Author’s note: This post is part of my series on my recent trip to Honduras. To read past posts on Honduras, click here.
When I arrived at the ferry station and saw my fellow passengers, it was the first real indication that Roatan and the mainland of Honduras were worlds apart. Unlike the jam-packed United Airlines flight from Houston loaded with passengers dressed in their country club best, 98% of the ferry passengers were Honduran. I was the only blond-haired blue-eyed person on the entire ship of a couple hundred people.
I wanted to share a great post today on World Mom’s Blog, where I’m a writer and contributing editor, on a fantastic organization founded by Kristyn Zalota called Clean Birth. We all know that in developing countries having a safe birth for mother and child is not a given. In fact about 800 women die around the world every day due to complications during and after childbirth.
Photo credit: Wikipedia Free Commons.
Here are some facts from the World Health Organization that demonstrate how unacceptably high the numbers are:
99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
Maternal mortality is higher in women living in rural areas and among poorer communities.
Young adolescents face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy than older women.
Skilled care before, during and after childbirth can save the lives of women and newborn babies.
Between 1990 and 2010, maternal mortality worldwide dropped by almost 50%.
However, In 2010, 287 000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth.
Almost all of these deaths occurred in low-resource settings, and most could have been prevented.
Please stop by and check out the post today, “$5 Saves 2 Lives” as well as our mission to raise enough money to fund 1000 clean birth kits. Let’s give all women the chance for a healthy and safe birth!
Every so often a famous singer is moved by the problems they see around the world and use their talent and celebrity status to try to make the world a better place. On my blog, I’ve introduced you to the latest songs for charity by such famous singers as Beyoncé (“I was here” sung for the UN World Humanitarian Day) and the “Every Beat Matters” campaign with rocker group OneRepublic and Save the Children. Now I’d like to introduce you to another song for social good, “Say the Word – I’ll Be There” recorded by Andras Fixler, a pop entertainer from Budapest.
Following is a press release with the details about the song and the cause close to Andras Fixler’s heart.
“Hungarian Singer Andras Fixler Unites With War Child, To Donate All Profits From Selling A Song “Say The Word – I’ll Be There” To The Charity”
(Budapest, Hungary) War, conflict and natural disaster have far-reaching consequences across the Earth, with people of all backgrounds suffering even in scientific times as these. Across the world, violent events, both human-made and natural, have their greatest and most catastrophic effects upon the most vulnerable among us: children.
This fact has never been more depressing, more gruelling to Hungarian singer Andras Fixler, a man with a passion for music. After years of witnessing shocking images of children impacted by war and natural disasters, from child soldiers in the Congo to starving children still living with the consequences of the 2004 Indonesian Tsunami, Andras knew he had to do something. His philosophy combines the beautiful idealism that even one human being can make a difference through philanthropy and empathy.
With his cause came his inspiration. With his inspiration, Andras could see the world in a new light. Ever since its 1991 release, Kylie Minogue’s Say the Word – I’ll Be There had left an impression on Andras as a great song, but he found the lyrics particularly relevant to the plight of disadvantaged children across the world.
And to do his part in supporting unfortunate children across the world, Andras Fixler teams up with War Child North America to release his own charity single, offering it for sale for $4.99. It may seem like it’s not too much, but just $2.50 can provide a street child with transport to visit their family in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, $5 can buy a school uniform for the dry season in Uganda, $15 can purchase one toiletry and hygiene kit for one girl in prison in Afghanistan. By purchasing this single, you help Andras making a real difference in the lives of these children.
“I had to discover after listening to it from time to time that it is not exactly about love. Or at least it can be interpreted to be about CARE. I like the meaning of the lyrics that there are always so many bad things happening all around the World and we ought to do something to help. I discovered that this song can be understood as care for children, protecting them, doing everything to save them. They are the future and it is very important to recognize that. And all should join us in helping and saving them!
“War Child is a charity that dares to dream, and to create, a world that is better for children whose lives are affected by decisions that are not their own.”
That’s what inspires Andras every day: daring to make a difference, one song at a time.
You can download Andras Fixler’s version of Say the Word – I’ll Be There via http://act.andrasfixler.com/saytheword . All profits he generates will go to War Child North America.
War Child is an international charity that protects children from the brutal effects of war and its consequences. To learn more about War Child, click here.
Andras Fixler is a Hungarian singer who performs Hi-NRG / retro hits from 80s and 90s. To visit his website click here. You can also check his project out on Facebook.
I always like to follow the news on places I’ve visited before. It just so happens that China has been in the news big time recently and not in a good way. Apparently Beijing has been impacted by some of the most dangerous levels of pollution in history and it isn’t going away anytime soon. The pollution is at such hazardous levels that the Communist Governement has declared emergency measures to try to decrease the horrendous black soot in the air that is unhealthy for people to inhale. The air quality is so incredibly bad that people are advised not to venture outdoors.
Per today’s New York Times article titled Smog Blankets China’s Capital, “In the past three decades, China has adopted a growth-at-any-cost attitude to build its economy, and the resulting environmental damage is now widespread and severe”.
I was in Beijing a little over a year ago and had been shocked by the thick layer of pollution and smog blanketing and strangling the city like a murderer. Every single picture I shot while in Beijing was a huge disappointment given the pesky pollution that wouldn’t budge. It was slightly better in Shanghai yet still worrisome.
As more Chinese move up the ranks into the middle class and buy more cars, there is bound to be more problems with pollution and the damage to the environment will be unbearable. It points again to the need for all governments to come together and agree on how they should address climate change and the impact that over 7 billion people are making on this earth. Of course, Americans with their big, gas-guzzling cars need to help out too. We all do. But I hope something is done before it is too late.
I’m leaving you with a few photos I took while in Beijing last year and processed them with a new filter app called PhotoForge which I love. I’ve also been experimenting more with Instagram as well. If you are interested in checking me out there, I am under Thirdeyemom.
Author’s note: This post is part of my series on my recent trip to Honduras. To read more, click here.
My last morning in Roatan was a short one. I only had a few hours to explore before catching the early afternoon ferry over to the mainland where I would began my volunteer work and spanish courses the next morning.
Despite my hesitation, I decided to go check out the nearby Gumbalimba Park. Diane, the owner of West Baby B&B, highly recommended it yet I was a little concerned it would be a tourist trap. The admission to just the park was $30 and in my opinion is relatively expensive especially for Honduras.
I read a few reviews online and did a google search on the park which is known for its zipline canopy tour. The first thing I found in my search was a 2008 article about a cruise ship passenger who fell to her death from the zipline during an excursion to the park. I know that things like this can happen anywhere but it unnerved me. I decided to just go check the park out for its flora and fauna and pass this time on the canopy tour. All in all, the fun encounters with the monkeys and parrots made the park definitely worth the while and the photos made my children laugh hysterically. Check them out for yourself!
It must have been a sign of fate that I happened to be paging through the resort brochure the last night of my stay at the lovely Barefoot Cay and saw the two-page spread on Clinica Esperanza. Instantly I was taken by the story and by a stroke of luck the next morning, thirty minutes before my departure to the United States I found myself interviewing the very doctor who has dedicated the last several years of his life to helping build the clinic.
The Snowy Day is a 1962 children’s picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book. It features a boy named Peter exploring his neighborhood after the first snowfall of the season. The inspiration for Peter came from a Life magazine photo article from 1940, and Keats’ desire to have minority children of New York as central characters in his stories. Source: Wikipedia.
Author’s note: This post is part of my series on my recent trip to Honduras. To read more, click here.
After the sun dipped below the sea, it was time to take a walk along West Bay beach and scope out a place to eat. Diane from West Bay B&B had given me a little hand-made drawing of the beach and listed all her favorite places to eat. As a lover of Argentinian food, I decided to try the Argentinian parrilla or grill. But first I wanted to explore a little further down the beach and snap a few more photos especially because the crowds had died down and only a few remained to catch the last rays of light of the day.
Author’s note: This post is part of my series on my recent trip to Honduras. To read more, click here.
“Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven”. -John Lubbock
My first afternoon in Roatan was rather rushed and not really relaxing. I tend to get overly excited when I arrive at a new place and run a hundred miles an hour trying to cram in as much as possible. Unfortunately that tends to be my personality. But there was one thing that I wasn’t going to miss: The famous sunsets along West Bay. I had read that West Bay is the best place on the island to catch sunset over an icy cold beer and Diane at West Bay B&B even told me the perfect place: The Bananarama Bar and Grill. “Make sure you snap a shot of the sun setting through the palm trees” Diane said with a brilliant smile. “It can’t be missed“.
All photos credited to WaterAid and used with permission.
Can you imagine living a life without access to clean water or sanitation? Something as basic yet critical as clean water and access to a toilet is a luxury that many people around the world in developing nations simply don’t have.
Roatan is in the largest and most popular of the three Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras and surrounded by the second largest barrier reef in the world: The Mesoamerican Reef that stems all the way down to Belize making it a diver’s paradise. Roatan is more touristy and developed than its neighbors Utila and Guanaja, yet this long narrow island of 50 km long has a little something special for everyone.
I opted to spend my first day and night in the lovely West Bay, located at the southern tip of the island and awash in picture perfect white sandy beaches and amazing snorkeling just steps away from the beach. It was a wonderful welcoming to such an amazing place!
This short path lead directly to the beach. It was less than five minutes from my hotel.
“Weeping is not the same thing as crying, It takes your whole body to weep, and when it`s over, you feel like you don`t have any bones left to hold you up.” ― Sarah Ockler, Twenty Boy Summer
Remember the victims and their shining smiles. 26 are pictured above. Yet there are 27 victims of the massacre if you include the killer’s mother who was shot before he entered the school. Photo credit: Time Magazine
Like most people around the world I was mortified and heartbroken by the horrific events that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary in the small, close-knit community of Newtown, Connecticut. As a mother of two children ages 6 and 8, the unimaginable tragedy struck even closer to my heart and soul and made me think in ways I didn’t want to. How on earth a young lost soul could do the most horrific thing imaginable is beyond any reasonable thinking. I have thought about it for a long time and still the pain and fear remain and the questions unanswered. Perhaps we will never know.
