Save the Children Disaster Report 2013

I moved to Nashville, Tennessee in June 2006. In all honesty, I have been more scared of storms in the past 6 years than I ever have been in my whole life. Nashville and the surrounding areas were battered with tornadoes just three months before I moved here. I had never heard a tornado siren before living here nor had I known how I would long for a storm shelter. 

Then in 2011, we had a 500 or 1000 year flood and it shut down the city. Friends couldn't get home from work for over a week. People lost their homes, their life's work. We had to be put on water restrictions because one of our water treatment plants were impacted huge by the flood. Schools were flooded and had to stay closed.

But disasters aren't just natural ones. They can be man made ones. Our schools now must be prepared for what to do if a shooting or other man-made disaster should happen. 

When they announced the Save the Children Diaster Report for 2013 was out, I was curious how Tennessee measured up. For once, it seems, we got a great report card!  Check out the pic below.

Click on the picture to find out how your state did!

Sad to say but in our house, we don't have a plan in place. This week was safety week at Abbey Grace's preschool. The day she had a firefighter come and talk with her school we figured we should have a plan of where to go to if the house ever caught on fire.

They say hind-sight is 20/20 and that is usually what it takes to learn what to do the next time around. But it shouldn't have to take it personally happening to us to get prepared and have a plan in place. Check out this plan and set up something for your family:

Check out your states report card and see how they measure up. If they don't measure up well, then contact your representatives. If they do, make sure the plan is being implemented.

I don't know the full details of my daughter's preschools plans but I am going to email them to find out.

And now being a school nurse, I am going to make sure our school is taking steps to be prepared and I am going to learn my role and speak up for what needs to be done.

I was in nursing school at the University of Louisiana at Monroe when Hurricane Katrina hit. I remember watching it on our news during class. Several classmates were from south Louisiana. The Gulf Coast was use to being warned about hurricanes but they usually turned before hitting directly. But as we watched it grow and grow and show no signs of turning and people chose to stay or were just then deciding to evacuate, it was too late. Obviously, Louisiana was not prepared in any way for that. While our nursing school made care packages to take to our Civic Center to pass out to the incredibly large number of people who came to our area, it was evident that no one in the state would remain unaffected by Katrina. Our little town was bursting at the seams and we were not prepared either. With all that said, this quote below still stuns me! I could not imagine going six months without my child! 

Does your family have a plan? And how does your state measure up?

Save the Children's Food for Thought

If it wasn't there before, once you become a mom, a deep felt connection to the women of the world comes alive in you. You see other moms in a new light. You see a mom, whether in your neighborhood or around the world, and your heart hurts for her. You see the tears in her eyes as she holds a sick child or as she buries a child. You feel your heart strings tug and you hold your child closer, giving them a kiss and sending up a "Thank You" for your child being healthy in this moment. 

Save the Children is working to help save other moms from the pain and heartache of watching their child not develop  properly or worse, having to watch their child starve to death. In their new report, Food for Thought, they give all the facts of how devastating malnutrition is, especially in the first 1,000 days of a child's life. (This includes conception to the child's 2nd birthday). As devastating and heartbreaking malnutrition is, it is very possible to stop this problem. From educating farmer, parents, and leaders to increasing funding for food programs, deaths from malnutrition can be slowed and stopped. 

As an American mom in the middle class, I have never had to know the pains of unwanted hunger. I have never had to watch my child cry their self to sleep because they hadn't eaten all day and new their would be no breakfast tomorrow. For moms who are pregnant in developing countries, they have to choose what good is available for them, when some is available.  

What can you do to help the women and children of the world? You can always get involved with Save The Children. You can also contact your local government to let them know the issues important to you, advocacy is a huge underused tool. Another way you can make a difference in the world is to start at home. What do you mean, Samantha? I mean, we as moms who have the ability to feed our children healthy,  nutritious foods should. We should teach our children to enjoy and savor the delicious fact that we have the ability to feed them nutritious foods because their is a chance that someone near you is food insecure. (Read this post to learn more about food issues in the US as well.)

Here is one of my favorite meals to make that is full of nutrients to feed your children. I'm lucky that my daughter loves veggies so hopefully yours will like this too! In honor of the G8 Summit and all of the important things to come, here is a Gr8 recipe.

Yummy Veggie Fajitas

4 Bell Peppers (any color)

2 Onions

3 Carrots

2 Zucchini

1 Head of Broccoli

Fajita Seasoning

Tortillas

Cheese

1. Rinse Veggies

2. Chop them up.

3. Heat oil in pan.

4. Sprinkle veggies with seasoning.

5. Simmer veggies until desired crunch or lack of. 

6. Serve with tortillas, cheese, and hot sauce, if desired. 

 Bonus: Save leftovers and make veggie quesadillas the next night!! 

To help you understand more of what is in the Save the Children report, please keep reading! 

You might remember my post about how breastfeeding can save lives which was based on another Save the Children report. This current report goes a step further in feeding children after or in addition to breastfeeding. If mom isn't getting the nutrients she needs while pregnant or while breastfeeding then everything is slowed down including brain development. 

Here are some facts showing how children without proper nutrition are affected: (from the Food for Thought Report)

• 12.5% more likely to make writing mistakes
• 7% more likely to make a math mistake
• 19% less likely to read a simple sentence by age 8
• 12% less likely to write a simple sentence
• 13% less likely to be in the correct grade of school for their age

This report from Save the Children shows that only 0.3% of global development funds is spent on nutrition programs. 

Save the Children is urging the world's leaders to take this problem seriously and to see how we, the world, can make a positive impact on the rest of the world. Here is what they are urging our leader to do and I think it's pretty awesome!

This was taken directly from the Food for Thought report:

Donors and developing country governments must seize this historic opportunity and make the commitments needed to tackle malnutrition. They should:

1. 
   
   1  Support and finance national plans to
   scale up nutrition. Announce commitments
   to develop, and provide technical and financial support to, the implementation of evidence-based, costed nutrition plans at the country level, in SUN-member and other high-burden countries.
   
   
   
   
2. 2  Declare and meet interim impact targets by 2016 as part of the global goal to alleviate the burden of malnutrition in children by 2025. These must include stunting reduction targets, be aligned with the World Health Assembly nutrition targets and be based on country needs.18

3. 3  Enhance nutrition-sensitivity of agriculture initiatives so food-based approaches can contribute more to improving nutritional status.
   –  Reform the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition and include accountability mechanisms  with detailed public plans to achieve maternal and child nutrition impacts
   –  Adapt the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to incentivise nutrition-sensitive approaches to agriculture.
   
   
4. 
   
   4  Ensure nutrition is a core part of the
   G8 Accountability Report. Continue and enhance the nutrition chapter from the 2012 Accountability Report. Move towards comparable tracking of nutrition funding, outcomes and impacts with a mechanism for published annual updates on progress.
   
   
5.  5 Recognise the importance of nutrition for cognitive and educational development, and ensure         that nutrition is integrated as a key component of early years’ programming, including in early childhood care and development programmes.
6. 
   
7. 6 Integrate stimulation interventions into early years’ programmes, in order to mitigate the impacts of malnutrition on children’s cognitive development. 

International Women's Day

Sadly, I just learned of International Women's Day a few years ago. I thought it was something new but it has been celebrated since the early 1900's.  

International Women's Day is a day to be thankful for all the brave women who have come and gone before me. To be thankful that they had the courage to stand up for their own rights and mine. It's a day to be thankful for parents who encouraged me to dream. It's a day to appreciate the beauty and wonder of all we are as women. It's a day to be thankful that my daughter's world will look so much differently than my great-great grandmothers. 

It is a day to remember that while we here in America still have battles to fight and win over issues, women in other countries are still yearning for the right for education and health care. They want to be able to choose who they marry. They want to be able to have a childhood instead of being a child-bride. They want to be able to stand up to their husband who is HIV positive yet still refuses to use a condom with her so she becomes infected. Girls want a chance to go to school and learn to read and write. Girls don't want to be sold into sex trafficking just so their family can afford to eat. Women want to be able to speak their mind and not have acid poured on their face. Women want to be able to get help after they are raped and have their raper prosecuted. Women want to be able to have their female babies and not have to abort them because they are the wrong gender for their country. 

International Women's Day is day of beauty, hope, encouragement and a reminder that while we have come so far, we still have far to go. A day to be thankful and a day to remember those who yearn for something to be thankful for. It's a day to educate ourselves and learn how we can help the women around the world.

Women are amazing. Women can create miracles. Physically, women can grow another living being inside of their own body. We can nourish it and then birth a baby from our own body. We can give that baby nourishment from our own body as soon as it is born. We a life givers. How amazing is that!

As Mao Zedong said, "Women hold up half the sky."

As a mom, I look at the world today and think how happy I am that we live here in America and so many things are instantly better for her just by where she was born. My daughter can be a doctor, nurse, mother, stay at home mom, president, judge, fire fighter, in the military...the possibilities are endless! We need to teach our daughters of the way things were here and they way they are now, here and around the world. 

We need to teach our daughters that the world is bigger than themselves, bigger than here and now, bigger than their current situation. It is bigger than her school, friends, boyfriends, prom dresses, American Idol, and Coach purses. We as moms and women, need to teach our daughters of what our ancestors fought for and won! And we need to teach them of what other girls and women, just like us, are lacking and dying from. We as women need to stick together and quite the bitter back biting and help one another when we see another woman down. 

It starts with us, you and me. We have to power to teach our daughters and the girls and women in our life that we hold the power in us to make this world a more beautiful place. We hold the power to be anything we want to be. We hold the power to change the world! 

So for my daughter and all the women in my life, take a moment today to look deep into your heart and find your passion and purpose. Maybe you won't realize it all today but start the search. Start the search for what you were born to do. We were all created for a purpose. Never short change yourself or the world because you think you can't. The bigger the passion and dreams you have, the hard you will have to work, the more help you might need. Remember to look to those who came before you for inspiration. Again, remember that no dream is too big or too small. If that is your passion, then live it to the fullest! If you make a difference in one persons life for good, you have influenced the world for the better! You are a woman, you are beautiful, you are powerful, and you were meant to change the world!! 

Here are some encouraging words from a few amazing women who have made the world a better place. Enjoy! And Happy International Women's Day! Be thankful and be prayerful for the women around the world in need of love and support and basic human rights!

"For what is done or learned by one class of women becomes, by virtue of their common womanhood, the property of all women." - Elizabeth Blackwell, first female physician in the United States

"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right side up again." - Sojourner Truth, African-American abolitionist

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.” 

― Mother Teresa

"People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone." - Audrey Hepburn, actress and philanthropist

"I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay her own way should be as happy as anybody on earth. The sense of independence and security is very sweet." - Susan B. Anthony, American suffragette and advocate of women's rights

"The best protection any woman can have...is courage." - Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American abolitionist

"I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion." - Billie Jean King, female tennis champion who battled for equal pay

"Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live."- Mae C. Jemison, first African-American woman astronaut

No Kid Should Go Hungry

Nearly 1 in 5 children in America struggle with hunger. 

Children shouldn't have to worry about hunger. We have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What happens when children don't have breakfast before school? When children don't get enough food they are sick more which leads to missing school more. They also less likely to finish school which leads to making it more likely that they won't be able to provide food for their own family. It's a vicious cycle. But what if they got breakfast?

Here is a short video to give you a picture of the needs and how we can fix them. We need to work together and really see what the children need and how to best help them.

Take a look below to get a picture of what happens when a child is provided breakfast at school:

  

What if each of us, either as individuals or as a family unit, took time to make sure one child gets enough food, even just breakfast. Think of the difference in not just their life but their future children's lives.

So what can you do to help with this issue? 

Here is a list to what No Kid Hungry suggests.

• Educate yourself and your family on this issue and sharing it with your friends and family.
• Tell your elected officials and school boards what you have learned and ask what they are doing, and ask them to help the hungry kids in your area.
• Share what you have learned on social media.
• Put Breakfast On The Map.
• Donate to No Kid Hungry.
• Lead a Cooking Matters Demonstration.
• Volunteer at a local Culinary Event.
• Volunteer with the Cooking Matters Class to help out.
• Volunteer to be Cooking Matters Store Facilitator.
• Turn your birthday or next gathering into a fundraiser. 
• Organize a Cooking Matters Class.
• Host a Great American Bake Sale.

Learn about your area and how many children go hungry. You might be surprised at how many children are going hungry in your own backyard. Take time to learn today. 

Go Vote for The REAL Awards

You might remember my post about nominating a healthcare worker for The Real Awards back in November. Well now it is time to vote! And voting ends tomorrow so hop to it!

Read through all the inspirational entries here then vote for the one that you feel deserves it the most.

The categories are:

Newborn and Mother Care
Pediatric Care
Chronic Disease Care
Hospice Care
Emergency Care
Veteran Care
At-Home Care
General Healthcare Worker


We take time to vote for singers on a show so take time to click over and vote for a deserving healthcare worker!

No Mom Should Die During Childbirth - Save a Life

Childbirth should be a happy time. A time of excitement and happiness. But that is not the case for so many families around the world. What can you do to help prevent a mom from dying? Get involved with Maternity Worldwide.

According to the Maternity Worldwide website, one mother dies every 2 minutes. That is 800 a day and 287,000 a year. Several million other women, and even girls, will suffer from complications from their childbirth for the rest of their lives. That is not even taking into account the poor babies who will never know their mom...that is if they make it as well.

Maternity Worldwide is working to change this reality. Maternity Worldwide is charity, with no religious affiliations, that works with local communities and governments to meet the needs of the women in some of the poorest areas. It started out of frustrations of a small group of public health professional who saw deaths in childbirth that could be prevented.

Since the start in 2002, Maternity Worldwide has helped women in 11 developing countries: Pakistan; Uganda; Ethiopia; Tanzania; Malawi; Zimbabwe; Zambia; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; The Gambia; and Haiti.

They use an approach that I think is amazing. They use the Three Delays Model which looks at three groups of factors that could stop females from accessing the healthcare they need during childbirth. They are: 1. Delay in decision to seek care. 2. Delay in reaching care. 3. Delay in receiving adequate health care. They then use this model to approach the  needs and take action.

They have awesome opportunities to help women. You can donate $24 dollars to help with the safe birth for one mom or $81 for the safe emergency delivery. These are awesome end of the year donations or as late Christmas presents. If you have already spent your limit this year, then please keep them in mind the next time you donate.

This post is part of the Global Team of 200 series. Follow along as we blog about today's social issues. 

Together WE Are Stronger - World Food Programme

As we enjoy the last days of 2012, some of you might still be looking for places to donate and help others. Today I have an awesome video from the United Nations World Food Programme.

They are helping people all over the world who are in need. Lots of the people they are helping have lost everything. They aren't moping around because they didn't get what they asked Santa for. They are praying they will have food today. They are praying they won't have to send their child to bed hungry...again.

It's easy to become overwhelmed by all the needs in our world today. Sometimes we become so overwhelmed that we shut down, we stop caring. We feel that there is no way that "I" can make a difference in the millions of lives in need. That is true. "I" can't save millions. But I can help someone and so can you and so can another person and another person....TOGETHER...we can save millions. But it takes you and me, not just me and not just you.

TOGETHER, WE ARE STRONGER.

Watch the awesome video here: http://www.wfp.org/we-need-you

Click here to donate.

 

Check out all of the other awesome bloggers blogging about issues like this:
Global Team of 200

The REAL Awards

The REAL Awards are awards given to deserving healthcare workers who go above and beyond to help others in their jobs and helping others in their communities.

Save The Children, The Bill & Melinda Children Foundation and Frontline Health Workers Coalitioned have come together to help people honor and thank health care workers who are making a difference in peoples lives every day.

A quote from Mary Beth Powers from the Save The Children Website explains why these awards are important.

"Every year, awards are given to recognize the accomplishments of celebrities, actors, singers, athletes and entertainers," said Mary Beth Powers, Campaign Chief for Save the Children's Newborn and Child Survival Campaign. "Alongside the Oscars and Golden Globes in January, we will begin to honor a group of people who rarely receive recognition or accolades — health workers."

As a registered nurse, I am quiet fond of healthcare workers. Healthcare workers see people at all stages of life and in all emotional states. We see you when you are at your worst and sometimes when you are at your best. We help you when you do not want help. We help you when you cannot help yourself. Helping you is not just our job, but our passion.

Think back to when you had your children or when a loved one was in the hospital or you were under the care of a healthcare worker. Did anyone stand out to you? Did anyone help your stay more pleasant? Did you have anyone come into your home and help you once you got discharged from the hospital?

Healthcare workers take on many roles and have many different job titles. Think through those you have met and if you feel any are worthy of nomination, pick a below to nominate them!

The categories to nominate healthcare workers are as follows:

Newborn and Mother Care
Pediatric Care
Chronic Disease Care
Hospice Care
Emergency Care
Veteran Care
At-Home Care
General Health Worker

You can find a the Official Rules here.

You only have until tomorrow, November 29, 2012 to nominate the special healthcare worker in your life. Take time to show them they made a difference in your life by nominating them for this amazing award.

(Voting will begin taking place on November 30, 2012).

Malala Day

Today is Malala Day.

Malala Yousafzai has become the face for Global Education.

Malala is a 14 year old girl that lives in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. This area was taken over by the Taliban in 2009. She was asked to keep a blog about how the Talibans presence effected her life. Malala blogged under the name Gul Makai to protect herself and family from the Taliban. She blogged for 10 weeks and then her family moved to another area when military operations began in the area. The Taliban did not want any girls attending school so there was constant threat of school being cancelled or banned. Malala became very vocal about her right to an education. She began speaking up for herself and other girls and children around the world who do not have access or are just denied the ability to go to school.

Because of her continued fight and perseverance for the right for education for girls and children everywhere, she was runner-up for the International Children's Peace Prize 2011.

On October 9, 2012, a man came onto the school van and asked who Malala was and then shot her and two other girls. Malala was shot in the head and neck. All of the girls are still recovering from their physical, mental, and emotional wounds.

Today on Malala Day, we stand with Malala to show support for her, the two other girls shot alongside her, and all of the other children who are denied access to an education.

Look at these stats:

61 Million children shut out of primary school
34 Million adolescent girls not in school
16 Million children with disabilities not in school, with 1/4 of these children being blind.


Every child deserves a right to learn. When we educate children, we create a future for them.

I stand with Malala and all of the other children around the world longing for an education.

Take action today and sign this petition to call upon all the countries to outlaw discrimination against girls. Sign the petition to help ensure that the 61 million children who are not in school will be by the end of 2015.

Sign it for Malala. Sign it for the girls of the world.

Visit EducationEnvoy.org for more information.

Help and Chat with a Child in Bolivia

Imagine being a child in an extremely poor country and getting a message from someone across the world. All of a sudden you feel like someone knows you exist. You somehow don't feel so alone.

This is part of a new program the World Food Programme has started with the school children of Bolivia.

First a few facts about Bolivia:

-It is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with nearly two thirds or 80% of the country living below the poverty line.
-Stunting in children under 5 years old remains at 27-37% and has for ten years, due to lack of nutrition.
-The income of 40% of the population (once again hight in rural areas at 59%) is insufficient to meet the basic food needs.
-63% of households cannot provide the MINIMUM caloric intake needed for adequate growth.
-They depend mainly on agriculture so in lean seasons or natural disasters they cannot make money nor eat.

You can get more involved with the children of Bolivia. WFP has an amazing tool that allows you to ask questions to these children and then they will reply back. I am just trying this out today and I look forward to their response! This is an amazing tool to use with older children to help open their eyes that the world is much bigger than your family, home, town, or country. It helps them put a face to a need.

Words have so much power, especially to children. Just a simple note or question can make a difference. Imagine someone asking your opinion or what your hopes or dreams are?!

Send your message or question through this site:

The World Food Programme is working to help the children of Bolivia by reducing malnutrition in children. This will allow them to concentrate and learn in school. This will help all children, even those not in school. They are working to enhance emergency preparedness and how to respond during emergencies.

You can donate to the World Food Programme here.

**This is my second post as part of the Global Team of 200! Follow us!**


I would love for you to share your question/message and the response you get from the children of Bolivia!

Trick or Treat with Purpose

I had no idea that you could help other children by Trick or Treating but you can!

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF was started in 1950 during the aftermath of World War II. It encourages children to collect coins to help those still affected by the war. It is still going on to day and helping children around the world. This program helps show children that they can be active global citizens and help other children all while having fun and dressing up!

It is one of UNICEF's longest -running youth volunteer initiative and is 62 years old this year. In it's 62 Halloweens, $167 million has been raised. This has helped children in over 190 countries and territories. The money goes toward health care, immunizations, clean water, sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. Without the money raised during Halloween, children would have to do without some of the basic necessities of life.

They have fun boxes you can use to collect money if you order their free kits in time. Obviously, today is Halloween so you most likely will not have one of their boxes but you can make a box or envelope of your own or help your children make one.

Here is an awesome, short video that introduces the program a bit more:

A few other ideas to help raise money for UNICEF before or after Trick-or-Treating:

-Have them assign a value to each of their candies and treats they get tonight. Then have them "sell" their candy to you for money that can then be sent to UNICEF.
-Have your children go through their piggy bank or chore money and left them buy some of the candy back from you.
-If you have time to set up a cider or hot chocolate booth in your neighborhood, you can collect the money raised from that and send it to UNICEF.
-You can also make a donation online.

I wish I would have known of Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF when I was younger but my daughter will grow up with this as much a part of Halloween as pumpkins!!! This is such an easy way to show children that helping others can be fun and easy!



***This is my first post as part of the Global Team of 200!! Please follow along with us as we blog throughout the next year sharing amazing programs and organizations!!****

An Incredible Honor

Last night I was discussing this blog with my husband and telling him what I want it to be about and how I feel like this is what I am suppose to be doing at this time in my life.

I told him how I guessed I was not chosen for a place on "this mom blog group" I had applied for. I went to bed feeling a bit defeated. Granted, I am a very new blogger so I completely understood. There were plenty more moms with lots more blogging years and motherhood years who deserved these spots.

This morning, I received an email about the status of that application and I was ACCEPTED!!!

I am so incredibly honored to be part of the Global Team of 200!!!! I will be writing along side 199 other amazing women and mothers about issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health. Here is the description:

The Global Team of 200 is a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.

Our Motto: Individually we are all powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.

Please follow along with all of the bloggers! This is going to be an incredible year!!