A crash course in changing the world.
New Lives for Old
Looking at the shining faces of these young girls is moving like nothing I've ever experienced. Many of them wouldn't be alive at all if it weren't for some of the initiatives supported by Women Deliver and the Safe Motherhood Initiative over the years. Those that lived would have lost their mothers and been left to care of male relatives in this still very male-centered part of the world. Instead they have been raised by strong, loving mothers who, after their own brushes with near-death, threw themselves into learning about maternal health so that other women would not have to go through what they had. The mothers, sitting proudly on the other side of the make-shift stage, have all trained as health aids, midwives and maternal health educators. One even completed her medical degree at Kabul University. These women are part of the troupes of trained women who now ensure that even in the remotest part of Afghanistan no woman labors in agony for days without qualified help. They and women like them are the reason why Millennium Development Goal #5 — to reduce maternal mortality and
achieve universal access to reproductive health-- has been met, just 10 years after it was adopted.
Across from the proud mothers stand their daughters in their graduation robes, ready to receive their elementary school diplomas. Though they may not realize it, they are standing on more than just the stage. They are standing on their mothers' shoulders. And from there, nothing will be beyond their reach.
achieve universal access to reproductive health-- has been met, just 10 years after it was adopted.
Across from the proud mothers stand their daughters in their graduation robes, ready to receive their elementary school diplomas. Though they may not realize it, they are standing on more than just the stage. They are standing on their mothers' shoulders. And from there, nothing will be beyond their reach.
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Comment by PJE on May 10, 2010 at 6:03pm -
I think your evoke ideas are excellent and I would love to be able to help, I can't see quite how yet ...18 months ago I did briefly meet a very interesting woman who helps co-ordinate NGO projects in Afghanistan, I might.be able to contact her. It is one place I have always wanted to go to, be of use to but I am afraid I don't see how my skills can be of use, although I look good in a burka and can carry bags!.A senior independent midwife friend of mine might be interested in some sort of collaboration and so on...
Best wishes
PJE
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Comment by Ursula Kochanowsky on May 10, 2010 at 7:52pm -
Good luck. Its a very good idea.
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Comment by Sarah Shaw Tatoun on May 11, 2010 at 12:10am -
PJE-- I'd love to talk to the NGO coordinator if you're able to contact her. I feel the same way you do about that area of the world. I know it's probably out of the question for me to really go and get involved myself, but I'm fascinated-- and information and contacts keep turning up, so I can't bring myself to drop the idea-- at least until I've looked into it a wh*** lot more. And after all, I don't necessarily have to be involved personally to be of use.
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