Help Me Bring Mariam Mukalazi to Women Leaders for the World

In 2005 I attended the inaugural Women Leaders for the World (WLW) program, sponsored by the Global Women’s Leadership Network in conjunction with the Leavey School of Business, at Santa Clara University.

My goal was to develop a greater voice

The Vanilla.COMpany Turns Ten: Celebrating a Miracle

How do we measure time?  Years, decades, significant events, transformative experiences?

I’ve been pondering this over the past few weeks  for a couple of reasons. 

Sending Help and Hope to the Horn of Africa

Did you know that five dollars will feed a Somali for two weeks? That there are reliable organizations that donate 100% of their money directly to the people?  Here’s a simple way that you can be a philanthropist and make a huge difference!

Unless you’ve been on holiday for the last two months and haven’t seen a paper or TV, you already know that the worst drought in 60 years is forcing thousands of desperate people to walk long distances from rural villages to refugee camps or big  cities  in a frantic search for food and water.  Over 11 million people in Somalia alone are in need of immediate help.  Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djbouti, Kenya and Northern Uganda are also faced with starvation as rains haven’t arrived for over two years.

This is not an easy time anywhere in the world, but those of us in industrialized countries at least have resources for food and water.  Our brothers and sisters in the Horn of Africa not only have no resources, they are also facing the ravages of a failed state-turned violent in Somalia, and ineffective, corrupt governments in most of the other countries.

It’s easy to be caught in our own stories.  We’re busy, we’re stressed, we’re worried about work, our families, ourselves.  Many of us would like to help but we’re living on a tight budget.  Others of us would happily donate if we know that our money will actually reach the people in need.

There are a number of agencies that I feel are very reliable and where help is arriving.  One is the International Rescue Committee and another is the UN Human Rights Commission

However, there are smaller, grassroots organizations where no one takes a salary and 100% of your donations go directly to food, supplies, tents and medical care.  The African Future is a group of Canadian Somalis who are working directly with people in Somalia. They are in partnership with Somalis in the United States and are together collecting donations for refugees. My friend Ubax Gardheere is a member of the Seattle Somali community and working with The African Future.  Send $5.00 to feed a Somali child for two weeks!  That’s less than a sandwich and a soda!

Hope Without Borders was started in 2005 by friends Lance and Julie Parve.  Lance is a civil engineer and member of Engineers Without Borders.  Julie is a nurse practitioner working in clinics with Somali Refugees in Wisconsin.  In the 1980s they volunteered for two years at a hospital in Somalia and have remained committed to providing training and assistance in creating sustainable projects in Eastern Africa, especially in Somalia and Kenya.  They underwrite all of the work they do and all donations go directly for medical supplies, tools, equipment and other needs.  Currently they are raising funds for tents, medicines and other urgently needed supplies for refugee camps.

We’re all riding on this small space ship together.  What happens across the world from us affects us as well.  Whether you can afford $5.00 or $5,000, you may be saving the life of a future doctor, scientist, social worker, teacher or world leader.   If you have been reluctant to send money to an organization over concern that it will be used appropriately, you now have the connection to four groups where your money will be wisely applied.  Again, it’s theafricanfuture.org  or hwb-usa.org  in case you didn’t click through on the earlier links.

Thank you for reading this and for your support to our African brothers and sisters!

From Activism to Hallmark Cards and Back

Every Mother’s Day I feel conflicted.  Not that I don’t like the idea, I’m a mom, after all, and it’s wonderful to be acknowledged and adored.  But I also think about how Mother’s Day began and how vitally important it was until the 1920s when advertisers turned the day into a commercial bonanza with mushy, sentimental cards, boxes of chocolates and large bouquets.  Even that would have been okay if the real meaning hadn’t been lost in the bon-bons.

Since its designation as a holiday in 1914, Mother’s Day has grown so much that it is now the second largest holiday for retail spending (Christmas is the largest). 25 percent of flowers purchased annually are bought for Mother’s Day.  It’s the busiest day of the year for long-distance phone calls as well as for most restaurants.

Given the statistics, isn’t it ironic that Mother’s Day was started in 1870 when Julia Ward Howe, aghast at the carnage of the Civil War, issued the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” asking women to join forces to stop their sons from ever going off to die again?

“Arise, then, women of this day!  Arise all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of fears,” she wrote.  “Disarm! Disarm!  The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.  Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.”

Howe, who wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic, called out for a better, more peaceful country, and world.  And, she wasn’t alone. Women in the 19th century saw themselves not only as mothers in their own homes but as mothers of humanity. They took active roles in social reform, the suffrage movement, and a desire to reunite families torn apart by the Civil war.

So much for cute Hallmark cards.

It seems to me that the conversation may be changing in subtle ways, a shift that started in the early years of this century, thanks to the Internet and Social Media. Groups such as Code Pink , Moms Rising, Women Thrive Worldwide and others are emerging, women are organizing and speaking out in greater numbers again, calling for peace and defending programs designed to assist women and children both here in the United States and worldwide.

Now socially conscious non-profit organizations, many of whom assist women and children in developing countries are suggesting meaningful gifts for our mothers.  Groups such as Finca, Mercy Corps, Accion International, Freedom from Hunger and many, many more.

Women’s international news groups such as Pulsewire and Women In Perspective offer articles by women who are writing about issues that matter, including the challenges of emerging democracies in North Africa and the Middle East.

Even award winning New York Times writer, Nicholas Kristoff encourages us to rethink the roses and truffles in favor of medical care and education for women in developing countries.  After all, women have a vested interest in the wellbeing of their children, which includes stability and freedom in their countries.

We can still celebrate our mothers and sisters and wives and daughters and, at the same time, honor the programs that are making a difference for mothers and sisters and wives and daughters in countries where survival is a daily struggle.  A gift of five dollars can be huge, especially if hundreds or thousands of people each donate five dollars.  It’s about priorities.

Five dollars buys a Starbucks coffee and a muffin.  Five dollars also buys food for a week for a girl who could become a doctor or scientist or professor if she is well nourished has the opportunity to go to school.

Next Mother’s Day, consider a gift honoring a woman in your life by donating to an organization in honor of your mother.  Or a birthday gift or instead of flowers for a sick friend.  I can assure you it will make two people very happy.

One mother who can use our help has never had children of her own, but instead, raised two girls whose parents couldn’t afford them. Theresia Ndirangu not only raised these girls but also supported her mother and siblings, paid school fees for numerous students where she taught, even gave up food for herself in order to make sure some of her students had food in their stomachs so they could stay awake in class.

Theresia teaches once nomadic tribal women now relocated to cities, how to cook, garden and care for their children.  She has been mother to hundreds of women.  If we can get her to Brookes College, Oxford, she will touch the lives of thousands of women.

Five dollars might buy you a sandwich.  Five dollars can also make a difference toward getting Theresia to Oxford.  Read about Theresia, then make a donation, however small, to help me get this Mother-to-Many the education she deserves.

Launching A Non-Profit and Foundation

A few years ago I thought about launching a non-profit for the benefit of farmers and the promotion of pure vanilla.  Between running my business, moderating The International Tropical Farmers Network, a Google group I launched for farmers, scientists and others interested in the issues of the vanilla industry and/or tropics, and being in aggressive chemotherapy for a year, my plate was so overflowing that I realized it wasn’t realistic to try to shove one more thing onto it as everything would end up on the floor, including me.

Then a couple of weeks ago a business adviser suggested that I revisit the idea and to also hit the speaking circuit again.  My first reaction was that it would be wonderful but, between working at New Leaf Market full time and running a business, my plate was still pretty darn full.

But the idea is taking hold.  I considered the usual suspects that might keep me from proceeding.  You know them — fear, lack of experience, the possibility of failure.  All the scary stuff inside us that makes us procrastinate or back off.  Were any of those demons applying the brakes to my idea?  Maybe.

On the other hand, I have taken on bigger and scarier things.  Things like Stage IV breast cancer.  If I could manage cancer as a single woman while also running a business, could a non-profit really be that difficult?

I’ve taken my first step by publicly declaring my intention.  World Pulse is an online and print magazine about women.  They have articles about social entrepreneurs from around the world and the work they are doing.  Some projects are as basic (though equally important) as setting up a well or launching businesses with micro-loans and some are about non-profits that are moving mountains.  A very interesting site that I suggest you visit.

World Pulse announced a month ago that they are running a contest again, soliciting stories from women.  This year they requested stories about miracles, moments that were pivotal in our lives, perhaps transformative, no matter how apparently simple the miracle might appear.

At first I felt I was too busy to enter and that I would be wise to stay focused on what I believed was important.  Then World Pulse sent out a “Last Call for Submissions” this last week and suddenly I was pulled in.  My grandsons and family were supposed to come down on President’s Day but the boys had colds.  Unexpectedly I had a completely unstructured day in front of me to use however I chose.  I decided to enter the contest.

Winning isn’t the point for me, though if I do win, the money will be used to follow my intention.  I felt that writing about my miracle might inspire others faced with apparently insurmountable challenges.  And it gave me the opportunity  to  write that my intention is to launch a non-profit and a foundation this year. Posted in public on a major web site! And Facebok.  And my blog.

Here’s my entry:  My Story:  The Miracle of Prayer

Please feel free to post a comment under my submission and/or to this blog.  I can use ideas, thoughts, support and help from those of you who may be experienced in either of these ventures.

I wonder, do any of you have an intention you would like to make known to the world?  It’s the first step toward realizing a goal.  If so, please share!