Happy Mother's Day

Most of you have already seen this, but the sentiment is timely and necessary:

In the United States today, it is Mother's Day, a day we celebrate and appreciate the women who have made enormous contributions and drastic differences in our lives and communities.



As many of you know, I have spent the past two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa, in the Republic of Benin. As my service is winding up to a close, there are a few things I'd like to share with you.



The first is, we cannot hope to reasonably combat abject poverty if we continue to underutilize the population that suffers the most: women. According to some estimates, women make up 70% of the world's poor. According to UNIFEM, Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. This isn't a political, economic or societal issue- it's a human right's issue through and through.



Now, this isn't new news- multinational and non-governmental organizations have been talking about the "Feminization of Poverty" for years; nor is combatting global poverty revolutionary. However, giving individuals, not corporations or large governments, the opportunity to contribute to individual projects to empower the world’s women, is.



With this in mind, I would like to bring to your attention Camp Success, a Girls' Empowerment Camp in the north of Benin. This week-long camp’s goal is to award high-achieving middle schoolers with the opportunity to learn, lead and navigate their own futures. I urge you, on behalf of all women and mothers everywhere, to support this generation of future mothers, who at this moment in time need all the help they can get.



The link attached to this message is to the site to donate. If you are not interested in donating, or cannot at this time, please visit the site anyway. Your support is not limited to your financial generosity. Please repost this link with a message of support. Or forward this message. Every little thing helps those with nothing.



Best,

Sarah Pedersen

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=680-210