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My new little amigos

I’ve completed my second day volunteering with the beautiful children at a children’s day care center that assists poor single mothers so they can work. Originally I thought I would be working at an orphanage but that was somehow lost in translation. I’m finding that much for me is lost in translation since I’m only at a very basic Spanish level. But I’ve come to understand with traveling, especially in developing countries, that you must simply go with the flow. Having an open mind and open heart is paramount. Otherwise you’d pack you bags and leave the next day for home!

Honduras is much more basic and rough around the edges than Guatemala. It has truly opened my eyes. Over 80% of the people here live in poverty and it is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti and along with Bolivia. Yet despite the poverty and the dire situations most people live in, people are generally happy and resolved with their lot in life. Especially the children.

Here is a brief look at some of my beautiful new friends I met today at the center. They are so incredibly loving and full of life. They have so little material goods yet their joyous smile tells it all. For them, there is much more to life than having all the latest toys. Their love of life is evident and infectious.

Come, meet a few of my new little friends and see for yourself.

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Global Issues Honduras SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL BY REGION Volunteering Abroad
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Giving Tuesday: Giving Back the Give

Today is the first ever Giving Tuesday, a day across the country dedicated to giving back. Launched by the creative minds of the UN Foundation, Unilever Corp. and United Way, what started simply as a great idea turned into a mass event involving over 4,000 organizations in all 50 states.

It is the hope that Giving Tuesday starts a new national day of giving via the collective power of charities, families, businesses and individuals who will transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season.  Judging by the media, it is looking like the first Giving Tuesday will be a great success and only continue to grow in years to come.

Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD
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World AIDS Day 12/1: The beginning to the end of AIDS?

Back in July I wrote a post titled “The End of AIDS: We can’t stop funding now”.  The post was in response to my visit to our nation’s capital on behalf of my advocacy work with Results, a grassroots organization that works to end global poverty. During this visit, I had to opportunity to visit the Global Village at the XIX International AIDS Conference which was being held in the United States for the first time in many years. It was a symbolic event, clearly highlighting America’s leadership as one of the key funders and advocates in fighting AIDS.

This December 1 is World AIDS Day, a day in which the world brings attention to the devastating fact that this global epidemic still infects 2.7 million new people and claims 2 million lives each year.  It is also estimated that nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS-related causes since the beginning of the epidemic (UNAID 2010 report).

Although “these are sobering numbers, this year World AIDS Day comes after a string of stunning scientific advances that has fundamentally altered the possibilities in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The end of the AIDS epidemic is within our grasp”  (Results.org).

Global Health Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD
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SUNDAY SOCIAL GOOD: What is community?

A poor neighbourhood shows the damage after an earthquake measuring 7 plus on the Richter scale rocked Port au Prince Haiti just before 5 pm, January 12, 2010. Photo Source: Wikipedia Commons

Last week I participated in a live Twitter Party on behalf of Mom Bloggers for Social Good for Habitat for Humanity’s work in Haiti. If you have never done a Twitter party or have no idea what I’m even talking about, let me explain. Basically a group of people interested in learning about a topic jump onto Twitter at a designated point in time and use the same hashtag (ours was #HabitatinHaiti).  A good Twitter party is well-managed and moderated by asking the attendees a group of questions which creates dialogue. It is a fantastic way to learn more about a given topic, spread the word and be an armchair advocate.

I learned a lot last week during our Habitat for Haiti chat but what stuck with me most was one question in particular:  “What is community?”.

Haitians set up impromtu tent cities thorough the capital after the 2010 earthquake. Photo source: Wikipedia Commons.

Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD
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Be the Change

I recently subscribed to the WordPress Daily Prompts to see what kind of inspiration I could find on expanding my writing. I briefly read the prompts but never wrote one until today when I saw one that struck a chord in my heart. I read it and I filled with joy and excitement. I felt like the words were talking exactly to me.

“What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world”. 

I read these words and thought, isn’t this why I am writing my blog in the first place? To use my voice to share my experiences of what I’ve seen in the world, what I’ve learned and most importantly of all, how we can all give back?

I have talked about my voice time and time again in my blog. But today I’d like to share with you what I’m hoping to change in the world with my blog.

SOCIAL GOOD
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The REAL Awards: Honoring Health Workers around the world

Reaching a child’s fifth birthday is the focus of several campaigns out there to raise awareness, support and funding for the Child Survival Call to Action. In 2010, 7.6 million children died from preventable causes. Although this figure has improved over the last few decades, it is still a tragedy and unacceptable.

Esther Madudu, a frontline health care worker. Photo Source: Save the Children.

Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD
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World Pneumonia Day 2012

Today is World Pneumonia Day. Did you know that pneumonia is the biggest threat to children worldwide and that we have a vaccine available that can prevent it?

Were you aware that every 20 seconds a child dies from pneumonia, a largely preventable and treatable disease?

Here are some facts on pneumonia and the devastating impact this treatable disease has on child survival. (Source: Action: Global Health Advocacy Partnership):

“Pneumonia is the world’s leading killer of children under the age of 5, causing nearly 1.3 million child deaths each year.  Developing countries, and particularly the poorest children within them, are the hardest hit, accounting for 99% of childhood deaths due to pneumonia.

We know how to prevent these deaths. In fact, investments in protecting, preventing, and treating children have led to significant gains in reducing under-five deaths. Although pneumonia kills nearly twice as many children each year than both HIV/AIDS and malaria combined, global funding for pneumonia is significantly lower than funding for HIV/AIDS and malaria control. This silent killer is still responsible for one out of every five child deaths, despite having the tools to prevent and treat it.”

Although much progress has been made towards fighting devastating diseases that has improved child mortality rates across the globe, we aren’t finished yet. The fact that a child is dying every 20 seconds from a vaccine-preventable death such as pneumonia is unexcusable and unacceptable.

We have the technology and the knowledge to save lives.

Now we need to convince the government to follow through on the promises and commitments made to fund and support programs such as GAVI (that provides vaccines to children in the developing world) and to Front Line Health Care Workers, who are often the only medical attention children will receive.

How can I take ACTION?

  • Write a letter to your government.
  • Meet with your member of Congress or Parliament.
  • Raise awareness in your community.
  • Express your opinion in your local newspaper.
  • Produce a video or write a blog (like I am doing here).
  • Participate in community events.
  • Only have a few minutes? Sign a pledge to end preventable child deaths with World Vision, or A Promise Renewed!

Learn more at www.action.org.

My kids and me advocating for Shot@Life last spring.

This post was written on behalf of my advocacy for RESULTS, Shot@Life and ONE. I am meeting with my Congressman next Monday and will be sure to remind him to support funding for Child Survival. With less than 1% of our budget spent on foreign aid, there is a lot to be done. However, I am confident we will make the right decisions and help save lives.  No child shouldn’t be able to celebrate their fifth birthday because they are too poor.

 

Global Health Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD
— 21 Comments

The Gift of Giving

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” ―  Winston Churchill

I have always had a strong desire to give back. I acknowledge that my life on this earth is a minor blimp in time, a moment passed by the blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. A piece of me has always wanted to leave a footprint behind. Make a difference and touch people’s lives.

Why do I feel so compelled to give back and spend endless hours fulfilling this desire and dream?

These beliefs and values grew over time, slowly forming, changing and molding through the years as I traveled more and begin to see the world and scratch my head in disbelief.

The first time I saw extreme poverty was when I was six years old.

I grew up in a leafy suburb, not living extravegantly but having everything a young child needed. Love, affection and a world to explore. We had a nice home with a beautiful acre of forest surrounding it. A loving family of five with a mother who stayed home to raise the kids, volunteer at school, serve a family meal each night and be there to help us, comfort us and guide us when we needed. This was my reality. A wonderful reality and a beautiful, memorable childhood.

Yet, a family trip through inner Mexico in the late 1970s opened my eyes. Opened my eyes to how good we had it back in Minnesota and how hard other people had it around the world. We drove by comfortably in our station wagon while glancing out the windows. Then we saw how people lived. In flimsy, filthy shacks along the steep mountainous road. One hard rain and it was gone. One mistep and you were hit by a car. That image has remained in the back of my mind for over 30 years and it won’t go away.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve been blessed with more than I can possibly imagine. I went to college, studied abroad, pursued a career and followed my dreams of seeing the world. I’ve been to places that I never imagined possible from the southern tip of Patagonia to the mountains of Nepal. Yet in the depths of my heart, I am constantly reminded of the inequities and injustice in life each time I travel.  I can no longer turn blindly away from what I’ve seen. I’ve realized that travel is a gift and when you receive one, you must give something back in return.

Hence, I’ve dedicated my life to the gift of giving back.  

I give my time…

Volunteering with Javiar at a nursing home in Costa Rica.

I give my mind…

Advocating for UN Foundation Shot@Life with my children.

I give my heart…

Volunteering with under-privileged children in Guatemala.

I give my soul…

Before going to Nepal to follow my dreams of hiking the Himalayas, I raised enough money to build a reading center as a gift in return.

I give myself…

Nothing is more important than my family. I give my love, my life and my time to them.

There could be no better thing in this world to give than to get.

This post is in response to Giving Tuesday. To learn more about Giving Tuesday, click here.

SOCIAL GOOD
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Presents with purpose: Gifts that give back

With the holiday season approaching, most of us are thinking and maybe even dreading shopping for the perfect gift for our family and friends. In a world with so many different things to buy, why not buy something that also gives back in return?

Together with some fellow bloggers from the Global Team of 200, we have composed a list of presents with a purpose. Every item below gives back to either the community who makes the product or to an important cause. There are gifts for men, women and children and lots of fantastic “gifts that give” to choose from.

Here are some of our favorites for this holiday season:

Headbands of Hope:

Story behind it:

“I’ve always loved headbands. It’s a simple way to add a little style to any outfit. But after my internship at the Make-A-Wish Foundation, I realized that headbands could be more than just a way to keep your hair back. For girls and women everywhere, their hair is a part of their feminine identity. Wigs can be uncomfortable and unappealing, especially to younger girls.

Many girls fighting childhood cancer lose their hair during their rigorous chemotherapy treatments. Headbands are the perfect way for these girls to keep their feminine identity and have a constant reminder that they’re not alone.

However, throughout this journey, I’ve learned that these headbands are just as important to girls with hair than girls with hair loss as well.

I’ve distributed headbands to girls who are about to start their treatment and haven’t experienced hair loss yet and I’ve also given headbands to girls who are starting to get their hair back after treatment.

With or without hair, Headbands of Hope provides a movement to spread hope in all girls and fight in the battle against childhood cancer, one headband at a time.
” – Jessica Ekstrom

For every headband purchased, one is given to a girl with cancer and $1 is donated to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fund life-saving childhood cancer research.

Headbands range from about $15-18 and the website also offers bracelets and t-shirts.

The headbands come in all sorts of beautiful colors, ornamentation and design. This one is called Carnation and sells for $15.85

fashionABLE scarves

The story:

“Your purchase of a fashionABLE scarf creates sustainable business for women in Africa.  Our commitment as a non-profit is to the development of people — fashionABLE works with women who have been exploited due to the effects of poverty.  So, when you purchase a scarf you are providing jobs, and then we send the net profits back to holistically rehabilitate more women. This is the beauty of non-profit….”
Scarves provide jobs, profits provide restoration

Each scarf is hand-made by an Ethiopian woman who has been given a chance at a new, sustainable, dignified life. Her name, photo and story will be included on a tag attached to the scarf, bringing more meaning to the product.

Scarves can be customized and cost between $32-44.

MADE BY SURVIVORS

Made By Survivors is an international nonprofit organization which employs and educates survivors of slavery and other human rights abuses, including many women and children living in extreme poverty. Products include jewelry, bags, gifts and cards and prices range. 100% of profits go back to the survivors who made them.

Here is a sample of one of their new bags:  Sweet Life Carryall for $48.00

What I like so much is the fact that 100% of profits goes back to the survivors who made them by programs to support rescue, aftercare, education and employment.

Since 2005 Made by Survivors has successfully:

  • Trained and employed 350 survivor artisans
  • Sent 250 children to school with our Education Fund
  • Trained 70 survivors as artisan goldsmiths – breaking gender barriers
  • Invested $165,000 in building new shelters
  • Invested $65,000  supporting our partners rescue programs
  • Invested $22,000 in aftercare programs for rescued survivors

Feed Projects

To date, FEED has been able to raise enough money through the sale of products to provide over 60 million school meals to children around the world through WFP. FEED has also partnered with the US Fund for UNICEF, raising much-needed funds for their Vitamin A and micronutrient supplements program and providing over 46,000 children with essential nutrients.

FEED offers all sorts of backpacks depending on how your want to help.

I really found the Feed Health Backpack to be amazing as it travels the distance to create change. Check out what is included in each backpack.

TOMS Shoes:

“With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One”. To date, TOMS has donated over 2 million pairs of shoes to children over the world. Pretty impressive!

TOMS shoes comes in all shapes, colors and sizes ranging from the glittery pink pair my daughter has to more casual looking shoes for women and men. Prices start around $36.00.

TOMS also offers eyeglasses:

Another site that offers great gifts that give back is iGive.com.

iGive.com makes it easy to support any cause you choose.The iGive.com Button tells stores that you want a percentage of every purchase you make donated to the cause of your choice! It’s free and it’s that easy!

Change your world one online purchase at a time.

What are your plans for #GivingTuesday this year? What are some of the gifts you like to give?

For more information on #GivingTuesday, click here.

Gifts that Give Back SOCIAL GOOD
— 4 Comments

Save the Children, Hurricane Sandy and how you can help

Save the Children has been instrumental in helping the countless families hit by Hurricane Sandy.  Ever since this “superstorm” struck the east coast, Save the Children has been there to offer on the ground support to those impacted by the disaster. Even at a time when Save the Children’s own offices in Westport, Connecticut were struck and severely damaged and many of their Connecticut, New Jersey and New York-based staff were—and in some cases continue to be—without power.

However, this has not dampened Save the Children’s spirit to continue to help those who are most vulnerable in any emergency situation—kids. That’s why Save the Children has been deploying emergency response teams to some of the hardest hit areas in New York and New Jersey. To help establish a sense of normalcy in shelters, they are providing kid-friendly activities to create a safe and supportive place for children to play with their peers and caring adults in the midst of the turmoil that surrounds them. Save the Children’s  CEO, Carolyn Miles, recently visited a shelter in Atlantic City where she saw one of these safe play areas first-hand. At the bottom of this post is an account on Carolyn’s experience titled “Do You Think They’re Ok?”— Kids Recover from Superstorm Sandy.

Check out this YouTube Video on how Save the Children is working with families in New York and New Jersey shelters to ensure children are safe and protected.

How can you help?

Please spread the word by sharing this post with your friends and networks. If you would like to help kids affected by Sandy, you can do so by texting HURRICANE to 20222 to donate $10 to Hurricane Sandy Relief from your mobile phones*or to donate through our webpage. 

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“Do You Think They’re Ok?”— Kids Recover from Superstorm Sandy

By Carolyn | Published November 5, 2012

The shelter in the Atlantic City Convention Center shelter is a huge sprawling hall with a constant wave of people arriving and leaving in a regular ebb and flow each day.  Some families have just arrived from other shelters, some go back to devastated houses, and some come back to stay for what might be weeks.

Many of those who come to shelters in New Jersey—like this one run by the Red Cross—are families who can least afford to lose a week’s wages, a refrigerator of food, or a room full of furniture, much less a house or apartment. They are working class or poor families, usually with kids. As is the case here in Atlantic City, kids make up at least 25% of the population in shelters in affected areas.

I met many of these kids on my visit today and they all had stories to share.

Carolyn talks with 17-year-old high school student Alondra and her mom Genoueva.

Alondra is 17. She and her extended family—mom, dad, uncle, aunt, siblings and cousins—have an area with cots pushed together in one corner of the hall.  She told me how she had first gone to a shelter at Rutgers University the weekend before the storm when they heard about the threat to the area where they lived in downtown Atlantic City.  But now Rutgers needs to get students back to class and her family was bused to the Atlantic City shelter yesterday.  While they were grateful for the cots, blankets and food, Alondra, a bright high school senior, was worried about how she would get to school later in the week when classes finally started up again. 

And Alondra wasn’t the only one who hoping to be back to school.  A younger boy I met gave me a tearful look when I mentioned school and told me, “I really want to go back but I just don’t know when I can.  I miss my friends and I don’t even know how they are.  Do you think they are okay?”  I told him I was sure they were and that Save the Children was working on getting kids transportation for when schools got back up and running, so hopefully he can be back with his friends soon.

There were so many stories from kids today about how they’re dealing with the after-effects of Superstorm Sandy, but one that really struck me came from 14 year-old Peter. Peter also lived in Atlantic City and described the scene when he and his family went back to see his house after the storm passed.  “The water rose almost five feet and we only have one floor so everything was ruined.  They condemned my house yesterday,” he told me stoically.  Peter and his family have nowhere else to go at this point, but Peter is spending his time working with the Save the Children team in the shelter, playing with the younger kids and keeping them busy in the Child-Friendly Space we set up on one edge of the family area.  Here, at least, kids can play games and do activities and just be kids at least for a little while.

Save the Children has mobilized to help children and families affected by Sandy. We are setting up Child-Friendly Spaces—safe play areas that allow children to play, socialize, and begin to recover from emotional distress during emergencies—in New Jersey and New York. And we’re working with national partners, including the American Red Cross and FEMA, to assess and address the needs of children in the storm’s aftermath.

We’re also asking our supporters to do what they can to help children. We’re asking them to text HURRICANE to 20222 to donate $10 to Hurricane Sandy Relief from their mobile phones*or to donate through our webpage.

Save the Children responds to emergencies in the U.S. and around the world every year—and this time, it’s in our own backyard. But whether it’s close to home or on the other side of the world, the needs of children are the same and helping them get back to normal is our top priority.

Sandy has devastated areas of the East Coast. It has displaced families, destroyed property and claimed too many lives. There’s a lot of work to do. But I meant what I said to all of the kids and parents I met today: yes, it’s going to be okay. We’re here for you, we’re here for your children and we’ll be with you every step of the way. 

 

 

SOCIAL GOOD