Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Wow, I resisted this one part of the mission. Couldn't figure out what I wanted to get out of it. Then I was too scared to actually contact the person. But it's done.

I chose Robin Smalley of mothers2mothers.

To be honest, while the mission of mothers2mothers is great: to prevent the transmission of AIDS from mother to child in Africa, that was not what drew me to Smalley.

I read a profile of her in More magazine speaking of how -- in the midst of her full career as journalist in Hollywood -- she picked up and moved her family [including teen daughters] to Africa to help found mothers2mothers.

That courage to reinvent herself after the age of 40 -- and to pick up and move "where the action is" -- well THAT is why I am choosing her as my hero.

And this is what I wrote her:

Dear Ms. Smalley,

I am a 42 year old mother of 4 who has been reading about you and your work in More Magazine and on the m2m website. I am writing you --even though I am nervous to do so-- because I am participating in an innovative "game" launched by the World Bank Institute [www.urgentevoke.com] that seeks to spawn innovate solutions to global problems and launch the next generation of social entrepreneurs. One of the challenges in EVOKE is to find and contact a hero. And after a good deal of introspection, I have chosen you.

To be honest, I am not sure where this overture should or could lead. I do know that I want to make a difference and that I was once afraid that I was rapidly becoming too "old" to do so. The courage you showed by reinventing your life is a model I aspire to.
I intend to learn more about m2m, of course. But what I most want to know is the story I know I have no right to. The story of how you made the decision to uproot your family's life -- the life of your teen girls -- and take on the new challenge thousands of miles from home. If you ever find yourself willing to share that story -- I know it might inspire and give courage to many other people, like myself, who want to know that it is possible.

Sincerely and with great respect,
Ayala Sherbow

Views: 17

Comment by Mita Williams on March 10, 2010 at 2:11am
I think you made a great choice. I'm so hoping she responds!
Comment by Ayala Sherbow on March 10, 2010 at 2:31am
She did! very graciously. and offered to share more of the personal side of her decision to uproot her family. I will follow up with more in a later post. :)
Comment by Fleep Tuque on March 10, 2010 at 7:10pm
Wow, that's a great letter and I wish I could award more than 1 courage point! Great to hear she wrote you back!
Comment by Murray Britton on March 11, 2010 at 1:02pm
Wonderful format, i want to ask your permission to take some key phrases out of this for my letter to my hero. I'm not very eloquent and reading what you wrote, i was thinking, "thats exactly what i want to say." =)

Also i would love to read her response and hear her story, get her permission and post it if you can! Great stuff
Comment by Hayden Darrell Linder on March 19, 2010 at 1:02pm
This sounds promising but I didn't give you a +1 courage for sending this letter. You're not that old, and sending this letter wasn't that scary.

I gave you a +1 courage for what you're going to do.
Comment by Chris Lancaster on April 5, 2010 at 7:34pm
Great work! I love the letter. You've taken the first step, now build on it!

Comment

You need to be a member of Urgent Evoke to add comments!

Join Urgent Evoke

Latest Activity

Ning Admin is now a member of Urgent Evoke
May 17, 2023
N updated their profile
Sep 25, 2020
Sophie C. commented on Asger Jon Vistisen's blog post Stinging Nettle
"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
Aug 19, 2020
Meghan Mulvey posted a blog post

Fourth of July on the Lake

This past weekend was the annual celebration at the lake house in Connecticut. It is amazing that the lake is still so clear and beautiful after all these years. The watershed association has done a wonderful job protecting these waters from the damaging effects of development.The wood grill was finally ready to cook on, so we didn't miss the propane tank fueled grill anymore. The food actually tasted fresher than in the past and was easy to keep fueled.Dad was very proud of the solar hybrid…See More
Jul 6, 2020
Asger Jon Vistisen posted a blog post

Stinging Nettle

In this blog post I will focus on a plant that is abundant in our nature, and which is immensely nutritious. It's of course the Stinging Nettle. Let's start with the chemical constituents of this plant:37 % Non-Nitrogen-Extracts19 - 29 % Ash9 - 21 % Fiber4 % Fat22 % ProteinOnce the leaves are drid, their protein content can reach an astounding 40 %, which is much higher than beef, which even under the best of circ**stances can never exceed 31 % protein. In addition the Stinging Nettle consists…See More
Apr 13, 2020
Jonathon McCallum posted a blog post

The meal

It is 7'oclock, I was late home from work due to an assignment that i wanted to get ahead on. By the time I get home I am feeling extremley tired and I cannot be bothered to make a proper meal. I walk to the fridge and open it to see what there is for me to eat. All of the out of date foodstuffs have been automaticaly thrown away by the fridge, they will be recycled tomorrow as animal feed or something. I see i have organic local eggs and some local cheese. Foods are vacc** sealded for easy…See More
Mar 10, 2020
Jean Paul Galea shared a profile on Facebook
Mar 1, 2020
Kevin posted a blog post

Future

FutureToday is 2020/1/1. It is just like yesterday. The war is still continuing. It has started since 2010. In 2010, that year was a horrible year. Almost every energy ran out. Every country’s governments were crushed down at the same time. There were riots everywhere. All of the big company’s bosses were killed xdeadx in the riots. Troops fought each other everywhere. Food was bought up xawayx at once. There were no more food supplies in any shops. The economy was all crushed down. All the…See More
Jan 1, 2020
Namwaka Mooto posted blog posts
Jan 13, 2016
T D updated their profile
Sep 3, 2015
Brook Warner posted blog posts
Aug 25, 2015
Santiago Vega posted blog posts
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega commented on Santiago Vega's blog post Act 8
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega posted photos
May 5, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted blog posts
May 2, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted a photo

public servants

The exchange works directly for state and public workers and servants. It gives them credit in exchange for the amount of public work they contribute to the community. The more constructive they are based off a base rate the more credit they recieve.
May 2, 2015

Follow EVOKE on Twitter




Official EVOKE Facebook Page




EVOKE RSS Activity Feed










© 2024   Created by Alchemy.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service