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

Here We Go Again — Another Vanilla Crisis Looming

Another vanilla crisis? Didn’t we just have one?

Yep, we sure did and the price of a little bottle of vanilla was ridiculously high! So how can this be happening again? Sadly, very easily.  Worse, it shouldn’t have to happen!

In the commodity world the operative words are

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. 

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.