Apr 19, 2012 | Community Development, Education, Female Empowerment, Health, Sakena Yacoobi
Last month, Kravis Prize winner Sakena Yacoobi attended a 10th-anniversary gathering of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, where she discussed global issues including peace and reconciliation with religious leaders. According to the National Catholic Reporter, the event in Kenya, “Awakening the Healing Heart: Transforming Communities through Love and Compassion,” was conducted over eight days. Yacoobi shared her thoughts with people including Shomberwa Marina Ntamwenge, president of the Federation of Protestant Women in the Ecumenical Church of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Jessica Okello, general secretary of Pan Africa Christian Women Association. What’s even more fascinating is Yacoobi’s story. The article provided a synopsis of her amazing journey: “Dr. Sakena Yacoobi seemed to exemplify the possibilities of the individual against great odds in the extreme. The 61-year-old from Afghanistan came to the United States as a lone teenager just out of high school in the early 1970s at the encouragement of some U.S. Peace Corps volunteers who, she said, recognized that she had potential and that it would not be fully realized in her home country. … She eventually did a master’s in public health at Loma Linda University, and later completed a doctorate in that field.” In addition: “Along the way, she worked four jobs simultaneously at times to supplement scholarship money and in 1987, after her family escaped during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to refugee camps in Iran, she was able to purchase a house in Michigan and sponsored 13 members of her family to the United States. Once they were settled, she took off for the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and began collecting the... read more
Apr 13, 2012 | Community Development, Education, Female Empowerment, Health, Kravis Prize, m2m
As one of the Mentor Mothers at mothers2mothers (m2m), our 2012 Kravis Prize awardee, Nozi Samela has an amazing story to share. As she recently blogged for One.org, Nozi described the transforming power of mothers like her who are living with HIV and are providing education and support to HIV-positive pregnant women and new mothers across sub-Saharan Africa through their work at m2m. “Before I came to work for mothers2mothers, I was a client of the program at a clinic in Cape Town, South Africa. When I learned that I was both pregnant and HIV-positive, just sharing my story with a Mentor Mother helped to lift some of the despair and loneliness I felt. When I joined a mothers2mothers support group and learned how to keep my baby free from HIV, I decided that my story was something that I would determine on my own. And when I gave birth to a healthy baby boy, I learned how important my story had become to women who, like me, were looking for a source of hope where there seemed to be none.” Today, Nozi is inspiring other mothers to spread the impact of mothers2mothers by sharing their own stories. Across nearly 600 m2m sites in sub-Saharan Africa, she is part of an effort that encourages women to help others by telling their stories of how the organization helped them overcome the “fear and stigma of HIV, give birth to healthy children and become role models in their communities.” mothers2mothers was established in 2001 to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV through the education and support of pregnant women and new mothers... read more
Apr 6, 2012 | BRAC, Fazle Abed, Poverty Reduction
In its Poverty Matters blog, The Guardian recently focused on extreme poverty in Bangladesh and on the extraordinary impact of our 2007 Kravis Prize winner Sir Fazle Abed in reducing poverty and empowering the poor. Through BRAC, Sir Abed has been tirelessly working to help the bottom 10 percent of Bangladesh’s poorest – or the “ultra poor,” as they are often referred to. A 30-year-old Bangladeshi woman Maleka Begum was among the ultra poor when she first heard about BRAC. “I have been doing manual labour, digging holes,” said Maleka. But with the help of BRAC’s asset-transfer program, she was provided with livestock and a monthly payment for two years, as well as visits from a BRAC program organizer every five days to check on her livestock, teach her about basic hygiene and give her family planning advice. Now, thanks to BRAC, Maleka is helping her family escape extreme poverty through food security, asset ownership and better education. Today, BRAC, which celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this year, has expanded its poverty-reduction model to other poor countries, serving more than 110 million people per year. To find out more about 2007 Kravis Prize winner and BRAC Founder Sir Fazle Abed, go to our... read more
Mar 28, 2012 | Female Empowerment, Health, m2m
Last week, we had the honor of finally meeting mothers2mothers co-Founder and International Director Robin Smalley at the Kravis Prize ceremony, which was full of CMC students this year. Not only did she offer her inspiring words to our students, Smalley also shed light on the issues that the organization is working to change. In the video below on mothers2mothers from the Red Ribbon Foundation, she discusses the statistics and issues underlying the organization’s mission: “There really isn’t a reason why a single baby should be born infected [with HIV] today. We have fewer babies born in the U.S., the U.K. and Europe combined in a year than in a single African clinic. It’s unacceptable and it’s unnecessary. … For us, we believe prevention is the best way to start. If we can keep babies from getting infected, we don’t have to worry about treating them later on.” m2m may have started in Cape Town, but since then its impact has spread far and wide. It has grown to almost 700 sites across seven sub-Saharan African countries, employing more than 1,600 HIV-infected mothers to mentor over 300,000 pregnant women and new mothers each year! m2m has broadened African women’s access to not only medical care and HIV education, but also emotional support. m2m mentor Rebecca said: “Since I joined mothers2mothers, I got employed and I get a salary. My life has changed because I’m able to look after my children, to buy whatever they want. I’m also able to look after myself … but apart from the money that I get from mothers2mothers, I also get satisfaction by working... read more
Mar 21, 2012 | Award Ceremony, BRAC, FAWE, Landesa, Vicky Colbert
The big day is here! In addition to the 2012 Kravis Prize winners mother2mothers and INJAZ Al-Arab CEO Soraya Salti, we’ll be joined by past winners including Landesa Founder Roy Prosterman, BRAC, FAWE, Escuela Nueva Foundation Founder Vicky Colbert. Our winners will be offering their expert advice and insights on a variety of topics including grassroots innovations for poverty alleviation, innovation in education and community engagement and much more! Check out the live stream here and our live Twitter... read more
