Imagine life without electricity or modern fuels – no light at night, only fuelwood to cook with. Imagine life as a woman without electricity or modern fuels – driven by culture and necessity to spend your days gathering fuel and water and living in a smoky environment that is dangerous to your family and your health.
While a lot of important news has been coming out of the United Nations General Assembly lately, there is one story that may not make the front pages, but should be at the front of our minds: the health of women and children around the world.
In my home country of Liberia, the social and cultural impact on adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health is devastating. Girls face many issues when it comes to their sexual reproductive health and rights, including social isolation, lack of education, traditional practices, economic disparities, violence and issues of confidentiality and stigmatization.
What I love about this Shot@Life campaign is the fact that anyone with a computer can save a life through leaving a simple comment that spreads the word. So today, I’m writing about a few of the many female leaders who I have admired over the years for their dedication to philanthropy and efforts to empower people who don’t have a voice. Despite their success, each of these women strongly believe that anyone can make a difference – money, age, or social status are not necessary for impactful giving.
Rebecca Soni made our country proud today by shattering the world record (yes, the record that she had only just set the night before!) in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking in at 2:19.59 to win the gold.
As a child growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I watched my mother go to work each day, dedicated to running our local women’s health clinic. A staunch defender of reproductive rights, she was armed with more than a team of medical experts, but also the kindness and wisdom that patients—many of them young women—relied on to prepare for the rest of their lives.
Imagine being forced to leave your home and everything you know to seek protection in a refugee camp. Now imagine having to start over in a new country where the language, the people and the culture are foreign to you. A group of awesome refugee girls who came to the United States from several different countries will be discussing some of these challenges and more with our Teen Advisors tomorrow, June 27 from 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET.
It starts with one voice. I speak up and while, I won’t be ignored, combining my voice with yours will make our calls stronger. Your representative in Washington listens. If you speak up and you tell your friends to speak up, your representative, your senator will have to listen.
My wife Kate, the mother of our two young boys, understood immediately when I explained to her that I wasn’t going to be home on Mother’s Day. Instead, I was traveling to Africa. She knew that my trip would help bring hope, awareness, and life-saving bed nets to refugees fleeing violence in South Sudan.
I know a girl named Kidan from Ethiopia. Like so many girls around the world, she has dreams and aspirations. She wants to be a doctor one day. But Kidan is at a crossroads; there is a key obstacle standing in her way. Do you know what that is? Watch her story to find out!
