Celebrate Mothers Worldwide

Tomorrow people all over the world will celebrate Mother’s Day with gifts, namely roses, fine chocolates and lavish dinners.  But Mother’s Day does not just have to be about honoring your mother with presents or participating in the commercial aspect of this holiday – it can be so much richer than that; it can be about making the world a healthier and safer place for all mothers.  It’s makes a world of difference of us all!

Some Americans, for example, are going beyond the traditional Mother’s Day celebrations and commemorating motherhood by saving the lives of mothers around the world.  Alongside an inspirational woman named Edna Adan, they are changing the lives of women in an impoverished nook of Somaliland in the horn of Africa by making childbirth safer there, offering family planning services and trying to put an end to female genital mutilation.

Another group of women took up the challenge of helping to save mothers’ lives around the world by starting their own “Mothers’ Day Campaign.”   They hope that Americans will consecrate the mother in their lives not only with presents, but also by helping impoverished women and girls through a particular charity.

Furthermore, you can take action this Mother’s Day by supporting the efforts of Every Mother Counts, an advocacy and mobilization campaign to increase education and support for maternal and child health.  Consider hosting a watch party with friends and loved ones for their documentary film, “No Woman, No Cry,” which is premiering on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on Saturday, May 7 at 9:30pm and 12:30am EST & PST and 8:30pm & 11:30pm CST; and on Sunday, May 8 at 1pm EST & PST and noon CST.  In her documentary, Christy Turlington Burns shares the powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum of Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States.  Check out the trailer here!

So this Sunday, make Mother’s Day more meaningful than ever before and consider not only honoring your own mom, but someone else’s mom as well!

-Hanna