While we’ve got no problems with the "ply me with gifts" aspect of Mother’s Day (obviously), we’re no less fans of using the occasion as an opportunity to reflect on how lucky we all are–and pay it forward accordingly.A suggestion: Women For Women International is an absolutely phenomenal organization, started as a grassroots effort in 1993 by Zainab Salbi to provide essential assistance to women survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Today, they’ve helped close to 100,000 women in war-ravaged regions like Afghanistan, Columbia, Iraq and the Sudan to rebuild their lives in palpable ways.I can vouch for them first-hand – I spent time with their Sarajevo office soon after the Bosnian war ended, and the support women are getting from Women for Women is tangible. There’s direct financial assistance, counseling, job training, microcredit loans to start businesses, and especially the emotional support of "sister sponsors" in the US.
It’s not like you send money and wonder where it goes; it goes to the women.Today, consider making a contribution through the organization’s Mother’s Day campaign in the name of someone you love. Because no matter what you did–or didn’t get–from the kids or the husband today, let’s face it. We’ve got it pretty good. –Liz
Mothers for Women
