As part of Mom Blogger’s for Social Good (a global coalition of over 3,000 mom bloggers), I have received an advance copy of the inspiring new book by Betsy Teutsch called “100 Under $100: One Hundred Tools for Empowering Global Women”, for review. All opinions below are my own take on the book.
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu
In the field of international development, it is a well-known fact that women are powerful agents of change and development, and it is only by empowering women and girls that the world will be lifted out of extreme poverty. Yet despite this easy assertion women and girls continue to be the most impoverished, most vulnerable and most neglected human beings in the world.
There are many reasons why women and girls continue to suffer the most. Cultural beliefs and norms, war and violence, poverty, lack of infrastructure and education continue to play a significant role in women’s empowerment and rights. However, despite some of these challenging, long-held beliefs, traditions and obstacles, there are proven, cost-effective ways to change the lives of billions of women and girls living in extreme poverty.
Two young girls pose for me during a visit to one of Delhi’s many unauthorized slums. Despite their poverty, they were enrolled in a program sponsored by Save the Children to improve their lives.
“It’s about time someone said it. Being born female in one of the world’s poorest countries means your life will be harder, simply because of your gender. Unlocking the full potential of girls and women wouldn’t just transform their own lives, or even their families’ – it could help end extreme poverty for good”. – ONE
Inside we meet a mother and her expectant daughter. They walked two hours on foot to reach the Lie and Wait house. Her mother delivered all 8 children at home with no help.
Her 15-year-old daughter, a child bride, waiting to deliver her first child.
Mosebo Village, Ethiopia
Family in an unauthorized slum. Delhi, India
Sister Love in La Ceiba
“Being born female in one of the world’s poorest countries means your life will be harder, simply because of your gender”. I often think about those words. As an American woman, who is healthy, educated and has been blessed with amazing opportunities to see the world, I wonder what my life would be like if I’d been born somewhere else. Like India or Chad or Afghanistan. Would I just be a number?
The more I see and learn about the world, the more I realize that life is unfair in many ways and on many levels. Some inequities cannot be changed. However, some can. Being born a woman should not mean that you should have less opportunities to reach your potential. Nor should it mean if you are poor, that your opportunities are even more limited. Yet this is the world we live in today. A world in which violence against women and girls persists at “alarmingly high levels” per the UN. A world in which 800 women die each and every day during childbirth just because they are living in the developing world. A world in which boys are much more likely to be fed, go to school, and reach their potential. A world in which I desperately want to change.
Ethiopia has some of the highest levels of child marriage in the world.Furthermore, the number of girls going to primary school in the UK is equal to the number of girls not going to primary school in Ethiopia.
Can it be changed? Yes it can.
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8th the ONE Campaign has launched “Poverty is Sexist”, a new campaign aimed at pushing world leaders to establish new global goals to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide by 2030. It is a fact that the only way we can end extreme poverty, create peace, security and prosperity around the world is by improving the lives of women and girls around the globe.
“Whatever the conditions of people’s lives, wherever they live, however they live, they share the same hopes, the same dreams, as you and I”. -Melinda Gates
Today, March 8th is one of my favorite day’s of the year because it is a day that honors women around the world. It is International Women’s Day.
I think of all the progress we’ve made over the last few decades yet remember all of the challenges that remain ahead. Too many woman still die during childbirth. Too many women are victims of sexual violence and exploitation. Too many women do not have the opportunity to live up to their potential due to lack of education, status and rights. It is such a pity given that there is so much potential to make the world a better place for all if we just include women and girls.
Rather than dwell on the sometimes numbing statistics, I’d rather share some of my favorite photographs I’ve taken over the years honoring women around the world. Real women who are powerful, resilient and inspiring in their own right.
I hope that the world my daughter and grand children live in is a better place with more equality and opportunity for women and girls worldwide. This year’s theme is “Make it Happen”. Only together as a community, we can.
Fasika holding her fourth child, nine-day old baby boy.
Selling Coconuts in Honduras
Proud Grandma, Ethiopia.
Woman begging outside the church walls in Guatemala.
Old Cuban Friends
This post is a tribute to all the amazing, strong women around the world who are fighting to make it a better place.
Let’s Make It Happen.
These amazing documentaries are inspiring yet bound to also make you cry. I highly recommend watching one or all:
“These women will not be afterthoughts. They cannot be, because, as the title of the book says, tomorrow needs them”. – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8th and in recognition of the plight of women around the world, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has launched Because Tomorrow Needs Her, a powerful multimedia project that highlights the fight to save women’s lives around the world by improving access to health care. MSF has been one of the leading international medical humanitarian organizations since its founding in 1971 and their work and dedication to helping the world’s most vulnerable people has been incredible.
Through the use of beautiful photography and intimate storytelling, Because Tomorrow Needs Her bears witness to the cultural, political and economical barriers that women and girls face in seeking access to essential, life-saving medical care in the areas that MSF works around the world.
“Bullets are often fired over the clinic but we have no plans to stop providing a space for women’s health” – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Because Tomorrow Needs Her.
Intimately documented in seven chapters, Because Tomorrow Needs Her is a collection of first-hand stories of MSF doctors and caregivers trying to save women’s lives in the developing world. Combined with the gorgeous photography and videography of world-renown photographers Martina Bacigalupo, Patrick Farrell, Kate Geraghty and Sydelle Willow Smith, Because Tomorrow Needs Her highlights the challenges, successes and work that still needs to be done in women’s health in such far-reaching places as Burundi, Haiti, Malawi, Afghanistan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a few of many places MSF works.
99% of all maternal deaths are in developing countries. Photo credit/Copyright: Martina Bacigalupo/VU
As an avid reader and traveler, I enjoy finding books that will not only entertain but educate me. Most books I read are not always the most pleasant topic matter and give a rather intense look at the world. I try to read a lot on women’s rights and current events around the world, and occasionally throw in a poetic piece of fiction for fun.
Last night I completed reading “A House in the Sky“, a harrowing account of Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout’s 460 days held hostage by Islamic fundamentalists in Somalia. Co-authored by The New York Times Magazine’s Sara Corbett, A House in the Sky is one of the most intense books I’ve read in years. A book that by the end, left me in tears.
Beautifully written in reflective, poetic prose the book starts off slowly with Amanda’s story of how she was raised by a dysfunctional, poor family outside of Calgary and how she used her money as a waitress to support her wanderlust and see the world. To be honest, there were many times over the course of the first 100 pages of Amanda’s back story that made me want to put the book away and stop reading. Oftentimes I find personal narratives a bit narcissistic and vain such was the case with reading the best-selling books “Eat, Pray, Love” and “Wild“. Yet something in Amanda’s story kept me reading it, wanting to get to the story of her abduction and subsequent 15 months in captivity by Somalian jihadists.
For over three years, I have been a part of World Moms Blog, an amazing group of women writing about motherhood around the globe. These women have become some of my closest friends and I have been incredibly honored to work with them as a part of World Moms Blog, ONE Women and Girls, and Shot@Life. This week we are supporting CleanBirth.org, an organization started by one of our contributors, Kristyn Zalota,to make birth safer in Laos, one of the worst places on earth to give birth.
In the rural areas of Laos where almost 70% of the population live, access to life-saving health care is sparse and many people live in remote, mountainous areas that are hard to reach posing challenges for expectant mothers. Per the World Health Organization, Laos ranks 21st out of all countries in the world in terms of the highest maternal mortality rates. The 2010 statistics are 470 maternal deaths out of 100,000 live births which is worse than Afghanistan. Infant mortality rate is not much better. Laos comes in as the 33rd highest with a rate of 54 deaths out of 1,000 live births (2014).
Mother and child in Laos. Photo Credit: Kristyn Zalota
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one”. – Mother Teresa
I have always been committed to volunteering and giving back either locally or around the globe. Since having children my focus has been more on them and volunteering at their elementary school. Yet as they get older, there is less volunteer work needed so I decided it was time to branch out and find more volunteer opportunities locally.
One place I’d been longing to volunteer at is a fabulous non-profit faith-based organization called Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). Founded in 1987 in Minnesota by a Christian businessman, FMSC has produced nearly 900 million meals and shipped them to over 70 countries around the world. Last year alone, FMSC donated 191.6 million meals!
I had the pleasure of accompanying a good friend to FMSC November Gala and made a promise that I’d set aside some time to volunteer at one of their three packing plants here in town. I was inspired by their mission and their business model of volunteerism. Not one person is ever paid to pack a meal and no machines are used. Every single meal that goes out is hand-packed by volunteers around the United States (they have packing sites in Illinois and Arizona and mobile packing sites anywhere in the US). Furthermore, all meals are funded by donations.
Just to get an idea of the vastness of hunger, it is important to step back and look at the numbers. 1 in 8 people in the world go hungry every single day. That means almost 1 billion people do not eat each day. To me, it is utterly unimaginable.
Whenever I travel, I try to ensure I’m fitting in a little bit of time to learn about some of the social issues that impact a country I am visiting. Through my work as a social good blogger and advocate for various non-profit organizations, I have learned about many of the issues that negatively impact women and girls around the world. From poverty and hunger to lack of education, safe water and health care services, each issue has its unique set of challenges that keeps women and girls from thriving. Human sex trafficking is one of the darker topics I have touched upon, and sadly it is often one of the most tragic especially when it involves young girls.
Bolivia is a country that is notorious for prostitution as well as child labor. Child labor (children can work independently as young as ten) and prostitution are actually legal. Although it is not legal for girls under the age of 18 to be prostitutes, sadly the law is often overlooked and disregarded. As in most places around the world, a life as a prostitute is not one that most girls or women would choose and the majority of girls who end up in prostitution have been sexually abused as a child.
Despite being legal in Bolivia, it is often not very well-regulated and bribes are common ways to get anything done under the table. Women who are registered as prostitutes are required to have regular medical check-ups but it is easy to let it slide. Furthermore, there is much corruption within the prostitution industry. Women and girls are abused by their pimps and their customers, and are paid very little for the services they provide. The average “trick” is about $3 and in order to pay enough to cover rent at the brothel women must multiple tricks a night. It is not uncommon for some women to do up to 40 tricks a night.
On my first day in Bolivia, I met with SutiSana to learn about their amazing work in helping women leave prostitution and change their lives. Founded five years ago by the faith-based non-profit Word Made Flesh, SutiSana helps women in El Alto, Bolivia leave the lives of prostitution by providing them with training, support and guidance to become self-sufficient and gainfully employed.
The name SutiSana comes from Aymara and Spanish, the two languages that the women speak, and was chosen for its beautiful meaning. In Aymara, Suti means name. In Spanish, Sana means healthy or healed. As women leave prostitution, they often leave behind a name they used there and find a new identity – a Healed Name.
Since SutiSana is a Christian-based non-profit organization, they have a small room for prayer. In this room, as you look outside the window you will see the row of nondescript buildings that are the brothels. The largest brothel is the building on the right edge of the photo. It has four floors with 100 prostitutes working a night.
Oftentimes I become so incredibly focused in my global advocacy work that I forget that several awful things happen right under my nose here in the United States. Recently the media has gone into high speed telling stories igniting fierce protests across the nation about recent police brutality and racism. However, one story that has not received as much attention by the media is the sickening and increasing level of young girls in our nation who are getting trapped into prostitution.
The average victim may be forced to have sex up to 20-48times a day. (Polaris Project)
Fewer than 100 beds are available in the United States for underage victims. (Health and Human Services)
Department Of Justice has identified the top twenty human trafficking jurisdictions in the country:” Houston • El Paso • Los Angeles • Atlanta • Chicago • Charlotte • Miami • Las Vegas • New York • Long Island • New Orleans • Washington, D.C. • Philadelphia • Phoenix • Richmond • San Diego• San Francisco • St Louis • Seattle • Tampa (Department of Justice)
A pimp can make $150,000-$200,000per child each year and the average pimp has 4 to 6 girls.(U.S. Justice Department, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
One in three teens on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. (National Runaway Hotline)
Turned out by a pimp at 13, Lisa only knows one life. The heroin that makes her forget and the tricks she turns to #survive. “I feel like my skins crawling right now and its like it doesnt matter how clean I try to get how many showers I take, it doesnt go away. When I say Im scared of being sober, Im scared of the reality of things.” Twitter: “I’m #scared of being #sober, I’m scared of the #reality of things.” Free streaming @tlnmovie at hope.ly/1ySHk6W #survivor #seattle Photo Credit: Tim Matsui
One photographer and filmmaker Tim Matsui wanted to change this and show the world that this issue is important and that something needs to be done. Working in Seattle, together with the King County Sheriff’s Department, victims of prostitution and their parents, The Long Night is a harrowing tale of pimps, teenage girl prostitutes, the law enforcement team working to help them and their parents trying to save them. It is a difficult hour to watch but also a highly moving piece that truly helps one understand a tough subject matter.
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 a new Girls’ Empowerment Campaign in rural Ethiopia. I wrote at length about Too Young to Wed in a must-read post last week and wanted to introduce their new campaign today in honor of Giving Tuesday (Giving Tuesday is a day that asks people to consider giving back to their favorite charities and always falls on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States).
By partnering with local nonprofits, Too Young to Wed supports income-generating projects, literacy classes and girl engagement groups where the girls in their stories live. One such project is in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, a place that I actually had the pleasure of visiting myself this past June as a fellow with the International Reporting Project.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is estimated that around 80-90% of Ethiopia’s population live in rural, remote regions and over 30% of the population lives under the international poverty line of $1.25 per day (1) and the majority live under $2 a day. Child and maternal mortality health rates are falling yet still remain quite high, while life expectancy and education rates are low.
Two young girls near Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Photo credit: Stephanie Sinclair
The status of women is also low and Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. Although the legal age of marriage is 18 for both males and females it is widely ignored.
“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.
In October, I had the honor of attending the ONE Women and Girls inaugural AYA Summit in Washington DC. The summit was an inspiring two days filled with some of the world’s leading speakers and do-gooders who advocate the rights of women and girls in the developing world.
On the first morning of the summit, I had the fortuitous opportunity to met a woman who has inspired me for years, award-wining photojournalist Stephanie Sinclair. Sinclair’s famous photo of Nujood Ali, who stunned the world in 2008 by obtaining a divorce in Yemen at age 10, graces the cover of National Geographic’s “Women of Vision” which I have sitting next to me in my office as inspiration.
Ten-year-old Nujood Ali, two years after her divorce. Nujoud’s story caused parliament to consider a bill writing a minimum marriage age into law. Photo credit: Stephanie Sinclair
I had the pleasure of seeing Sinclair’s work on display at the National Geographic’s “Women of Vision” exhibit at their headquarters last fall and left mesmerized by her beautiful, thought-provoking photography. Little did I know that a year later, I would find myself sitting right next to Sinclair at the AYA Summit. Talk about fate.
Sometimes life has a funny way of connecting people in rather random ways. The more I blog and use my voice on social media, the more amazing connections I continue to make and it always astounds me. One connection I made recently was with Pamela O’Brien, Director of Business Development and Communications of New Vision Renewable Energy. Through Twitter, Pam saw the work I was doing, contacted me and eventually our relationship has led to partnership where I share the amazing work that New Vision is doing to provide solar lights around the world.
Last week, I had the honor of learning even more about New Vision’s work by a face to face meeting with Abdujabar (Abdul) Dire, a senior technical service engineer who works at Minnesota-based diversified technology company 3M and is part of the 3Mgives Team Africa. Over lunch at a local Ethiopian restaurant, Abdul shared his story of how he came to America as a teenager from Ethiopia and how years later he is working to give back to his village by bringing the children light. It is an amazing, inspiring story that I am excited to share.
Most Ethiopians (around 85-90%) live in Rural areas without electricity.
Most common form of transportation.
A tukel. No electricity.
A big part of Africa lacks electricity. In Ethiopia alone, it is estimated that over 80% of the population live off the grid without electricity and there are many negative consequences*. First of all, without electricity children are not able to study at night and are kept further behind in their education. Families are forced to cook inside their homes usually with unsafe cookstoves creating enough smoke inside the home to cause health problems and dangerous conditions.
