#plancanada

Bezawit's story - Girls' education is the beginning of change

Project X reaches and exceeds it goal to raise $25,000 for Project X – ONE YEAR EARLY! With over $33,000 of fundraising achieved and still ongoing, we are thrilled to provide this gift toward the first boat ambulances in Tanzania.

  It has been an amazing experience to talk to people about this project. And great questions! In this blog here are some of the questions I have been asked - and even asked myself, along with what I have to say about this.

You will also see some photos from our event and a link to the short video taken on December 2 in our office. (Note how my scarf slowly slips off my shoulder until I YANK it back to where it's supposed to be.)

Why Tanzania and why this cause?

It was the issue surrounding maternal health that guided my decision with Plan Canada. I have always taken an interest in social causes and particularly to informing myself on the plight of women and children in developing countries. I think back to my experiences visiting a women’s prison in Mexico, and an orphanage in the same country, and taking the time to visit public school on a family trip to St-Lucia, so my two daughters could meet some local school kids. Its always been a part of me to take an interest in people’s lives, whose lives are different than mine.

Earlier in 2014, I opted to educate myself more on human rights and social issues that are specific to women in the human rights context. Basically, what I know intuitively is something I wanted to understand intellectually and the best way to get there for me was to join an online course offered by Stanford University, on Women’s Health and Human Rights (https://class.stanford.edu/courses/GlobalHealth/WomensHealth/Winter2014/about). I would recommend anyone with an interest in philanthropy, working in human rights or the CSR field to TAKE THIS COURSE. Through webcasts and focused readings I was truly astonished at the intelligence and thoughtful analysis on the issues. It was for me a new beginning and through this course, I have learned an absolute wealth of information that is helped me personally understand what to commit to, but also professionally in terms of implementation and execution of social and community relations programs.

So, once I had defined the issue that was most compelling to me, and because of the tremendous social injustice surrounding a preventable death during maternity, I went to my representative at Plan Canada seeking to make a commitment on the cause. This is a tragedy of my generation and it must be seen as such for people to take action.

Myself personally, and with The Capital Lab, had previously made commitments to Plan Canada in the form of a child sponsor and community sponsor so it was exciting to speak with the NGO and my representative on my interests and finding a project that I could commit to. With the extensive work on healthcare and MNCH (maternal, newborn and child health) inside Tanzania, I believe this to be the ideal place to raise money and awareness on how one can eliminate one of the key barriers to women during maternity: free, accessible transportation to a medical facility during her pregnancy. The program that Plan is responsible for implementing is supported by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) and called Wazai na Mwana – Parents and Children in Tanzania.

Don’t you feel more compelled to donate money locally? Why Africa?

I am absolutely compelled to donate money locally and have for many years supported a variety of charities supporting Canadian issues and individuals. In particularl, I would draw attention to Jeremy’s Vision (http://www.jersvision.org/) which is a not for profit organization led by young people to eliminate bullying and discrimination of all kinds in our school system; and also Verity Links (http://www.verity.ca/initiatives.asp) the project initiated by Verity Founder, Mary Aitken, Veritylink, is a Member-led initiative dedicated to giving back and creating opportunities for the women and girls in Regent Park.

Part of my commitment to maternal health is beyond giving; I consider myself to be ideally positioned to raise awareness of this social injustice, and given my broad professional exposure to developing countries, committing to a broader social justice issue is important to me, and serves to remind me of how we can impact our social context, wherever we may work.

How did you come to work with Plan Canada?

Like many individuals who are looking to commit time and financial resources to a charity, I was comfortable already with the organization due to the success I had with the child sponsor program and then discovered for myself what is important in lending my voice to an NGO: a track record of success and an ability to stay in country and get things done (Plan has been active in Tanzania since 1991), so political capital is important. A cost efficient business model and clear direction from the CEO on this, and on the assurance processes for investing in social programs. 79% of dollars raised goes to program development, 21% allocated for administration, operating and fundraising costs. And finally, flexibility and commitment to what is important to me; Plan was open to my ideas and thoughts on Project X, on the extractive industry and its social impacts, and supporting me in raising awareness of Project X.

What does the boat look like? 

Please see a local article on what people in Tanzania have to say about boat ambulances:

http://m.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/37845-boats-donation-to-cut-maternal-mortality

As a reminder, Project X aims to raise awareness of maternal health as a global issue and the need for access to emergency care during maternity.

Approximately 800 women a day will die due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth (these are largely due to pre-existing conditions left unchecked, severe bleeding and high blood pressure induced by pregnancy – these conditions are exacerbated with young girls)

Maternal health was defined a Canadian issue by Prime Minister Harper in 2010 and was defined the social issue of the G8 in Canada. Today, Canadian commitment to this cause continues.

Mahmoud Fathalla defined the maternal death road over 20 years ago and says that it is the health scandal of our time. It is Endemic, yet almost completely preventable, and is one of the starkest examples of gender discrimination in our world. More about Dr. Fathalla here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS7fCvCIe1k

http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/background/members/fathalla/en/

1 in 40 women will die during pregnancy and childbirth; in Europe it is 1 in 3300. 99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries

When women experience, perhaps for the first time, the ability to act for themselves during their maternity, they will experience their right to care, their right to a safe motherhood. This galvanizes change that can impact their family, their community and their country in the most positive ways. Women need to live through pregnancy to contribute to their family, to their community and their country

It is a privilege today to experience a safe motherhood however it is a right that not all people experience in the same way; this is contrary to CEDAW (Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for the full texts see below. Providing means to reduce the barriers to experience these rights is what Project X is aiming to raise awareness of

CEDAW Article 12

 Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health care services, including those related to family planning.

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I of this article, States Parties shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm#article12

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 25

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

 http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

What are you planning next for Project X?

Right now it's about learning more about the project, talking with people who have been there and their experiences, and speaking to others about maternal health. I hope that over time maternal health and Project X will continue, and grow. I would like to continue to awareness and augment the types of events and people we reach out.

We expect to keep the lines of communication open with Plan Canada so that our fundraising can continue for maternal health in Tanzania, and the boat ambulance project.

And most definitely am planning a trip to Tanzania to visit the project. Let me know if you or someone you know is interested.

Happy Holidays and thank you for the support.

Belinda

A charity exists to raise awareness for an issue, and eventually garner support for a specific cause. How should a charity go about raising support for their cause? The best way to do this is by presenting results! People do not want to continuously give their time and money to a charity that has not shown what they have accomplished or intend to accomplish.