SOCIAL GOOD Archives

August 11, 2014April 14, 2018

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Ellilta Products: Helping women off the streets

You cannot change the world, but you can change someone’s world.” -Mother Teresa

One night in 1992, Serawit “Cherry” Teketel, a young Ethiopian college graduate was driving home from dinner with her family when they came upon a moment that would change Cherry’s life forever. As their car pulled to a stop at a street corner in Addis Ababa, they saw a young woman flash them. The sight of this desperate prostitute who had no other way of earning a living, started a debate and made Cherry question her own circumstances in life. Although she was a recent university graduate, she had been unable to find a job for over a year but thankfully she had her family to fall back on. What if she didn’t have that luck? What if she was uneducated, poor and a single mother with no job? What would she do? Cherry’s questioning and compassion inspired her lifelong quest to get women off the streets and into a productive life away from prostitution.

After spending time on the streets, talking with girls and learning more about their issues, Cherry founded Women at Risk, a one-year rehabilitation program that aims to get girls and women out of prostitution and into a sustainable, self-reliant job and lifestyle. Women at Risk works on many different levels of rehabilitation. For the first six months, the women go through an extensive mental, physical and spiritual rehabilitation program that deals with addiction problems, health issues and psychological healing. The next six months involves skill training. Since Ethiopia has an extremely high unemployment rate and most of these women lack an education and come from severe poverty, vocational training is not an option. Cherry and her team realized that the women would need to have skills that would require little education and minimial training yet would provide them a livable income. After much brainstorming, Women at Risk implemented training courses in weaving, cooking and hairdressing.

During the year rehabilitation program, a woman must desire and commit to changing her life. In addition to the rehabilitation and skill training services, she will receive health care, day care, pocket money and groceries each week. Once she successfully completes the program, Women at Risk helps her gain employment or start her own small businesses a viable alternative to prostitution. Today, Cherry’s program has been a wonderful success. Women at Risk has helped over 360 women and over 90% of them have continued to live lives away from prostitution.

Ethiopia has one of the highest levels of poverty in the world. Many women are forced to work or live on the streets to support their family.

Close to the end of my two-week trip in Ethiopia as fellow with the International Reporting Project, my friend Elizabeth Ataley and I went to visit one of Women at Risk‘s partners Ellilta Products. We had heard about their gorgeous scarves through our social good blogging and work with ONE and fashionABLE. Both Elizabeth and I are proud owners and supporters of the Ellilta scarves sold in the US through fashionABLE so we wanted to meet with the women behind the scenes.

August 5, 2014April 15, 2018

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Rural life in Ethiopia

It is impossible to understand Ethiopia without visiting the countryside. In a country of 90 million people, the rural land of Ethiopia is where over 90% of Ethiopians live and catching a glimpse of their way of life is absolutely fascinating.

During my two weeks in Ethiopia as a fellow with the International Reporting Project, my favorite times were when we were outside of the cities and venturing along the bumpy, cattle-filled roads of rural Ethiopia. For me, the countryside is where the true heart and soul of Ethiopia and much of Africa lies. While some of the other fellows used our lengthy drives as time to catch up on much needed sleep, I sat at the edge of my seat with camera in hand, mesmerized by the world around me. A world I had never experienced yet a world I had imagined in my dreams.

Africa Ethiopia Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION

July 17, 2014August 9, 2018

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An Escape to Bahir Dar

Our first trip outside of Addis Ababa was to Bahir Dar in Northern Ethiopia. I rose early to catch our short one hour flight and could hardly contain my excitement at finally being able to see the Ethiopian countryside. I had many pictures in my head of what I imagined it would be like and I was in no way disappointed.

I had been in the thick of the chaos and crazed life of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital for four full days when it was time to head out and see the more rural parts of the country, where over 85% of Ethiopia’s population of 90 million live.

Landing in Bahir Dar over spectacular Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake, is a site to see. Unfortunately I was a little too late with my camera but still got some of the beautiful, green countryside.

Northern Ethiopia has a wow factor that cannot be denied. Known as the Historical Circuit, this region has bragging rights to over two millennia of ancient history ranging from the world-famous tombs of Aksum, to the captivating castles of Gonder and the jaw-dropping Danakil Depression whose lava lake and plains is a must-see for adventure travelers.

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July 15, 2014April 15, 2018

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Maternal Health: The Forgotten Millennium Development Goal

This past June, I visited Ethiopia as a fellow with the International Reporting Project with the primary goal of examining the impact of Ethiopia’s success at achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 – reducing child under age five deaths by two-thirds – well before the 2015 MDG deadline. Granted it is a stunning achievement that has put the spotlight on Ethiopia, it can also be argued that Ethiopia as well as many other countries around the world are failing to reach critical milestones for other MDGs such as maternal health. MDG 5 – to reduce maternal deaths by 75% and achieve universal access to reproductive health – is trailing way behind the other goals coming in near the bottom.

According to a recent article published in The Lancet*, only 16 countries out of the 189 United Nations member states who committed to the goals are expected to meet MDG 5 by 2015. The consequences of this are devastating to women and their families.

The tragic facts about maternal deaths

Every day, 800 women die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth.
When a mother dies, the risk of death for her children under the age of five increases by 50%.
The number one killer of 15-19 year old girls worldwide is pregnancy and childbirth. Every year, 70,000 young women die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth – over 70% of these deaths are preventable.

Access to universal reproductive health, the other piece of MDG 5, is also lagging behind. There are millions of women, mostly poor and rural, who have no access to family planning and are unable to space or plan their children. Furthermore, this year alone it is estimated that nearly 22 million unsafe abortions will take place around the world resulting in millions of preventable maternal deaths and longterm disabilities.

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, is one of the five most dangerous places to be a mother in the world. One in 27 women die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth (25,000 annually) in Ethiopia.

With a population of 90 million, it is estimated that anywhere from 80-90 percent of mothers give birth at home with no trained assistant. In rural areas, where over 85% of the population live, it is even worse. Only an estimated 5% of mothers give birth in a health center with a trained delivery assistant. The chart below illustrates where Ethiopia falls compared with her neighbors:

How Ethiopia fares compared with her neighbors. Source: Marie Stopes International

This means that Ethiopia’s maternal mortality rate is estimated at 420 per 100,000 live births (2013 WHO/UNFPA) which lumps Ethiopia along with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, as the top five highest maternal mortality rates in the world. As the population continues to boom in Ethiopia, it is critical that improvements are made to women’s access to family planning, safe abortions and labor and delivery care which would significantly reduce the number of women dying and having serious injuries during childbirth.

The alarmingly high ratios of health care professionals per patients is another factor in high maternal mortality rates in Ethiopia. It is estimated that only 34% of women have received prenatal care and 57% of women have received no pre or postnatal care during pregnancy. Source: Marie Stopes Ethiopia.

Seeing a huge, unmet need for family planning and reproductive services, Marie Stopes International begin working in Ethiopia in 1990. Marie Stopes International works to provide sexual and reproductive healthcare to millions of underserved women around the world and has been delivering family planning, safe abortion, and maternal health services to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable women for over 35 years.

“Women are dying because of lack of services and information. Having better access to family planning helps improve the lives of women and their families”.

– Marie Stopes Ethiopia Director Abeba Shibeau

Marie Stopes works in seven administrative states in Ethiopia, and runs a three-tier level of service throughout the country through Marie Stopes clinics, Blue Star franchises (600 Blue Star clinics in Ethiopia) and a call center that works nationwide. Before Marie Stopes entered Ethiopia, only 13% of the private sector clinics provided services in family planning yet the demand for contraceptives to space and limit children was and remains high. Only 29% of married women in Ethiopia are actively using contraceptives (Marie Stopes, Ethiopia) and an enormous unmet need exists for family planning.

Marie Stopes has filled this need by providing a call center and clinics that offer education, information and low-cost contraceptive options, pre and post natal care, HIV/AIDS prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and safe abortion when permitted, to woman and their families.

Expectant mothers checking in at a Marie Stopes Clinic in Addis Ababa.

“Ethiopia is a much better place to be a mother today than when my mother gave birth”.

– Nurse Shewaye, the Central Area Manager for all Marie Stopes Clinics in Addis Ababa.

An expectant mother relaxes a bit at a Marie Stopes clinic with her husband and son.

Another area that is helping save lives of women in Ethiopia and around the world is the provision of safe abortions.

Worldwide, one woman dies every 11 minutes from an unsafe abortion. Yet providing access to reproductive healthcare is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to save women’s lives. The World Health Organization (WHO), estimates that 5.5 million African women have an unsafe abortion every year. As many as 36,000 of these women die from the procedure, while millions more experience short- or long- term illness and disability. (Source: Guttmacher Institute)

Infographic on the impact of unsafe abortions. Source: Marie Stopes International

In 2005, Ethiopia expanded its abortion law making abortion legal for cases of rape, incest, fetal impairment, and if the pregnancy or delivery endangers a woman’s life. A woman may also legally terminate a pregnancy if she is a minor or physically or mentally unable to raise a child. Despite the changes in the law, almost 6 in 10 abortions in Ethiopia are unsafe causing 13% of all maternal deaths.

A woman entering a place to have an unsafe abortion in Ethiopia. Source: Marie Stopes.

Progress has been made yet continued expansion of affordable and accessible family planning and reproductive services is critically needed especially for rural women who represent 82% of all women of reproductive age in Ethiopia.

There are many reasons for pursuing an unsafe abortion however most of the time it is due to the false belief that it is the cheapest method while in fact many of these underground illegal abortions cost more than a safe one.

Furthermore, religion, fear and cultural issues are other reasons why women especially young and rural ones, will pursue an unsafe abortion and risk their lives.

The Make Women Matter Campaign

As the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals draws to a close, Marie Stopes International has launched a new campaign called Make Women Matter. The goal of the campaign is to ensure that maternal mortality remains at the top of the world agenda for future development goals. It also calls for achieving women’s rights and empowerment, universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and ending unsafe abortion.

World leaders will be meeting in New York this September during UN Week to discuss the future of MDGs. To ensure that maternal health gets the critical attention it deserves, please spread the word by sharing this post. You can also personally make a difference by signing Marie Stopes petition at change.org by clicking here.

#makewomenmatter

Newborn baby in Hawassa, one of 10-20% of Ethiopia’s 3 million children born in a health facility.

I was in Ethiopia in June as a reporting fellow with the International Reporting Project. To see all my stories from the trip, click here.

References:

Material in this post was provided by Marie Stopes in Ethiopia and the UK. To learn more about Marie Stopes International, please visit their webpage here. #makewomenmatter

USAID, Achieving the MDGs: The Contribution of fulfilling the unmet need for family planning, Washington DC: Futures Group International, 2006.

*The Lancet: Global, regional, and national levels and causes of maternal mortality during 1990—2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, Technical and Procedural Guidelines for Safe Abortion Services (2006)

Guttmacher Institute Ethiopia brief

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2014 – UN

Africa Ethiopia Global Health Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls

July 9, 2014April 15, 2018

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SOS Children: Providing Ethiopia’s orphans the home they need

“A Loving Home for Every Child” – Motto written on a sign at the entrance of a SOS Children’s Village in Ethiopia.

A SOS Mother with one of her daughters.

One of the most heartwarming afternoons during my two-week trip to Ethiopia as a fellow for the International Reporting Project was spent visiting a SOS Children’s Village. SOS Children is an independent, non-governmental international development organization that provides loving homes for abandoned and orphaned children in 133 countries for almost 82,100 children. It was founded in 1949 by Austrian Hermann Gmeiner with the first SOS Children’s Village built in Imst, Austria as a home for children orphaned by World War II.

Today, SOS Children works to provide abandoned, destitute and orphaned children with a loving, family based home. Every child in a SOS Village belongs to a family and is provided with a SOS Mother and “siblings” who are the other SOS Children living under the same roof. This allows the children to grow up in a family being loved and feeling secure. Within each village, there are up to fifteen families living together in a community and each family has up to ten children per house. It is a wonderful model and has had a huge impact on the children’s lives and futures.

SOS Children started working in Ethiopia in 1974 with the opening of the first village in Mekelle and over the years it has added six other villages caring for 1,645 children in SOS families. SOS Children’s education and training program unit has also benefited over 3,400 children and youth as well as children coming from the neighboring communities who are in need of services.

A child watches me curiously within one of SOS Ethiopia’s villages.

Africa Ethiopia Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD

July 5, 2014January 25, 2019

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Saving Ethiopia’s Mothers and Children: The Fight Continues

“If she wasn’t bleeding, she would have suffered like I did and delivered at home,” said Fasika’s* mother Menesch at a Lie and Wait center for expectant mothers in rural Ethiopia.

Menesch was inside the room with her expecting daughter Fasika while nursing her three-month-old daughter on a chair. It was Menesch’s eighth child who, like all the rest, she delivered at home with no trained labor assistant.

Menesch cradling her with-child in her lap at the Lie and Wait house in rural Ethiopia.

Fasika was a mere 15 years old with baby fat still surrounding her cheeks and a shy smile that often looked down at her largely pregnant belly. Meeting Fasika and her mother on the last day of my trip was the defining moment of my two weeks of reporting on maternal and newborn health in Ethiopia.

Africa Ethiopia Global Health Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls

July 2, 2014April 15, 2018

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The Faces of Ethiopia: A Photoblog

Ethiopia, a magical land of over 90 million people, is one of the most diverse nations in the world with over 83 distinct languages and 200 dialects. What stunned me the most about Ethiopians is how such a diverse group of people live in peace and harmony. Over half the population is Orthodox Christian and the next largest religious group is Muslims making up around 45% of the population. Despite their different religious beliefs, Muslims and Christians live side by side and oftentimes there can be a mixture of religions within families due to marriage. The main eight ethnic groups also live together peacefully which says a lot about this poverty-stricken nation in the heart of Africa.

While I was in Ethiopia these past two weeks, Oxford University released The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), ranking Ethiopia as the second poorest country in the world just ahead of Niger. The report claims that although Ethiopia has made some progress, Ethiopia is still home to more than 76 million poor people, the fifth largest number in the world after India, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The report also claims that the highest percentage of poor live within the rural areas which is no surprise given the fact that over 85% of Ethiopians earn a living off the land.

Despite the often heartbreaking, overwhelming poverty of the Ethiopian people, the one thing they all seemed to have in common is resilience and resolve with their place in this world. I had never seen so many genuine, welcoming smiles upon their faces despite the hardships they face. I was always greeted with curiosity, warmth and kindness by the Ethiopians I met. Here are some of my favorite faces of Ethiopia.

Africa Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Ethiopia Global Health Global Issues Poverty SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION Women and Girls

June 28, 2014April 14, 2018

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Hope in the Struggle for Ethiopian Maternal and Newborn Care

Reaching Mosebo village, about 42 kilometers outside of Bahir Dar in rural Ethiopia is not for the faint at heart. It requires a land cruiser, patience, and a bit of adventure to cover the hour and a half drive on bumpy, muddy roads to reach Mosebo and see how over 90% of Ethiopians live. If it starts to rain as it frequently does during Ethiopia’s three month rainy season, the road becomes dangerous and impassable.

Once you leave the tarmac, you reach endless gravel roads and see the way the majority of Ethiopians live.

I visited Mosebo village as an International Reporting Project fellow to learn more about the miraculous success Ethiopia has made by achieving MDG 4 – reducing child mortality rates for children under five by two-thirds. Ethiopia stunned the world by achieving MDG 4 well ahead of the 2015 deadline yet there is still much progress to be made in reducing newborn deaths, particularly within the first 28 days of life which are the most dangerous days to be alive.

Per Save the Children’s “Ending Newborn Deaths Report”, every year one million babies die on the first and only day of life accounting for 44% of all deaths for children under the age of five. Nearly two million more children will die within their first month. Four out of five of these deaths are due to preventable, treatable causes such as preterm birth, infections and complications during childbirth.

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Global Health Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION Women and Girls

June 23, 2014April 14, 2018

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A Snapshot of Ethiopia

I have been in Ethiopia as an International Reporting fellow for a little over a week now and it has been an amazing, eye-opening trip so far. I have learned so much about this beautiful landlocked country of 90 million people. I have been warmly welcomed into their lives and have enjoyed the curiosity of the children at my blond hair and light skin. I am sure I will have stories and photos to share for months.

In the meantime, I would like to give you a snapshot of Ethiopia: The beautiful countryside, the warm geniune smiles of the children, the mix between tradition and modernity that encapsulates every aspect of Ethiopian life.

Me with the children of Mosebo village.

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June 20, 2014October 3, 2017

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First Day on the Ground Learning about Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia

This is a slightly modified version of a post that published first on World Moms Blog, “Field Report #Ethiopia Newborns: An Overview of Maternal, Child and Newborn Health. All the photos below are my own taken during my visits to villages and health care centers in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in Africa with a population of 90 million people, stunned the world by achieving the Millennium Development Goal #4 of reducing the mortality rates of children under age 5 by two-thirds well ahead of the 2015 deadline. In a country in which 95% of the population lives outside of an urban center in rural, remote and hard to reach areas and a shocking 80% of women birth at home without a midwife. Health Extension Workers (HEW) have been the key ingredient to Ethiopia’s success. However, sadly the rate of newborn survival in Ethiopia has not shown nearly as much progress.

Children in Mosebo Village 42 k away from Bahir Dar in Ethiopia.

As an international reporting fellow with the International Reporting Project, I am in Ethiopia for two weeks reporting on newborn health. I am meeting with a diverse variety of people around the country such as doctors, health officials, mothers, NGOs, midwives and health extension workers to learn about Ethiopia’s maternal, newborn and child health systems, policies and strategies for improving newborn health. On Monday, we had a presentation on maternal, newborn and child health in Ethiopia given by Dr. Abeba Bekele, the Program Manager at Save the Children Ethiopia’s Saving Newborn Lives Program.

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Global Health Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION Women and Girls

Women vendors along the streets of Addis Ababa.

June 18, 2014April 15, 2018

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First Impressions of Ethiopia

I arrived early Sunday morning into Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, after a long haul flight from home. My day began Saturday at 3 am and after two fights totaling 16 hours I found myself in Africa’s highest capital Addis Ababa which translates into “new flower”.

Street shots of Addis Ababa

The earliest people living in the Shewa region surrounding Addis Ababa date back to the 9th century and are believed to be the Gurage people. Over the centuries the Somalis and Abyssinian kingdoms laid claim to the land, followed by the arrival of the Oromo in the 1500s. The actual city of Addis Ababa was not founded until 1886 when Emperor Menelik II decided to move his military base from Mount Entoto to the vast fertile plains below of Addis Ababa.

Today, Addis Ababa is Ethiopia’s largest city with an estimated population of over 3 million people and is a magical place where tradition and modernity are intertwined in unexpected ways. Walking down the busy streets of Addis Ababa you can see high rises and western hotels reaching towards the sky juxtaposed with dirt sidewalks, donkeys leaving the market and undeveloped slums. It is a place filled with contradiction. Looking outside the window of my newly built luxurious western hotel lies one of many slums slightly hidden behind corrugated tin fences and walls. Men in well-tailored suits sit outside in a chairs along dirt sidewalks getting a shoe shine. High rise buildings are going up alongside a pell-mell of depressing slums. Everywhere you look is something that makes you scratch your head and wonder.

Africa CULTURE Ethiopia Global Issues Poverty SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL BY REGION

June 3, 2014June 5, 2014

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The #PassportPartyProject: Inspiring underserved girls to discover the world

Did you know that less than 40% of Americans have a passport? Have you ever wondered what percentage of this number includes underserved communities?

Meet Tracey Friley, award-winning travel writer and philanthropist, founder of The Passport Party Project and named one of National Geographic’s 2013 Traveler’s of the Year. I had the honor of first meeting Tracey in person at BlogHer 2012 in New York City. Tracey gave a presentation called Travelanthropy and I was fascinated by her talk. Her words and mission in life touched me deeply and we’ve kept in touch ever since.

Tracey Friley

Tracey caught the travel bug early and has been fortunate to have traveled to many wonderful parts of the world. Yet Tracey realized that many people in this country especially underserved communities do not have passports and have no means of international travel.

Inspired by her own passion for travel and making a difference in people’s lives, Tracey decided to act upon her disenchantment for the way the world works and find a way to help underserved girls travel. In the summer of 2011, Tracey gathered a group of local kids in the San Francisco Bay Area and spent the day with them talking about travel. By the end of the day, she had given the kids money for their first passports. Little did she know, this was the start of something bigger: The Passport Party Project.

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