by lwang | Jan 25, 2013 | Community Development, Female Empowerment, Health, m2m
Since 2001, the 2012 Kravis Prize recipient organization Mothers2Mothers has worked to improve the quality of life for thousands of HIV-infected women around the world. On the Huffington Post’s Global Motherhood blog, Mentor mother Nozi Samela discusses how she has helped hundreds of newly diagnosed pregnant women and mothers by sharing her own experience of living with the virus. Samela tells her story in three video blogs, with the Huffington Post providing the following summary of the first two segments: “Samela shared her despair after learning she was HIV- positive, the critical support and information she received from mothers2mothers to stay healthy and prevent transmission of HIV to her baby son, her devastation over the tragic death of her first son when he was three years old, and her excitement when she found out she was pregnant again.” Her most recent video blog, “The Greatest Gift,” concludes the series with the announcement of her HIV-free baby daughter. “Look at my baby,” Samela says, “and think to yourself, how wonderful it would be if all children born in Africa could be as healthy and as happy.” Click here to watch Nozi Samela’s full video...
by lwang | Dec 28, 2012 | Education, Female Empowerment, Health, Sakena Yacoobi
As the keynote speaker at Global Washington’s Redefining Development Conference, Kravis Prize winner Sakena Yacoobi inspired and challenged her audience to help educate the women and children of Afghanistan. Yacoobi was selected to deliver the event’s opening address in recognition for providing education and health services to more than 9 million Afghan women and children since the founding of her organization, the Afghan Institute of Learning. Global Washington published an article by contributor Nina Carduner, who detailed Yacoobi’s speech. Yacoobi began by describing her own “happy and secure” childhood in Afghanistan. Her family did not have much, but their needs were met. After travelling to the U.S. to complete her education, Afghanistan was invaded and Yacoobi and her family became refugees, unable to return to their home. But Yacoobi’s heart remained in Afghanistan, and so she pursued a career in public health in hopes of someday returning to provide medical resources to women and children. The turning point in her career, Yacoobi said, came during a visit to an Afghan refugee camp. Her shocking testimonial described how women “were like animals. … They felt less than human,” as their fathers, husbands, and brothers were taken away from them. Yacoobi rejected the idea that women were incapable of doing things for themselves, and dedicated her life to educating Afghan women and children. She began in Pakistan, where a majority of Afghan refugee camps were located. Met with criticism at first by religious leaders who believed that education was not appropriate for children, Yacoobi eventually convinced many of them to become teachers themselves. According to the article, she reached 27,000 children...
by lwang | Dec 7, 2012 | Female Empowerment, Health, m2m
Since 2001, Mothers2Mothers has empowered women infected with HIV across the globe. In a recent interview with Voice of America contributor Joe DeCapua, m2m co-founder and international director Robin Smalley discussed ways the organization’s Mentor Mothers program is changing the lives of more than 1 million women in sub-Saharan Africa. Smalley said that Mentor Mothers was developed to address the lack of both access to healthcare and emotional support available for pregnant women living with HIV. She explained how difficult pregnancy can be for vulnerable women in the region: “A young woman would come in. She’d come in for her first pregnancy test. In Africa, that tends to be around five months. At that time she’s offered her first HIV test. She’s like young mothers everywhere. She’s excited. She’s full of joy. She never anticipates anything going wrong. So when that test comes back positive she thinks it’s a death sentence for herself and for her baby. And there’s nobody available to tell her that there is medical intervention available to help her prevent transmission to her child. And so she goes home. She never seeks medical care again because of the terrible stigmas in the community.” Smalley and Dr. Mitch Besser, m2m’s co-founder, determined that the women themselves may represent the best available resource for others facing the same situation. She recalled how they transformed that realization into action. “Let’s just take newly delivered moms, who are HIV positive, put them through a rigorous training, send them back into their own clinics as what we call Mentor Mothers. Pay them for their work, and let them address this...
by lwang | Oct 12, 2012 | Female Empowerment, Health, m2m
Did you know that approximately 900 babies are born with HIV every day? 2012 Kravis Prize recipient mothers2mothers has established treatment clinics across sub-Saharan Africa to provide women access to the medical support they need to put an end to this epidemic. On the Huffington Post’s Global Motherhood blog, mothers2mothers Co-founder and International Director Robin Smalley describes the complexity of the issue and the organization’s efforts to eradicate the problem. Smalley explains how in these poverty stricken areas, ambitious women get married and start families at a young age because of the high price of education. During a routine visit to a mothers2mothers clinic, 16-year old Nomvula received a positive HIV test. “Shattered, Nomvula thought her life was over, and her baby’s finished before it had even begun. Yet, in that same clinic, medical intervention – including free, lifesaving antiretroviral drugs – was readily available. But she didn’t know that and no one was there to tell her on that fateful day.” Overwhelmed by shame and consumed by fear, Nomvula never returned to the clinic, securing the fate for her child. Like so many others, she wasn’t given the emotional support she needed to understand the treatable nature of her condition. Smalley describes that at mothers2mothers, “We educate, employ and empower mothers living with HIV, who work as Mentor Mothers in health centers, bolstering their capacity and providing lifesaving information and one-on-one support to pregnant women living with HIV… we employ our Mentor Mothers because it helps them gain economic security for themselves and their children. Thus, they also become respected role models in their community, defying HIV-related stigma...
by lwang | Sep 6, 2012 | Community Development, Education, Female Empowerment, Health, m2m
Although Kravis Prize winners are tackling different social problems in today’s world, they all share the same mission: Make an impact. For example, mothers2mothers harnesses the power of individuals – their mentor mothers – to empower, educate and foster a community that provides HIV-positive women with the support they need. The Huffington Post published the story of Patience Hlengiwe Kweyama, an HIV-positive mother of five and an m2m mentor mother, who discussed her own experiences: “I saw an ad for a Mentor Mother position for mothers2mothers, an NGO that helps prevent mother-to-child transmission through peer mentoring and education, and I decided to apply as I felt that providing support and education to other women going through similar experiences to me was something I could do. I wanted to help these women so that they could understand what medication is available and how they can have healthy babies. Most importantly, I didn’t want them to live with the same fear I did for almost ten years. Through the training I received, I am now able to live my life positively, living the mothers2mothers vision of saving babies and their mothers.” In addition, Kweyama emphasized the many roles that m2m plays in supporting HIV-positive mothers and pregnant women: “Mentor Mothers motivate pregnant women with HIV to adhere to their medicines. We provide a network of support for all mothers in the community. Challenges such as stigma and health worker shortages are addressed as well. Mentor Mothers are powerful agents against the stigma of HIV that causes women to live in fear and prevents them from seeking care. Mentor Mothers work alongside...
by lwang | Aug 10, 2012 | AIL, Community Development, Education, Female Empowerment, Health, Sakena Yacoobi
In June, Voice America’s Audrey Kitagawa interviewed Sakena Yacoobi for her radio segment on love, spirituality and forgiveness. Yacoobi discussed her work at the Afghan Institute of Learning and her reasons behind focusing on providing education and health care services to people in Afghanistan: “Ninety-five percent of people of Afghanistan live in poverty so health education is very, very important. [If] a mother is healthy, she will make sure that her child is healthy. And if her child is healthy, you know and I know that a child that is healthy can learn better. … I believe in education and I think that education is the key issue for really reaching out to people.” She also shared AIL’s goal and the impact that the organization is attempting to achieve: “The issue is that we want to transform life. We want to change the status of the life of the people … We are trying to make people educated, we try to help people to be healthy and we try to make people to be economically sustainable that they have a better life.” Given the progress AIL’s made, it’s safe to say they’re not only improving people’s lives in Afghanistan, but also imparting hope on those who have suffered in the past! Listen to the full radio interview...
