Saturday, January 12, 2008

Moms take action to improve life for families worldwide

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle


Moms take action to improve life for families worldwide

BY MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
mdrahos@record-eagle.com

HARBOR SPRINGS -- Hillary Rodham Clinton may have made the old African proverb famous, but Kate Bassett and Copland Rudolph have always known that it takes a village to raise a child.

Believing that children can thrive only if their families do, and if the whole of society cares enough to provide for them, the Harbor Springs friends home school their four children together and sponsor six more children in Africa, Sri Lanka and Honduras through the Christian Children's Fund. And when Rudolph got an unsolicited calendar in the mail a few years ago from an international group called Mothers Acting Up, they were immediately drawn to its mission of action on behalf of children everywhere.

"We believe that beyond our traditional mother roles we have a responsibility to (publicly) and passionately advocate for the world's children," said Rudolph, 40, a restaurateur and environmentalist with a background in counseling and psychology.

After attending a nearby lecture on Millennium Development Goals, a set of global strategies for ending extreme poverty by 2015, the women decided to start a local affiliate of Mothers Acting Up in 2006.

"I think that we knew just from being moms and (living) in our community that we live in a really compassionate place," said Bassett, 29, assistant editor of the Harbor Light newspaper. "I think that first Mothers' Day we went in blind and hoping for the best. We didn't know if five people would show up or 30 people."

Now Northern Michigan Mothers Acting Up.... (more here)


Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Political Moms Make Family Values Their Baby

Political Moms Make Family Values Their Baby

Mothers' groups are talking to presidential campaigns about family values. It's time, says a founder of Moms Rising, to focus on paid sick days for workers, equal pay for women and affordable health care for all.

Mothers act up on stilts in Boulder, Colo.

(WOMENSENEWS)--Wobbling forward on stilts is one way to gain attention.

That's why four founding members of Mothers Acting Up have been visible high above the crowds in more than 80 events since the group launched on Mother's Day 2002.

"It became such a perfect metaphor for Mothers Acting Up," says Juliana Forbes, communications director for the Boulder, Colo., group focused on political advocacy for children around the world. "One of the biggest hurdles is really becoming public and visible in your community. If you're up on stilts, you are so visible. Everyone's looking at you."

Building on their strategy of mobilizing active members to