International Women’s Day!

Happy International Women’s Day!  Today marks the 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day that was birthed out of poor working conditions for women in Europe in 1911 but blossomed into a yearly celebration to honor women around the globe.  Go ahead and tell a special woman in your life how great they are! (And if you are a woman, include yourself!).  There are countless reasons to celebrate women and the contribution they’ve made to our lives and society as a whole. 

The theme for 2011 is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women”.  This is relevant for all nations, including the US, but what stands out in my mind is a trip to Bangladesh for work about a year ago.  I was in the countryside sitting in a circle with Bangladeshi women along with a Kenyan colleague of mine, Winnie.  The purpose of the gathering was to observe a unique women’s savings and credit group model popular in Bangladesh (similar to micro-financing).  With the help of a translator, we were able to ask questions and exchange ideas.  The village women asked for our opinion on their program and for any suggestions we may have.  When Winnie spoke, one thing that I found powerful was, “You educate a girl, you educate a village.  You then educate the world”.  The women around the circle had a moment of understanding and nodded in agreement.  I have fortunately grown up in a society that allows equal education to women and girls, but I am keenly aware this is not the case for many women around the world, particularly in developing countries.  Women who are educated are able to contribute to the family income.  This also increases their status and decision-making process within the family unit.  They are often the primary caretakers of children and most likely will invest their income into their children’s health, well-being and education. This unfortunately is not always the case with their male counterparts. In addition, educating a woman reduces child mortality, reduces maternal mortality, prevents the spread of HIV/AIDS.  Through time, this eventually leads to broad social impacts and positive change within the family, community, nation and hopefully the world. 

The Bangladeshi women eventually asked me what “advice” I had to give them.  They wanted to know how is it that the US is such a wealthy country.  In other words, what have we done right?  All I could think was: how in the world am I supposed to answer that question?  I had no idea.  What came out of my mouth was: the US invests in education for both boys and girls and this allows for increased economic earning potential and higher standards of living.  This is an extremely broad statement and I am well aware that in the US, women’s salaries are on average still lower than men’s, executive positions are mostly occupied by men, working conditions are not always fair, and that there is still a long way to go for American women.  The US also has its own fair share of poverty and injustices.  But in that moment I grasped the understanding of how access to education for both girls and boys has and does make a difference.  It was right in front of me.  In places like Bangladesh and Kenya, the correlation between education and poverty is almost palpable.   So in my perspective, the theme for this years’ International Women’s Day is a worthwhile cause indeed.

What I wanted to say to the women and never did is that what they had, who they were, and how they were transforming their community was perfect.  That they didn’t need to strive for what the US had, but to instead strive for more.  And that they were extraordinarily amazing.

 Thank you to miss Connie Grace Winterstein for writing today's post. How inspiring!



Happy Birthday, dear Donna!!!

On this day, just a few decades ago ;o) our dear friend, sister, Donna was born. Oh, what a beautiful day that was! What a beautiful person to grace the world. We love you Donna!!!

Wordless Wednesday...Broccoli and Cheeeeeeeese

My kids love broccoli! They ask for it like most kids ask for candy. Thank you, GOD!!!

Leaving the nest...

Today, our baby boy Billy is eighteen months old. He is a whole year and a half old! It’s hard to believe. It’s hard to believe our seven-and-a-half-year-old Grace is not a baby anymore. Crazy! But Billy Boy is the man of the day.

We have co-slept with all three of our kids. It has created a bond between us and our kids in a way that otherwise, I really think would be lacking. They are all very secure and don’t have separation anxiety. Grace and I did for the majority of nine months. Joel was a little nervous as a new Dad and unfamiliar to the whole co-sleeping thing. But when Jesse came along, there was no discussing it. We knew that’s what we were going to do. Then, when Jesse was six months old, I got pregnant with Billy. So, as I grew our queen-sized bed shrank! Jesse went to the crib at about eleven months. It was hard at first but we all adjusted.

Now, Billy has turned into a Tasmanian Devil during the night. He rolls and kicks and flops and slaps. Momma is getting NO rest. Joel and I moved things around in our room in a gigantic game of Tetris to accommodate for the crib. That was a week ago. Billy slept very well last night…. next to me in our bed! I really need to work on getting him in to his crib. I know I have been torn because he is most likely our last baby. So, other than storms and bad dreams, this whole co-seeping adventure is coming to a bittersweet end. I am also still nursing his through the night. I will miss waking up to him latched on, all snuggled up to me. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s the best for all of us.  

 

Wordless Wednesday...Happy Groundhog Day!!!