Global Issues Archives

December 7, 2015April 7, 2018

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Raising Brave Girls

As a mother of a nine-year-old daughter it was with great interest that I read Stacey Radin’s new book “Brave Girls: Raising Young Women with Passion and Purpose to Become Powerful Leaders“. As my little girl grows up, I want to be prepared to guide her as best as I possibility can through the trials and tribulations of adolescence. Looking back, my early teenage years were perhaps the worst years of my life. Years that were difficult, unhappy and rocky. Even to this day, I will never forget my mother’s words of shock when she lamented “What has happened to my happy little girl?” when I hit thirteen and was drowning in hormones and confusion about who on earth I had become.

Sadly, these are years that I often wish I could do over but of course that isn’t at all possible. I realize how much these years negatively impacted me and my self-esteem. Thirty years later I still remember the mean, devastating comments and when all my friends decided to drop me. I was so afraid to go to school because I had no one to sit by and I vividly remember hiding in the bathroom over lunch. Thankfully life got easier for me once the braces came off, I grew into my body and blossomed. But those terrible years still haunt me when I think about them today.

Radin’s book “Brave Girls” opens with the following sentence that instantly pulled me in:

“Our society as a whole is lacking in opportunities designed to help preadolescent girls feel confident, secure and emotionally safe”.

November 18, 2015November 20, 2018

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My Walk with the Maasai

“In the Book of Life, the answers aren’t in the back.” – Charles M. Schultz

Setting off on foot through the heart and soul of Maasai culture has always been a dream of mine. I had first heard of the Maasai people when I was volunteering for a week in Morocco. I was speaking with a fellow volunteer – a young American woman- who confessed her favorite travel stories in her life occurred when she visited the Maasai. Her embellished images of warrior men in black and women dressed in brightly colored clothing while drinking cow’s blood under the moonlight sky in the bush were what first intrigued me. Was it true that a people like this still lived on earth and still practiced their long-held traditions and cultures?

Years later, when I began my work as a social good blogger, I began to learn more about the Maasai people and the threat against their way of life. Some of the things I had believed to be true long ago were more or less myths yet other traditions both good and bad continued until this day. It wasn’t until I set out on foot with my english-speaking Maasai guide, Jacobo, in the Mkuru Training Camp near Arusha, Tanzania that I would discover for myself what the Maasai people were truly like and what challenges remained.

Jacobo leads the way and I follow along for the next four hours on foot, touring a small part of the Maasai community.

“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don’t”. -Pete Seeger

I was thankful that I had Jacobo, the Camp Manager, who was born and raised in the community, to lead the way. He was exactly as I envisioned a Maasai warrior to be: Tall, elegantly thin, muscular and generously kind. He has faced some criticism from the community by integrating too much with Western culture yet overall his work and passion for his tribe outshines a few negative viewpoints. Although he is also the camp driver, speaks English, and is the face of the camp with all foreigners, he has retained his culture even down to what he eats.

We set off shortly after lunch in windy, dry weather. I had hoped the weather would be better but at least it wasn’t raining or boiling hot. I followed behind Jacobo, pen and paper in hand and asked him as many questions as I could about his way of life.

Welcome to the bush

The Maasai are among the best known ethnic groups in Africa due to their distinctive customs and dress. As nomadic pastoralists, they traditionally herded their cattle on seasonal rotations across the open savanna of Kenya and Tanzania yet new laws instituted by the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments ended their traditions and forced many into camps where they have suffered poverty, malnutrition, lack of education and economic opportunities to survive. It is an all too common story with native cultures across the world and today many governments and NGOs are doing their best to preserve and protect these tribes from disappearing off the face of the earth.

The grounds of the Mkuru Training Camp Maasai in Tanzania

As we walked, Jacobo pointed out the dried up river beds and the sparse vegetation. Most of the crops (maize and potatoes are the of the primary crops grown in the area) had already been harvested and the long barren months of the dry season had begun. One of the main problems for the Maasai community is malnutrition especially in children. The diet is basically meat, goat’s milk and grains with little or no fruit or vegetables. Although the camp has tried to alleviate malnutrition by providing meals at school, many Maasai hesitate to send their children because they are needed to herd the livestock (boys began herding as young as five years old), tend the house, fetch water and cook (the main responsibility of the girls). Despite the building of new schools in the community, attendance is very low and frequently dropping especially for girls.

Acacia trees and shrubs are most common in the region.

A cactus like kind of plant that grows in the bush and can hurt.

Lots of dry earth

A dried out riverbed

Young boys herding livestock

The Maasai have a very unique social structure that is central to their culture. The head of society is the warrior class made up of boys and men, and status relates to age. A young boy starts out as a herder at the age of five and once he reaches puberty, he is set aside with the boys who will be soon circumcised and become junior warriors called “morani”. The morani range from 13-18 years of age and after circumcision remain in isolation and are dressed in black until they are healed. Once they reach maturity and have sufficient strength they become a full fledge warrior, dress in colorful clothing, and are in charge of protecting the community. They no longer kill a lion with a spear since that tradition has become illegal (by the government) but they are trained to fight.

Jacobo on left with his four brothers who have just been circumcised and wear black until they are ready to become moranis.

Maasai women and girls are traditionally in charge of the home and all work associated with family life such as fetching water, cooking and cleaning, making clothing and watching the very young children. Maasai women are known for their amazing beadwork and brilliant clothing. (I had written a great post about Maasai beading here).

Jacobo’s mother

Maasai beadwork has been integrated into the Mkuru community to empower women and give them economic opportunities to sell their work.

A gorgeous Maasai beaded ankle bracelet.

Jacobo gave me a tour of his family boma, traditional mud huts made out of mud, dried cow dung and branches. Since the Maasai can have more than one wife, the entire family of husband, wives and children typically live together in a compound of 3-5 bomas depending on wealth. Each compound is surrounded by an open circle and fence made of thorny branches, where the livestock sleep safely at night, away from predators. The bomas are extremely basic with no electricity, no running water and oftentimes unsafe charcoal cookstoves are used inside the hut. The smoke from cooking turns the ceiling black with soot and you can imagine how bad it is for the family to inhale the fumes.

http://thirdeyemom.com/2015/10/25/learning-the-art-of-making-maasai-jewelry-in-tanzania/

Entering the Jacobo’s family home (the fence for livestock is on the left hand side of the photo).

Jacobo’s extended family.

One of the bomas.

A child peeks out and smiles. His face is covered in ash from the cookstove.

Since there is no electricity inside, the bomas are very dark. I tried my best to capture what they are like inside. You can see the cookstove on the far back righthand side of the photo.

Non-profit organizations such as Solar Sister (who I climbed Kilimanjaro with) are working hard to provide clean, safe cookstoves throughout the world. The benefits are immense and life-saving but sadly they have not reached the millions of people like in this community who need them. Not only are clean cookstoves healthier and safer, they also save ridiculous amounts of money which can be used on other essential things like education, farming, and crops.

The ceiling of the boma is black from the charcoal cookstove inside.

An up close look at the thorny fence and corral for the livestock.

To my relief, I was well received by my Maasai friends who gladly gave me a tour of their bomas for a very small fee. I also purchased some beautiful handmade jewelry from Jacobo’s mother, a couple of bracelets and a necklace that I love to this day.

As we headed out to see more of the vast area, we ran into Jacobo’s dad, a retired warrior. I found that many of the men have a pretty luxurious life compared to the women. No longer truly in need of a warrior class to protect them against invaders, the men usually have plenty of leisure time to sit around and talk while the women did all the work.

Jacobo’s dad

Jacobo brought me to a special place that once a year the morani and warriors go for a few months to eat meat. Tradition holds that morani and warriors must remain strong and be the best fed of all. Therefore, every year they head up to the forest where they eat goat meat for two-three months. The women stay at home.

Acacia trees and shrubs are most common in the region.

A dried out riverbed

Here is the cave that the men and boys stop at for their first week or so of eating goat.

This is a dried out riverbed that used to be filled with water. Water is extremely scarce.

View from the cave.

The forest is in the distance. It is a few hours walk on foot and is where the warriors go to fatten up on goat meat.

As we neared the camp, I could see women walking their donkeys with yellow plastic jugs. I asked Jacobo where they were going and he told me about the well. A few years ago,the camp dug a well which is open from 5-7 pm every day. Before the well, women and girls would spend hours each day fetching water so the new well has made a significant impact on their lives.

The women at the well

I thought about how such simple things as water are so easily taken for granted in the developed world. All I have to do is turn on the facet and out it comes, in plentiful supply. Seeing the well in person was a reminder how millions and millions of people around the world live. With little or no access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair”. – Kahlil Gibran

Once we returned to camp, I was exhausted. It was quite an eye-opening day. I had a quiet dinner with Camila and the other European camp volunteer and they told me some of the more difficult stories about the camp. That female genital mutilation (FGM) is rampant in Tanzania despite it being banned and illegal by the government. That the process is horrifying and the young girl is cut with unsanitary knives and left to lay and bleed alone for months inside the boma. That Jacobo lost his first wife in childbirth because she was unable to deliver her baby safely after her the trauma caused by FGM. And the list goes on.

It was hard for me to reconcile my beliefs on how as a world we should intervene. Despite the belief that we should respect certain cultures and traditions that have been held since the beginning of mankind, it does not make them right or justifiable. Sadly change is difficult but not impossible.

View outside my tent that night

Want to learn more? Here are some excellent articles:

“In Tanzania, Maasai women who reject FGM are refused as Brides” via Reuters

“Maasai in Tanzania: World Fame but Empty Stomachs” via the Guardian

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

WaterAid – Tanzania (Fact: 14 million people in Tanzania have no choice but to drink dirty water from unsafe sources).

Adventure Travel Africa Conservation/Environment Food Security Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD Tanzania TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION Women and Girls

November 11, 2015April 7, 2019

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Gifts that Give Back: Introducing Thistle Farms

Thistle Farms stands for the truth that, in the end, love is the most powerful force for change in the world. – Reverend Becca Stevens, Founder of Thistle Farms

I am a huge follower of journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s work. The couple have dedicated their lives to promoting women’s rights around the world and it was after reading their eye-opening book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” that I made up my mind to devote my life to giving back and making a difference. I know it sounds rather cliché but honestly, I was so moved and intellectually awakened by their book that I began my work volunteering abroad, fundraising for building a school in Nepal and all the other social good writing and advocacy I do.

Their most recent book and documentary “A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunities” expands on the overall themes in “Half the Sky”. It was from watching the documentary on PBS last year that I learned about the inspiring work of Reverend Becca Stevens and Thistle Farms, and I was delighted when they contacted me for an interview on my blog.

Like many amazing organizations, Thistle Farms and its residential program Magdalene, all began by one woman who wanted to make a difference and promote change, Becca Stevens, an Episcopal Priest from Tennessee. Becca was finishing her last year of Divinity School at Vanderbilt and became inspired to give back to the community. After talking with police officers, homeless people and other social services within the community she realized a strong need to help women get off the streets and away from drugs, trafficking and prostitution. Many people believe that prostitution and human trafficking exist only in third world countries when in fact it is a huge problem here in the United States as well.

Gifts that Give Back Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD Women and Girls

October 21, 2015October 3, 2017

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The Power of Five: How Amway is Beating Malnutrition around the world

Did you know that the first five years in a child’s life are critical for reaching important physical and mental milestones – and every year, more than 3 million children die from malnutrition? It is a tragedy that is entirely preventable and can be stopped.

This past September at the Social Good Summit in New York City, I had the opportunity to meet with Jeff Terry, head of Amway’s Global Corporate Social Responsibility, to learn about the work he’s leading to address childhood malnutrition around the world. Founded in 1959 in Ada, Michigan, Amway has grown to become a global leader in health, nutrition, home and beauty products sold through Independent Distributors.

Seeing a growing need to combat malnutrition, Amway harnessed their expertise on nutritional supplements to launch the Nutrilite Power of 5 program. The program delivers Nutrilite™ Little Bits™– a plant-based nutritional product specially designed for under-nourished children from six months to five years old the essential nutrients they need to grow and develop healthier brains and bodies. Amway works with key NGO partners in the field to provide education for families and children as well as monthly health assessments to check on progress. To date, Amway and their partners have performed up to 47,000 health assessments to ensure progress over the long-term, and have provided over 6,500 with the nutrition they need to survive and thrive.

An Amway team visits families in Zambia. Photo credit: Amway

Jeff came to Amway over four years ago and has been working closely with their team on the development and launch of the Power of Five campaign ever since. Seeing a growing crisis in malnutrition and a strong urge to help save lives, Amway used their strong knowledge and expertise in the nutritional supplement industry to launch the Power of Five program which was named to represent the importance of the first five years of life in a child’s development.

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Food Security Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD

October 11, 2015October 3, 2017

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Day of the Girl 2015

“Empowerment of and investment in girls are key in breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and in promoting and protecting the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights” -United Nations Resolution 66/170

Today, October 11, is the Day of the Girl, a day that just two years ago was declared by the United Nations as the International Day of the Girl Child to raise awareness about all issues concerning gender inequality around the world. It’s a day when activist groups come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere. Fast forward two years and the Day of the Girl has become a global movement of hope, inspiration and advocacy to better the lives of half our planet who is being left behind.

So why girls?

As girls, we experience inequality in every aspect of our lives. There are a billion reasons why we need the Day of the Girl, but let’s start with just a dozen (all are linked to their source. Just double click on statistic and you can read it in full):

*Source: Day of the Girl

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

October 7, 2015

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America’s Love/Hate Relationship with Violence

For the last few nights I’ve been sleepless. I have debated over and over again inside my head whether or not I should write about an extremely controversial subject on my blog. About a topic that divides and tears America apart and makes the rest of the world just shake their heads at us: Gun Control.

After much thought, I decided that as a mother and as an American citizen, I could no longer be silent and just share my beliefs over Facebook with my friends. Instead, I would put together an emotional piece on why I believe we should have gun control and why we must put more pressure on institutions such as the media, our mental health care system and society as a whole to change the deep-rooted, dark culture of violence in America.

It is an overwhelming topic. In fact, often I don’t even know where to start. So I am going to try to lay out my feelings and beliefs now and see if we can have a real conversation about guns and our love/hate relationship with violence in this nation. Whether you agree or disagree on my beliefs, it is up to you. But until we start having a real, honest dialogue about what is happening in our country nothing will change.

Photo and Image credit: Everytown USA

The facts:

Gun violence in the United States results in thousands of deaths and thousands more injuries annually.^[1] *

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2013, firearms (excluding BB and pellet guns) were used in 84,258 nonfatal injuries (26.65 per 100,000 U.S. citizens) ^[2]
11,208 deaths by homicide (3.5 per 100,000)^[3]
21,175 by suicide with a firearm,^[4]
505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm,^[4]
281 deaths due to firearms-use with “undetermined intent”^[5] for a total of 33,169 deaths related to firearms (excluding firearm deaths due to legal intervention).
1.3% of all deaths in the country were related to firearms.^[1]^[6]
In 2010, gun violence cost U.S. taxpayers approximately $516 million in direct hospital costs.^[12]
Despite widespread concern about the impacts of gun violence on public health, Congress has banned the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from conducting research on gun violence.^[18]

*Above content from Wikepedia. I cross-checked every statistic and source for accuracy.

Is this the world we want for our children?

Per Everytown for Gun Safety: “Since 2013, there have been at least 142 school shootings in America — an average of nearly one a week. How many more before our leaders pass common-sense laws to prevent gun violence and save lives? Communities all over the country live in fear of gun violence. That’s unacceptable. We should feel secure in sending our children to school — comforted by the knowledge that they’re safe”.

Perception versus Reality:

So why is it that people are more fearful of being killed in a terrorist attack or traveling to a “dangerous” country when there are more deaths by gun violence right outside our backdoor? Obama recently urged media to compare the number of deaths by gunfire each year to the total number of deaths from terrorism. The results were surprising. From 2004 to 2013 316,545 people died by firearms in the US. During that same period, the number of U.S. citizens killed overseas by terrorists was 277, while another 36 were killed in domestic acts of terrorism (Star Tribune Editorial “Placing the Blame on Another Mass Shooting”). My question is: Who is our government spending all our money on to fight? Yes, terrorism. What are we doing to fight our own mass killings in the US. Not much.

Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD

October 5, 2015

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#BeHerd: 96 Elephants are Killed in Africa Every Day

Did you know that 96 elephants are killed in Africa every single day? Over 30,000 African elephants die each year as a result of poaching.

I knew that the poaching and killing of elephants for their tusks was a problem however I never fully understood the enormity and magnitude of the issue until I listened to an amazing podcast on NPR’s “Fresh Air” called “GPS Trackers In Elephant Tusks Reveal Ivory Smuggling Route” (8/12/2015). It is a story that kept me at the edge of my seat for the entire hour and led me to read the full story in National Geographic (September 2015) by journalist Bryan Christy called “How Killing Elephants Finances Terror in Africa”. It is a fabulous, eye-opening account on how armed groups help fund operations by smuggling elephant ivory and how Christy developed fake tusks with hidden GPS trackers to track them down.

I love elephants and was fortunate enough to have seen them in the wild in South Africa on a safari (Check out my post: “Into the Wild My First Safari”). They are beautiful, majestic creatures. The thought that they are being killed simply for their tusks is horrible and something that must be stopped. However, it is not as easy as it seems.

This month, the Wildlife Conservation Society has launched a new campaign called 96 Elephants to bring awareness and take a stand on the fact that 96 elephants are killed in Africa every day. Founded in 1895, The Wildlife Conservation Society has the clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe. In 2012, poachers killed approximately 35,000 elephants in Africa for their tusks. 96 elephants are killed in Africa every day for their tusks.

Adventure Travel Conservation/Environment Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises South Africa TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION

September 11, 2015April 14, 2018

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Remembering 9/11: In a Series of Monochromatic Photographs

“A powerful monochromatic image is composed of a gradient of a single color, and has an emphasis on texture and composition. While the images I’ve shared in this post are not entirely monochromatic, they show the power that a simple color palette can have in a photograph”. – WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge Host, Jen Hooks

September 11, 2001. Fourteen years ago today. How long it seems since that fateful terrifying day. How fast time has gone that it seems as if it was just yesterday. The images and feelings of shock, anger, horror, sadness, fear and what ifs will forever be engrained in our minds. The images and emotions are things that we will never be able to forget and will never stop seeing when we close our eyes. The fruitless human lives that were lost. Our freedom imprisoned. Our hearts never the same. Our lives forsaken.

Today, I want to honor the people whose lives were lost on that horrific day and every single day in this cruel world. The people of Syria dying in search for freedom and a better life. The endless murders and shootings of innocent human beings. All lives that are lost, everywhere on this planet due to another human being.

Will there ever be peace? Will the countless mass murders – many happening here in the United States – ever be curtailed? In a world of violence will we ever truly be free?

1 World Trade Center Tower or “The Freedom Tower” is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, in July 2013. She looms directly behind the 9/11 Memorial.

“When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways – either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength”. – Dalai Lama

Each name of a person who died on 9/11 is inscribed along the side of the memorials.

CULTURE Global Issues Humanitarian TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY Weekly Photo Challenges

September 10, 2015October 4, 2017

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Too Young To Wed Launches Exclusive Print Sale

“Stephanie Sinclair has spent the last decade documenting some of the world’s most controversial subjects, from Yemen’s child brides to Texas’s polygamists. But her goal is simple: to record what is in front of her and pass as little judgement as possible”. Her beautiful photographs take us in and make us want to help change the tragic realities we are seeing. Her work also inspires hope that change is possible.

Images of 3 Iconic Prints for Sale from Stephanie Sinclair’s award-winning documentary photography collection. Photo credit: Stephanie Sinclair

Too Young to Wed, a non-profit organization, that employs visual media, photography exhibits and campaigns to educate and engage the global community to demand an end to the practice of child marriage, has launched its first print sale in collaboration with Photoville, New York City’s largest annual photo festival. I have written before about Too Young to Wed in a must-read post after meeting Founder and Executive Director Stephanie Sinclair last fall. Her work on shedding light about the injustices faced by young women and girls is inspiring and has already brought about change. It is nearly impossible to view Sinclair’s stunning photography without being deeply moved and wanting to help change the fate of these girls.

This photo of Ten-year-old Nujoud Ali taken two years after her divorce grace’s National Geographic’s “Women of Vision” cover. Nujoud’s story caused parliament to consider a bill writing a minimum marriage age into law. Photo credit: Stephanie Sinclair

Too Young to Wed: Mission

Every two seconds, a girl is forced into marriage against her will. The younger she is, the more likely a child bride is to experience domestic violence, contract HIV, develop complications from pregnancies or even die during childbirth. Child marriage robs girls of the childhood and the education they deserve, silencing them and preventing them from achieving their fullest potential.

Too Young to Wed’s mission is to protect girls’ rights and end child marriage. We do this by providing visual evidence of the human rights challenges faced by women and girls. Through our storytelling, we generate attention and resources to amplify the voices of these courageous women and girls and inspire the global community to end child marriage. We transform influential advocacy into tangible action on the ground through partnerships with international and local NGOs and by supporting initiatives in the communities where the girls in our stories live.

Sinclair’s work is phenomenal and incredibly moving. Now you can have a limited edition copy of your own and the purchase is for a fabulous cause. Each 8X10 archival print was hand-printed and signed by Ms. Sinclair, whose award-winning work documenting child marriage has been exhibited around the world. Ms. Sinclair’s work will be featured at Photoville at Brooklyn Bridge Park, and like the premiere photo event, which attracted 71,000 visitors last year, and the print sale will run from Sept. 10 – 20, 2015.

Prints can be ordered at tooyoungtowed.org/printsale, and 100 percent of the contributions received from photo sales will directly support TYTW’s mission to protect girls’ rights and end child marriage. Too Young to Wed supports local organizations and persons making a difference in the lives of girls and boys who are affected by the harmful practice of child marriage such as:

The Samburu Girls Foundation, a grassroots organization in rural Kenya, which provides shelter and education to girls rescued from child marriage, female genital mutilation and other harmful practices. practices. To date, the organization has rescued more than 200 girls and placed 125 of them in boarding school.
The women and children of the Kagati Village in Nepal where Ms. Sinclair conducted much of her child marriage reporting in 2007 and an area that was destroyed in the recent earthquakes (child bride, Niruta, 13, is featured as part of this exhibition);
Girl Empowerment Groups – an adolescent girls empowerment initiative designed by the Population Council for vulnerable girls living in rural areas. In this capacity, Too Young To Wed will support the village of Gombat, just outside of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia where Ms. Sinclair first photographed Destaye, who was married at 11 to an Ethiopian Orthodox priest (also part of this exhibition).

Photoville Presentations and Talks:

Sept. 12: Stephanie Sinclair will represent Too Young To Wed in the panel Affecting Policy and Change through Photography from 4-5 PM and will discuss how her work transformed into a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending child marriage.

Sept 17: TYTW will engage students during Photoville’s Education Day, a one-day field trip to the photo village that’s free and open to NYC public schools. Hundreds of middle school and high school students participate in a day of photography and storytelling activities, and they’ll have an opportunity to see how photography can bring about social change.

Sept. 19: Stephanie Sinclair discusses her Too Young to Wed photographs during the event An Evening with National Geographic, from 7-10pm at the Photoville Beer Garden. The evening will begin with photos and videos from the past 127 years—including the most recent stories from National Geographic and their digital platforms. Other photographers included are Katie Orlinsky, Robert Clark and David Guttenfelder with Director of Photography Sarah Leen serving as Master of Ceremonies.

Ways to help end child marriage and support Too Young to Wed:

Purchase a print during this limited time: Visit tooyoungtowed.org/printsale to support our programming
Donate: Visit www.tooyoungtowed.org and click Donate.
Volunteer: Share your skills and collaborate with TYTW. For opportunities email info@tooyoungtowed.org
Be Social and Keep Educated on the facts by following Too Young to Wed:

Twitter: @2young2wed
Instagram: @tooyoungtowed
Facebook: facebook.com/tooyoungtowed

Hashtags: #endchildmarriage #tooyoungtowed

Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Gifts that Give Back Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD

August 4, 2015April 14, 2018

— 29 Comments

A visit to the Kilimanjaro Orphanage Centre

Author’s note: This post is part of a series on my recent trip and climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, to read all posts click here.

Wherever I travel in the world, the one thing that always touches me most is the children of a place. It amazes me that joy, creativity and the desire to be loved is a universal thing that transcends borders, cultures, languages and even circumstances in life. Despite some of the utter hardships some children face – whether it be war, poverty, hunger or disease – I find that kids are still kids no matter what. They all love to play, to learn, to have attention and love, and of course to smile.

Visiting children at either a local school, community-lead program or orphanage has become something I try to do on every trip to the developing world. I have found that even a short time spent playing and interacting with children, even if we can’t speak the same language, does wonders for the soul. There are tons of places in need of volunteers and visitors however finding the right place to visit can be the tricky part. Thankfully the perfect place to visit was just a short walk away from the gates of our hotel in Moshi, Tanzania

Right behind the Springlands hotel lies an entire community of homes. I could smell the smoke from the fires filtering into my hotel room and wondered where it came from.

The Springlands Hotel is the base of Zara Tours, one of the leading trekking and safari outfitters in Moshi and is the company we employed for our climb to Mount Kilimanjaro. Run by Zainab Ansell, Zara Tours has been brining guests on amazing adventures for over two decades and has also given back to the community in which they serve through the Zara Tanzania Charity. Zara Charity works to develop and support vulnerable groups within their community such as porters, Maasai women, and local orphans improving the lives for many.

Like most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania has been ravaged by the HIV/AIDS epidemic that swept across the continent killing an estimated 30 million people from AIDS-related causes since the beginning of the epidemic twenty years ago (UNAID 2010 report). In Tanzania alone, HIV/AIDS has devastated an entire generation leaving a nation of orphans. UNICEF estimates that there are over 3.1 million children in Tanzania living without parents of which an estimated 1.3 million are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. For many of these children, an orphanage is the only place they have to find food, shelter, education and medical attention.

Africa Child Labor, Marriage, Education and Survival Global Health Global Issues SOCIAL GOOD Tanzania TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION

May 29, 2015April 11, 2018

— 38 Comments

On the Way to the #SolarSisterSummit

It always amazes me how incredibly fast time goes. It felt like just yesterday when I signed up to join Solar Sister in a quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this July in honor of their five-year anniversary of providing light, hope, and opportunity to over 1,000+ Solar Sister Entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa. Now there are only six weeks left until I am on the way to Tanzania and I have much training and fundraising left to do.

I must admit that I am already tired out with all the training and it is only the tip of the iceberg. The hike will be 50 miles and almost 20,000 feet so I have much work to do. I have been trying to exercise every day and increase my miles on foot. I’ve walked three lakes, hiked regional and state parks, run up hills and have also been biking. I’m tired but whenever I get drained I realize that I am on my way to achieving my goal both physically and financially.

On my way around one of many urban lakes in Minneapolis.

Africa Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises SOCIAL GOOD Tanzania TRAVEL TRAVEL BY REGION TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY Trekking/Hiking Weekly Photo Challenges

May 10, 2015October 3, 2017

— 31 Comments

Helping Mothers around the world

This post was first published on Motherly, a new digital community to help modern women thrive that was launched today.

Mother’s Day is always a special time of year as it is a time for mothers to be celebrated, appreciated and loved for the endless work we do to raise, nurture and love our children. Being a mom is one of the most wonderful gifts I’ve ever received and as a world traveler and writer on global health issues, I’ve realized how lucky we are as mothers to have the things we need to raise healthy children.

It wasn’t until I began traveling in the developing world that I got a sense of the enormous inequities for billions of mothers and their children who don’t have access to health care, clean water and sanitation, food and immunizations to protect themselves and their families. As an American, middle class mom of two, I took all these things we had for granted until I visited India, Ethiopia, Haiti and parts of Central America where I witnessed the struggles and tragedies that many mothers around the world face. So many moms lost their lives in childbirth delivering at home with no help or lost their babies due to preventable causes. It is heartbreaking and incomprehensible.

In Ethiopia at Mosebo Village. June 2014

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

Thirdeyemom

Traveling the World and Doing Good

Category: Global Issues

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