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TechnoratiDÃÂa de la MADRE: In Celebration of Mothers around the Globe
Twenty-five years ago, in the summer of 1983, a partnership was forged between a group of Nicaraguan women and a group of women in the United States. At the time, the US-backed Contra army was waging a campaign of killings, rape and abductions, with devastating consequences for women and their families. The organization that emerged from this partnership took its inspiration-and its name-from the mothers whose children had been killed by the Contras. MADRE (mother in Spanish) became an international women's human rights organization rooted in connections between women worldwide and in the desire of mothers to seek social justice for all families.
On the celebration of Mother's Day in the US, we take the opportunity to honor mothers around the globe who are striving to create positive social change. We remember that, in 1870, US activist Julia Ward Howe released her Mother's Day Proclamation, in which she called for mothers to come together in the name of peace and justice. The women profiled below-all leaders in the communities of MADRE's sister organizations-share their stories with mothers in the US and remind us of this call for unity.
Fatima Ahmed: Planting Seeds and Putting Down Roots (Sudan)
Ask Fatima Ahmed about the challenges of balancing work with raising her young sons, and she is frank. "I never rest. It takes a lot of energy." For years, she has served as the director for Zenab for Women in Development, a community-based women's organization in Sudan. In a country roiled for decades by civil war in the south and more recently by bloodshed in Darfur, Zenab has partnered with MADRE to provide emergency aid to displaced women and families and to support women in refugee camps, who are routinely targeted for sexual violence.
Fatima works with women farmers, many of whom bring their babies into the fields with them everyday. The women have organized a union, part of an effort to recognize the key role played by women in agriculture and the need for more resources, like seeds and farm tools, to sustain their work and their communities. Occasionally, Fatima's work requires her to leave her own children for weeks on end, as she travels to rural communities throughout Sudan. The separation can be difficult, but she explains, "I know how much I love my children, and I know that I want everything for them. That is why I feel so much for other mothers who want the same but cannot provide it. When my kids ask me why I'm leaving, I tell them that I'm going to help other mothers and kids who cannot afford the things they have."
She attributes her drive and her commitment in large part to her own mother, who was also a community leader. "Since I was a child," says Fatima, "I saw my mother's compassion for the people around her. Women in the community would come to her for help, and no matter what, she would always welcome them and help them with their problems." Zenab, the organization that Fatima founded, is named for her mother, and the values and goals it embodies are clearly inspired by her legacy.
"I wish peace for my children, says Fatima, "because without peace, how can we make any progress? We need progress in health, in education, in all areas. For this, we need peace in local communities, at a national level and at an international level. That is the only way."
On Mother's Day, Fatima's thoughts turn to mothers in the US. "I want to tell mothers in the US to raise their kids to look to other worlds beyond their own. They must teach their children that there are other kids just like them and that we are all connected."
Yanar Mohammed: Motherhood as a Source of Strength (Iraq)
"Becoming a mother," says Yanar Mohammed, "changes you from an individual into someone who is inextricably connected to-and responsible for-other people's lives." In her own life, Yanar has built on that connection through founding the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI). Yanar has dedicated herself to meeting the needs of Iraqi women and families suffering as a result of the US invasion and the rising religious extremism it has unleashed. Together with MADRE, OWFI has founded a network of women's shelters in Iraq. In addition, OWFI's unique Freedom Space project brings together young poets and artists of varying religious and ethnic backgrounds to create art and express their hopes for a peaceful Iraq where human rights are cherished.
In the context of US occupation and civil war, Yanar's work has proven dangerous. But she is driven to fight for peace and human rights, in part because she is a mother. "When you are responsible for a vulnerable life, it changes your own. You realize that millions of people can become vulnerable as a result of some situation that they didn't create-a war, a famine, an occupation. Being a mother is about making the connection between the life you have brought into the world and all life. It's about stepping up to meet the needs of those who are vulnerable."
"Early motherhood, especially, can be destabilizing in its many practical challenges, like sleeplessness and the disappearance of any 'free time.' But learning to meet those challenges can also be empowering. It makes you more durable, and ultimately, more willing to take on the work of nurturing. Developing that capability prepares you for the even bigger mission of creating social change. You see that any big, positive change needs to be birthed, nurtured and committed to with constancy. I see this in the women of Iraq. They are more prepared for the challenge of living through this difficult time than their men, more resilient because of the experience of being mothers."
As she looks towards the future, her goals-for her own son and for her country-are far-ranging. "What I want is freedom and equality. As a mother, I feel therefore that I have to constantly protect my child from a world where these cherished things are missing."
"My wish for mothers in the US and around the world is that they never carry this burden of having to protect their children from a ruthless world. Children should grow in a world where they are nurtured, protected and safe. They should not be punished for being born in the wrong place. I hope that mothers in the US will think of the children of Iraq this Mother's Day, because these are their children, too. I believe it's the birthright of every child to be cared for by every adult."
Robitalia Moreno DÃÂaz & MarÃÂa del Rosario Moreno DÃÂaz: Building a Future in the Face of War (Colombia)
War has changed the face of Villavicencio, a city a few hours by car outside of Colombia's capital of Bogotá. Displaced by armed conflict and seeking the relative safety of the city, families routinely arrive by the hundreds. Over the past four years, they have built houses along the edges of the city and filled empty lots, establishing a community known as Ciudad Porfia. Women are often forced to start their lives over and struggle to find new homes and new means of survival for their families. But even in these challenging and dangerous circumstances, mothers are determined to build a future for themselves and for their children.
LIMPAL, a MADRE sister organization in Colombia, has worked with displaced women and families for over ten years. In Ciudad Porfia, LIMPAL has been helping women to organize, to participate in human rights trainings and to create their own community development projects. All the while, the leadership of mothers has been the major motivating force. Two sisters, Robitalia Moreno DÃÂaz (known as Robi) and MarÃÂa del Rosario Moreno DÃÂaz (known as Rosa), exemplify this drive.
When the war and financial hardship forced Rosa and her family to flee their home, she was lucky to have the aid of her older sister Robi, who helped her to settle in Ciudad Porfia. Together, Robi and Rosa have become leaders within the women's group, motivated like so many mothers by their desire to lay a foundation for their children's success.
"I want what every mother wants for her children," says Robi. "Their well-being. I want conditions to get better." Robi, a long-time community activist, pointed to reasons for hope she could see around her. "Throughout the years, everything has changed. The community has brought progress to Ciudad Porfia. Now we have electricity, and we pressured the government to build a footbridge across the river to improve transportation. But there is still more that needs to happen." She worries about the continuing violence and the limited access to health care.
Robi's children have absorbed their mother's determination to create positive change. Mayra, her 17-year-old daughter, explains her goals for the future, saying, "What I have always wanted is to study nursing or medicine. I would like to work on anything that involves helping this community."
At a meeting of the women's group in Ciudad Porfia, the scope of their plans and projects for the future is inspiring. Rosa explains, "All of the women agree that it's important to establish projects that will help the children's development. For example, we may found a community feeding center, a day care or a job training project for women. Hopefully, we can start implementing our ideas soon."
"Women here are fighters, and we all know that we will improve our conditions and make progress. We work hard for our children so that they can have better opportunities. As mothers, we are not fighting only for ourselves but for our children."
Robi adds, "I always remember that life is really short and that we should take advantage of the moments we have with our children. We have to value and educate our kids, and we have to build trust with them. That is all we can give them-the guidelines to start building a solid future."
Women's Group MADRE shares the stories of mothers from Iraq, Sudan, and Colombia who are fighting for better futures for their children. MotherVerse Magazine features smart and engaging writing from mothers across the globe.
13 Comments so far
Show AllPS----By the way, the Minoan Great Year is still going on of course and you can see it in the sky---It has two complementary pairs of signs (in their icons the sacred is marked off by doublings)....First, when a New Crescent Moon coincides with the (new year) Winter Solstice, and occurs on the day or within 7 days of Solstice; and the very next year (6 months later) you will see a Full Moon fall on the day of Summer Solstice or within at most 8 days of it. This repeats every 8 and 1/2 years and was the basis of timing The Olympic Games---a Minoan Cretan vestige in itself, our still-alive SECULAR SACRED SPACE among differences in which "healthy competition" HAPPENS IN HUMAN CONTEXT, and so is never more worthwhile. Minoans didn't fraction numbers till they drove themselves crazy trying to force the lunar year into the solar one---this still makes a mess of calendars today. Instead they observed and learned both the Great Year rhythm (union, dance, separation, return over and over) and the very consistent continuum of lunar phases along each single year's two solstices. So they always knew just where they were in time and yet had a grand and celebratory rhythm to their marriage of nature, their economics and spiritual practices....This we owe to the MOTHERS of our Western civilization. They lasted because they were ANCHORED TO REALITIES OUTSIDE THEMSELVES. Which is just what The Bible's law against "graven images and idols" divorced us from: teaching-objects leading us to nature and the experience of the divine within it. The more to objectify and rape....Clearly we cannot really go forward unless we first go back to recover our senses....
SIOUXROSE: Thanks for the comp, and I agree with your latest post and second you on the incarnation of PRESENCE!
Gotta get ready for work.
PS... PRESENCE: Welcome back in your new incarnation!
PEACEMAN: Excellent post. Our models are based on narrow fields of reference. Today's education based on teaching (like Pavlov's trained dogs) to answer test questions, rather than for the THRILL of learning, the thirst of feeding an open mind, awakening wonder etc dulls the apparatus of the mind(s).
I often bring astrology into this forum because even if its predictive capacities were in doubt, what it relates about the variety of human experiences along with a PLANNED set of diverse perspectives takes us away from linear models of behavior into a wider realization of those qualities that make for the whole, fill the circle, balance both oars. Our world is a living mosaic where the parts are intended to hone each other and grow/evolve the whole.
So long as competition is taught, and ALL are expected to conform to extremely limited models of behavior and assumed excellence, the balance the circle offers is lost on us.
JACK37 and SIOUXROSE: Interesting posts by both of you. Whether Atlantis was real or just part of mythology, it also had a high standard of living, an egalitarian society, and the people honored men and women with wisdom rather than those with more material possesions. Throughout human history, groups of people formed communities with utopian concepts and some succeded while the overwhelming majority failed. Getting along with thy neighbor is a difficult task, and maintaining a system of equal treatment requires enormous amounts of tolerance, patience, and understanding of other citizen's viewpoints. I think the Ammish and Mennonites have done remarkably well in this regard.
Earlier this year, I told one of our CD "regulars" about a book I purchased while in Paris, titled, 'Utopian Communities in America, 1680-1880' written by Mark Holloway. I learned a great deal about the vicissitude of communal living.
The anarchist concept of an egalitarian society has been demonized by the ruling class for centuries. Mention the word, "anarchy" and most people visualize violent rock-throwing vandals rather than those who try to follow the Golden and Silver Rules of personal conduct. This is a word, and definitions change over time, which is why mystics used symbols over the milleniums rather than defined words. Not everyone is accurate in symbolic interpretation, certainly not in biblical allegory. No need to elaborate on the latter sentence.
One of the most "feared" people in the early part of Twentieth Century America was the free-thinking Emma Goldman, an anarchist by name but an early advocate for women's rights, human rights, civil rights, the right to join a union, and that taboo to this day, sexual freedom. Emma attracted large crowds around the country when she lectured. The ruling oligarch felt threatened by her tireless dynamism, and eventually had her deported. The writer, Alice Wexler, did a fine job in her biography, 'Emma Goldman, An Intimate Life,' a book I treasure.
SIOUXROSE: Thanks for your thought. My day was relaxing as it's off to the "salt mine" tomorrow.
They must teach their children that there are other kids just like them and that we are all
connected
The new K-12 civics curriculum will teach us that all the world's people are united and anyone who attempts to divide us might well feel the "tyranny of the majority".
PEACEMAN & BOBBY J: Many thanks and I hope the day was meaningfully spent for both of you.
JACK 37: Enlightening post. I for one would be very appreciative of an egalitarian society, one that honored the special gifts of INDIVIDUALS. I've shared many times in the forum that I believe there is a metaphysical correspondence between Jesus electing to share his teachings with 12 disciples, and Abraham founding 12 tribes, and the Zodiac defining the human experience through the rubric of 12 quintessential expressions, or basic archetypes. Charles Fillmore, the founder of UNITY wrote a book entitled, "The Twelve Powers of Man" and created a spiritual connection between the characters of the 12 disciples and the basic GIFTS each brought to the proverbial table.
If we understood these 12 quintessential gifts, we would not as a society place so much emphasis on brute power and macho force as if the only objective definitions for success include amassing a lot of $, or showing a Clint Eastwood like cold disregard when adroitly using a weapon. For women, it's pretty much about the sex image thing STILL. I am all for taking care of our bodies and looking well, so long as mind and spirit are also cultivated. The capitalist ethic places so much emphasis on packaging that many people live only for the outer appearances and have essentially left the beauty of their interior lives to atrophy.
This seems an appropriate place to offer for consideration that the longest, most peaceful AND "advancing" period of Western history was not, as schools teach, in Classical Greece, or ancient Israel, or Rome or anywhere else---but in Minoan Crete, at least 3000 BCE to about 1400 (1600 years) and even beyond. That's many times as long as any "glory period" men can conjure up and I "wonder" why it's not the root of our educations as it should be. (GETTING IT RIGHT's not important? Or is it more important that we NOT know?) A culture that was not "Goddess-dominated and thereby doomed," but "religious" about egalitarian balance between all things male and female, from moon and sun in their elegant Great Year calendar to the social and spiritual ways in which they lived it: a culture that taught (demonstrably) that the real test of strength is RESTRAINT and whose men lived extraordinary lives within that (being "a part" instead of manfully "apart from" the other lives around "him")....Not a utopia (famous for its laws instead), not a mother-dominated beehive of drones (known for its dynamic men and women instead), and certainly not a "doomed Atlantis" that we get on every channel, that was waiting to fall so men could give us war and "heroism" to tell us what's important (men). Once men, as usual getting in over their heads, started meddling with women's birth control and other "mysteries" that had fruit in the real world ("fertility cult" means creating best conditions for many healthy children), we got too many people with no social bonds; and "democracy" was no substitute for literal family bonds, was no rescue from the tyrants that gave us the first political bloodbaths of history, since only wealthy male citizens could do it. Men with power and no social bonds (like our present idiot-tyrant) make bad things happen. Minoan Cretans enjoyed the highest average living standard of their world, never idolized kings or battles or domination (except in the spectrum of master-skills they had, based in observation)....and used their Great Year cycle of sun and moon to put limitations on their own leaders (terms of 2, 4, and/or 8 and 1/2 years). That is where "history" began---the art of writing down the lies that conquerors tell after the fact. When the Mycenean Greeks smashed Crete as if suffered from the Thera Volcano eruption (c.1630BCE), they tore down The Labyrinth (or, "Calendar House") and thereby did not kill but LOOSED "the Minotaur": the bull-headed man who has nothing but appetite and violence. The Minoan world was circles of time or the eternal now (Native Americans understand it well), within which "progress" truly meant making life a little better and more enjoyable for the most people of generations to come. Welcome to Bagdhad. Historians have found every imaginable way of helping us NOT to consider them part of 'the story' and have thereby done us criminal disservice in robbing us of the perspective that might have told us---still might tell us---that this is all insane, and there are other ways. Better ways. http://ancientgreece-earlyamerica.com
A special blessing and prayer for all the mothers out there. Peace be with you.
Yes, Siouxrose. I also like your writing. I have seen your words in other posts and I always find them very heartfelt and clear-headed. This is something to be celebrated when there is far too much confusion and negativity in so much of what is written.
Happy Mother's Day
Peace and love,
Bobby
Good article.
Siouxrose,
Happy Mother's Day to you!
Both of your posts on this article have touched me. Well said, my sister!
By the way, I realize SOME men have embraced and indeed act as LOVE's witnesses, just as a percentage of women operate as Lady Macbeth... the SOUL is not gendered. We take on bodies to learn about many forms of expression... neither are we, at soul level, black or white, Christian or Jew, etc. These are like costumes through which the dramas that might evoke a higher education are pursued on this planet of intensified learning.
True to American Indigenous culture, decisions for war were made by the Grandmothers' councils... for they, who had nurtured life most were the ones best looked to for guidance on whether to place it into jeopardy.
Our world would be a far different place if societies had not excluded women from the high echelons of power as exercised by church and state. Long marginalized, the voice that speaks PRO life has been set aside so that war and militarism, the grotesque expenses of "defense" have like a cancer devoured resources more wisely spent on food, education, and peace keeping initiatives.
Yes. Every mother who truly feels love for her child understands that love bonds her to every other child, and sentient being. The realization of the inter-connectedness of ALL life is instrumental to the spiritual healing of mankind. Perhaps those luxuries that have subsumed consciousness to transitory sensations endlessly replcated on the mundane plane will lapse sufficiently to make the realization of what matters more substantially experienced.