Here’s an interesting alternative to cute coffee mugs and pesticide-grown flowers this Mother’s Day: In honor of a special mother in your life, buy a New Mother’s Kit (swaddling blankets, washcloths, soap, and other appropriate infant clothing and birthing supplies) from Afghans4Tomorrow, a non-political, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan (and based here in Colorado). The kits cost $45 and really can make a huge difference; the deadline to have a card sent to the mom you are honoring by Mother’s Day is this Monday (unless you don’t care if it arrives late).
For all you sewing freaks, afghans for Afghans is running a knit-off drive to donate baby blankets, hats, socks, etc. which they’ll use to stock the kits.
I’m finding an impressive number of locally based, globally concerned organizations here in Boulder. I met Afghans4Tomorrow founder (and Colorado University Professor) Wahid Omar a few months ago, just before his year-long assignment in Kabul.
International Midwife Assistance is also based in Boulder, and sends volunteers to work with midwives in Kabul and Bamiyan Province of Afghanistan. They’re active in many other countries as well.
But I digress. If you’re interested in the above opportunity, here are a few facts about the situation in Afghanistan:
– An Afghan child today has a one in seven chance of dying before their first year as a result of illness and malnutrition.
– One child in five dies before his or her fifth birthday.
– About 1,600 out of every 100,000 Afghan mothers die while giving birth or because of related complications.
The simple items in the kits really can help reduce these numbers.
