children.
More Posts
by Purnima Ramakrishnan | Sep 10, 2013 | Purnima, Vaccines, World Moms Blog, World Voice
Host a GAVI Global Tea Party!
Who wants to add a spin on their regular ladies night out?
We all do!
How about throwing a GAVI Global Tea Party? It’s easy!
The GAVI Alliance is a public and private global health partnership which carries out vaccination programs in developing countries. And the GAVI Global Tea Party is a grass-roots movement of people talking around the world over tea, about immunizations for children in developing nations. There is even a documentary being made out of these international tea parties.
Want to join the movement? Here’s how to host a GAVI-WMB tea party:
- Brew some tea, get out your tea-cups, throw in some snacks, cakes or anything you prefer to eat with a cuppa!
- Next, fire up the computer and fire up some GAVI videos featuring mothers and children around the world benefitting from well needed immunization programs. These videos are great conversation starters! You can discuss what you saw in the videos and your views about spreading awareness.
- Just get talking!
Just three steps – it is as simple as that. Host a party, drink tea, talk about immunizations, ask how interested your guests are about continuing the conversation on immunizations.
Your tea party can be as varied as you want it to be. You can have a minimum of 2 people to 50 people, or however many people, talking about helping to save the lives of children. Did you know that a child dies from a vaccine preventable disease every 20 seconds? Consider helping us shout out about how important it is to have these conversations on global health.
Ideas for your own party can include your own ethnic or geographical spin on it! Or you can just do something as simple as hanging around in a coffee shop for just 5 minutes to view and discuss the videos or host a party in your child’s school for half a day along with the other parents.
There are no hard and fast rules about how you go about raising awareness to help immunize children, many who lack access to vaccines and good medical care.
Some World Moms Bloggers have already hosted their own GAVI-WMB tea parties! Jennifer Burden, founder of World Moms Blog hosted the first party. Allison Charelston of New York did a very memorable party. Lady E of Indonesia did her party in a very scenic place with very beautiful china cups. From India, I did a very informal tea party with my neighbours.
Check all the above links to see how each blogger did it her own way.
Join the GAVI Global Tea Party movement and help save the lives of children in your own fun tea-party kind of way! And…why tea? It’s available in most places on the globe, something to bring us and our compassion to the cause together.
Social Good for international mothers and children efforts are a part of our collaborative mission statement that the writers created at World Moms Blog. We are happy to volunteer this grass-roots awareness idea that we created especially with the work of The GAVI Alliance in mind!
In fact, this tea party was the first international opportunity for social good in the long list of volunteerism for World Moms Blog. We’d like to revive it and get the ball rolling again!
Do you want to be a part of the oldest and first social good initiative of World Moms Blog? Contact me, Purnima Ramakrishnan or Jennifer Burden at worldmomsblog@gmail.com, and we shall guide you in this socially conscious spin on your next gathering!
This is an original World Moms Blog Post written by Purnima RamaKrishnan in India.
by Jennifer Burden | Sep 5, 2013 | Social Good, World Voice
Did you know that it was 6 months after Hurricane Katrina until the last child was reunited with her parents in Louisiana? SIX months. Did you also know that just after the fatal shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut a mother was sent to three different locations where she was told her child may be until she found out that she had lost her child in the shootings? And that there are more pet reunification programs set in place than for human children?
According to Kathy Spangler, Vice President in charge of US Programs at Save the Children, this is unacceptable. She stated that many schools or child care facilities in the United States still do not have a reunification plan in place in the case of disaster.
Jennifer Burden of World Moms Blog and her 2-year old daughter sit down with Kathy Spangler, VP of US Operations at Save the Children, at St. Anne’s Child Care Center in Keansburg, NJ, marking 10 months after Hurricane Sandy affected the area.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kathy Spangler in Keansburg, just a few towns over from where I live in New Jersey, USA. The town of Keansburg was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy last October. The storm overall was responsible for over 50 billion USD worth of damage including 650,000 homes and hundreds of child care centers and schools. In town we viewed the finished post-storm repairs needed by a local day care, St. Ann’s, which were made possible by Save the Children.
Judy Abrahamsen, the Director of St. Ann’s Child Care Center explained that the playground had been covered with sludge from the flood waters, and the ceiling had a major leak.
When asked, she responded that the major obstacle in finding aid for the day care’s repairs, initially, was finding the time to pinpoint the grants and take the time to fill out the many forms while still running the business. Save the Children came to the rescue. And Kathy Spangler explained that running a day care is a labor of love, and those in the business are not in it for the windfall money, but because they love working with children. These businesses often don’t have the reserves on hand when natural disaster occurs, yet we need safe spaces for children, especially in times of disaster.
Within 24 hours after Sandy hit, Save the Children had over 130 people on the ground. The journey back to NJ this week was momentous, as they just launched their annual National Report Card in Protecting Children in Disaster, and New Jersey was one of four states to take action and meet the minimum emergency planning standards for children in times of disaster for the first time.
“Save the Children’s disaster report card tracks progress on four critical standards: that states require all child care centers to have 1) an evacuation plan, 2) a family reunification plan, and 3) a plan for children with special needs, and 4) that states require all schools to have disaster plans that account for multiple types of hazards.” However, 28 US states and the District of Columbia fall short.
“Back to school week in New Jersey is a reminder that we must do more to protect the nation’s 68 million children who are separated from their parents on any given weekday.”
Also, on this date, Save the Children launched a new preparedness initiative called “Get Ready, Get Safe” to help families and communities protect children at times of disaster.
On their site parents in the United States can send an electronic letter urging their governor to take action, make a donation and/or sign up to receive action alerts to stay informed. Spangler also encourages parents to stay informed and ask their children’s schools about reunification plans. Whether you are reading this from Newark, NJ or Naples, Italy, we can all kick off child advocacy by asking the simple question: “What is the reunification plan for my child?”
See the full report and take action at www.savethechildren.org/GetReady.
What do you say, parents? Will you find out if your child’s school has a plan set in place?
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Founder, Jennifer Burden of New Jersey, USA. Please look out for more on this trip by following Jennifer on twitter @JenniferBurden.
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.
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
by World Moms Blog | Sep 3, 2013 | Humanitarian, Philanthropy, Social Good, Travel, World Moms Blog, World Voice
– An All Female Team’s Journey to Everest Base Camp –
By Christine Amour-Levar
There are unique opportunities in life that come your way, and at first you may not realize how meaningful they are. We often get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of our daily schedules, that when these new possibilities cross our path, we sometimes miss them altogether. My trek to Everest Base Camp was one such life-enriching journey that I was fortunate to experience with eight other dedicated women. Our experience last November will count, without a doubt, as one of the highlights of my life…
As my teammates and I clambered up the final few meters of uneven ground onto the shifting moraine leading to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, a surge of elation filled our racing hearts. We had succeeded in accomplishing our goal as a team; and as we embraced and congratulated ourselves with moist eyes and throats tight with emotion, we took in the incredible view of this symbolic place.
The Base Camp of Everest is an emblematic site, from which countless attempts on the summit of the goddess of all mountains, Mount Everest, have been made, and continue to be made every year. It commands nothing but respect and humility.
Just standing there, a little breathless from both the excitement and the 60% oxygen levels in the air, gazing admiringly at the Khumbu Icefall rising jaggedly before me, and surrounded by majestic snowy peaks…. it’s hard not to imagine the legendary climbers that must have treaded very close to where I was standing. Just over half a century ago, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first climbed Mount Everest in 1953, using this south col route, forging a path through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, at our very feet.
My teammates and I had been dreaming of and training for this moment for many months. Despite the sun shining brightly in the cloudless azure sky, at 5,364 metres of altitude, it was already a chilly -3 degrees.We didn’t have much time before the sun would move behind the mountains and the temperatures would plummet to a crisp -15 degrees. So with a bit of haste we unfurled our various banners, and took the pictures we had been planning to capture.
The long days of non-stop trekking had taken its toll on our team. Three of the members of our group fighting illness had been put on antibiotics, and two others had to be put on oxygen at the last stop – Gorak Shep (5,164 m). They had been enduring pounding headaches for the last three days, which didn’t disappear with the intake of paracethamol. This was a sure sign of altitude sickness – an ailment not to be taken lightly. Just that morning, a French climber had to be airlifted from Gorak Shep because of this very condition.
We had committed to taking on this challenge to support a very special humanitarian cause, so were motivated to continue once they were treated.
Our goal was to trek to Everest Base Camp to raise awareness and funds ($100,000 SGD to be exact) for women survivors of war around the world. And throughout the journey, during the more strenuous moments of the climb, this calling had guided us and given us added strength and endurance.
Thinking about these destitute women, who had lost everything because of war and conflict, helped us focus on the task at hand.
The journey to Everest Base Camp can take approximately ten days to two weeks, depending on how many days of acclimatization you allow. This trek is classified as moderate to difficult, but it isn’t the terrain or hours on the trail that are the real difficulty (between five to eight hours on average per day depending on the itinerary) – it’s the altitude itself.
You start out from the village of Lukla (2,800m), a short scenic flight from Kathmandu, landing at Tenzing-Hillary Airport – incidentally considered one of the most dangerous airports in the world. The single runway is 460 by 20 metres (1,510 by 66 ft.) with a 12% gradient. On one side you have the mountains, and on the other, sheer nothingness – a complete drop.
The trek is also a deeply spiritual journey in the land of the clouds. As we progressed through the various villages that took us to Everest Base Camp, we came across a multitude of temples, monasteries, prayer wheels, stone tablets depicting the life of the Dalai Lama.
It’s impossible not to feel that sense of peace and spirituality emanating from the very ground, which is only enriched by the stunning backdrop of the Himalayan mountains.
The Nepalese people with their warmth and kindness touched our hearts forever. We returned home with a deep sense of fulfillment and gratitude to have been part of this team of determined ladies, supporting other women in distress. Each and every one of our teammates believed wholeheartedly in our chosen charity’s mission and objective. We embarked on this journey to support other mothers, daughters and sisters whose lives have been ripped apart by the horrors of war. By helping them surmount and climb their own personal “Everest” against the injustices of this world, we felt we were standing in solidarity with them, and it filled our hearts with more courage and determination.
The trek to Everest Base Camp is an adventure of the highest sort. It simply is wonderful to realize how much we can accomplish when we have the courage to leave our comfort zone, and when we dare to leap a little further…. We are just like you, ordinary people, who want to do extraordinary things. In our hearts, we know we can make a difference, one person at a time.
To find out more about Women on a Mission please visit www.womenmission.com.
This is an original post written for World moms Blog by guest writer Christine Amour-Levar. She is a Freelance Writer and Marketing Consultant currently based in Singapore. Christine is the Author of The Smart Girl’s Handbook to Being MUMMYLICIOUS – a motivational and practical guide to getting your body (and your GROOVE) back post pregnancy.
For more information please visit: www.thesmartgirlshandbook.com
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
More Posts
