In memory of my grandmothers,
Pauline Scheels Baneck and Lydia Filenius Wendt.
Dedicated to my mother, my inspiration, Lorraine Wendt Baneck.
Dedicated to my mother, my inspiration, Lorraine Wendt Baneck.
 |
| Manchester, England (March 21, 2011) Used with permission. |
INVOCATION
Let us give thanks for our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers,
and all our foremothers. And for their sisters and our sisters.
Let us rejoice in our daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters. For the gift of motherhood is a gift we pass on with love in our hearts.
Let us laugh with each other, tease each other, hug each other.
Let us cry for mothers in mourning and for mothers looking for missing children. May they find comfort. May hope sustain them.
May we be inspired to do SOMETHING, be it big or small, to help hungry mothers, homeless mothers, poor mothers, mothers living in the midst of conflict and wars.
May abundant blessings flow to all those loving women who mother the motherless–to grandmothers and great-grandmothers, aunts, sisters, godmothers, foster mothers, big sisters, neighbors, and friends.
A DAY FOR ALL MOTHERS
May 8th is Mother’s Day in the US. Every day, as an American mother and grandmother, I so privileged. I am very lucky to enjoy the love and support of my own mother, nearly 88-years young. She always listens to whatever is on my mind (lately, she’s been hearing a lot about HistoryLynx). When I look into the faces of my daughter and grandchildren, who live about five minutes away from me, I know that they will carry on all the good things that GG has taught us.
For Mother’s Day I wanted to write something special. Day-after-day, reading the New York Times at breakfast, I encounter, however vicariously, how women much less fortunate than me are struggling just to survive. Mothers in Milwaukee, Detroit, and New York City, in Alabama, and in Libya, Syria, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Mexico (the list goes on and on). These are brave women, resilient women, stubborn women. I agree with the women who started the Mother’s Day Movement–"it is time for everyone to rethink this holiday and donate a portion of Mother’s Day spending to those less fortunate" (from their web site).
Whatever is happening around them mothers try to nurture and protect their children as best they can. Where conflict and violence are part of daily life–beatings, street violence, kidnapings, government crackdowns, arbitrary arrests, terrorist attacks, raids on villages, firefights, artillery shelling–mothers are risking their own lives for the sake of their children. "Women become restricted to their homes as they are vulnerable to attack, yet it is women who are expected to try to keep family and home running as normally as possible for the children. Finding food and fuel, trying to respond to health and education needs all become impossible" (See "Women, War, and Peace" in Resources).
It’s not easy being a mother in 2011. Mothers suffer as they protest–hoping to bring about better lives for their children. There is violence against protesters in Syria and in Uganda, the fighting in Libya and Afghanistan, the tense situation in Ivory Coast and parts of South Sudan, the crackdown in China, the detention of political prisoners in Iran and Cuba ... well, I could go on and on.
 | |
|
Did you know that in the Arab world Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 21st? It is always observed on that day but this year, with the lives of so many Arab women touched by the detentions, injuries, and deaths of their children (or the fathers of their children), the day had a sorrowful aspect. I suspect that mothers have been civilian causalties in Libya and Bahrain. In Manchester, England, where the blogger "White African" lives, the local Libyan community gathered to remember those the who had died in the recent conflict, as well as those detained, and to honor their mothers. "White African" blogger was born to parents living in exile but her family roots are in Misurata. She’s the mother of a newborn so that made Mother’s Day special, yet under the circumstances even more poignant. Please take time to look at more of the photographs taken at that event (see Resources).
It’s not easy being a mother in 2011. Here in the US, where last month two series of tornados swept through several states, many families are reeling from the loss of their homes, livelihoods, and sometimes their loved ones. Other families have felt the impact of wildfires and floods. There is also the "terrorism" of life in certain neighborhoods in America’s cities– and the "violence" of poverty" and the scourge of drugs in both rural and urban settings. Every day mothers in America lose their children to the streets, drive-by shootings, drugs, and detention. Rates of unemployment and underemployment are still very high–foreclosures continue–more and more families end up sleeping in cars or homeless shelters.
It’s not easy being a mother in 2011. According to "Mother’s Index," the worst place in the world to be a mother is Afghanistan. Yemen is the also near the bottom. The other eight in the bottom ten are all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In these and many other places in the developing world one of the most risky things a woman can attempt is giving birth to a child. Recently, the need to reduce maternal mortality rates has been getting more attention in the media. The UN has included improving maternal health in its Millennium Development Goals (see Resources) and several international NGOs are working on projects to decrease the number of women dying in childbirth. See, for example, the efforts being made at the Nigerian hospital featured in the documentary, "Edge of Joy" (see Resources). Ele Clay, commenting on the film’s trailer, after it was shown on PBS NewsHour:
- "My special connection to this is a sister and brother-in-law who, for the last 30+ years have lived through this agony in southern Imo State. In the space of 12 months between November 1979 and 1980 they had received into their home, 13 newborns whose mothers did not survive the trauma of their birth for the same reasons being described in this film. Eziama Motherless Babies Home and Grace Hospital are now part of the solution, with a long, uphill climb ahead in their efforts to make a real difference in this rural community of thousands."
- "Thank you so much for continuing to inspire us to do more, Nick! We are gratified to be saving so many mothers through our "Keep a Mother Alive" program in Uganda. With the orphan population so frighteningly high in Africa, it's imperative to keep mother's alive. So many women who die already have several children they leave behind. It's hard to underestimate the vulnerability of an orphaned child--seeing the devastation in a child's eyes the minute a mother is lost has changed my life forever! God bless and save mothers, they have the power to change the world, and already have."
That is why I’ve put together two sets of resources: a few informational, motivational items; and a list of organizations serving women and children. I haven’t included an activities section, but please share resources from this post with extra-curricular clubs, service organizations, church groups, book clubs, wherever appropriate. Also, consider how kids might get involved in service learning projects (next year at school or as members of youth groups, like the Girl Scouts).
RESOURCES ABOUT ISSUES: MOTHERS IN 2011
Kristof, Nicholas D. "Beyond Flowers for Mom." New York Times (May4, 2011): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/opinion/05kristof.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB
AUDIO SLIDESHOW: "A Powerful Truth." Narrated by Nicholas kristof. New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/08/20/magazine/kristof-audioss/index.html
"The Women’s Crusade." Excerpt from Half the Sky (see below). New York Times (August 23, 2009): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html#
- From a special issue of the NYT Magazine, "Saving the World’s Women"; links to other articles (all worth reading)
- Link to "A Powerful Truth" (see above)
- Link to "Women’s Work" (Video: 2:34 mins.)
Kristof, Nicholas and Sheryl WuDunn. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.
- Angelina Jolie: "Women facing poverty, oppression, and violence are usually viewed as victims. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s Half the Sky shows that unimaginable challenges are often met with breathtaking bravery. These stories show us the power and resilience of women who would have every reason to give up but never do. They will be an inspiration for anyone who reads this book, and a model for those fighting for justice around the world. You will not want to put this book down." (From http://www.halftheskymovement.org/accolades).
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10927
- Click "Background: Women and Conflict" (or scroll down to it)
- "Women become restricted to their homes as they are vulnerable to attack, yet it is women who are expected to try to keep family and home running as normally as possible for the children. Finding food and fuel, trying to respond to health and education needs all become impossible. "
- Includes "Mother’s Index" (Norway is in first place, the US is #31, and Afghanistan is last among 172 countries in the index)
http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/SOWM2011_ESSAY_GARNER.PDF
"Yesterday Was Mother’s Day in the Arab World." White African (March 22, 2011): http://whitelibyanafrican.blogspot.com/2011/03/yesterday-was-mothers-day-in-arab-world.html
Rovera, Donatella. "Misratah: A City of Tears." Amnesty International (April 21, 2011):
http://livewire.amnesty.org/2011/04/21/misratah-a-city-of-tears-2/
VIDEO: "The East African Dairy Development Project." (Only 2:25 mins.). Heifer International: http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.6178483/?msource=kwg2401
- Many of this NGO’s projects benefit women, enabling them to better feed and clothe their children and to send them to school.
- If you love beautiful cows, you’ll like this video (the milk cans brought back memories of my girlhood on the farm in Wisconsin).
VIDEO: "The Edge of Joy" PBS NewsHour (April 28, 2011): http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/edgeofjoy_04-28.html
- Efforts to decrease maternal mortality in a clinic in northern Nigeria
- CAUTION: shows blood of childbirth (view before showing in class or to young children)
- Listen for a Muslim perspective on the spacing of children as a way of preserving the lives of women and children.
- Documentary trailor also on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltzbwpA_TLA&feature=player_embedded
- For contact info (to show the film) go film’s web site: http://www.theedgeofjoy.com/index.html
VIDEO: "Peru Eyes Innovations in Rural Maternity Health." PBS NewsHour (March 31, 2010):
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/jan-june10/peru_03-31.htm
VIDEO: "No Woman, No Cry." This documentary will be shown on the Oprah Winfrey Network, May 7th,2011 (9:30 EST).
- "[T]he powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum of Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States."
- Click on "Fact Sheet" for a PDF with much information, including statistics
- Column about both the Fistula Foundation and the Edna Adan Hospital
- Link to VIDEO: "A Fight to Save Mothers"
RESOURCES: ORGANIZATIONS
CAUTION: From comment by "Dim" in response to Kristof’s column (May 5, 2011): Great idea, but please donate to these wonderful charities DIRECTLY and avoid scams in the form of a middle man. For example, avoid Ebay Giving Works and MissionFish:
- MissionFish does no charity work of their own. It only serves as an online exchange between you and your favorite charity, nothing but a middle man.
- Takes a processing fee of 20% for a typical donation of $50 and 50% for a small donation of $1.
- Collected in fees between $20,000,000 and $40,000,000 out of $209,000,000 donated on EBay in the last few years.
- Consists of 15 people and is run almost entirely by software (e.g. do not expect them to return your phone calls).
- MissionFish does not move money directly to charity. This way you will be charged another fee as a seller by Paypal, also owned by EBay, so EBay also makes a cut on this.
- At the beginning of the process you will be given a deceptive message that 100% of your donation will go to the charity "less a small deduction to help offset charity costs". 20% is not a small deduction, it is stealing!
- "[F]ounded by six women who were shocked to learn that $14 billion was spent in the US in 2010 on Mother’s Day celebrations including flowers, cards and meals."
- Mothers Day Movement’s designated NGO for this year’s donations
- Click "blog" to go to http://kiberaschool.blogspot.com/; many photos, including Kibera School for Girls activities
- Encourage students to view blogs posts and leave comments to give a boost to volunteers and students
- Details of the hospital’s mission
- Map of Horn of Africa, showing Somaliland
- See also Kristof column (February 25, 2007), listed above
The Fistula Foundation: http://www.fistulafoundation.org/
- Map shows countries in Africa and Asia where work–click country for more info
- Purchase and donate a midwifery kit
- Learn more by watching the VIDEO (27:10 mins.)
- Click on "Essays" and "Stats & Facts" (lots of informative graphs)
- Stats & Facts for "2011 Mothers’ Index Rankings"
- Stats & Facts for "U.S. Development Assistance Saves Lives" (use this information to lobby for increasing foreign aid that benefits women)
Women for Women International: http://www.womenforwomen.org/
- Misson: "Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies. We're changing the world one woman at a time."
- Go to "About" and scroll down to find out more about this organization
- To send a card to a special mother (by e-mail) and a donation go to http://www.womenforwomen.org/campaigns-for-women/mothers-day-2011.php?source=MD11TO
- Mission: "FINCA International provides financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living. We target the poorest of the working poor: those who have the least access to services such as loans, savings programs, and insurance. Our clients include women, who make up 70 percent of the world's poor; individuals unable to find work in the formal sector; families displaced by war and internal conflict; the rural poor; and those affected by chronic poverty."
- Active in most of the US and many countries around the world
- See "Where We Build" for map
- Donation page: https://www.habitat.org/cd/giving/one/donate.aspx?link=387&source_code=DHQOA1104W1009&askstring=1&tgs=NS81LzIwMTEgMTA6MDU6MzkgQU0%3d
Heifer International: http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.183217/?msource=kwg2401#
- See "Our Successes" (http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.201453/?msource=kwg2401)
- Rating of "A" from American Institute of Philanthropy
- For map click "Where We Work" (most countries, including US)
For more organizations–with links to their web sites--check-out Kristof and WuDunn, "Do-It-Yourself Foreign Aid," New York Times (August 18, 2009): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-sidebar-t.html?scp=7&sq=kristof%20edna%20adan&st=cse
No comments:
Post a Comment