Model, mom and Every Mother Counts founder Christy Turlington Burns explains why she wants moms to skip Mother’s Day this year:
I’m Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts and proud member of ONE. I’ve been on these pages before, blogging about my travels and the work we’ve done together on behalf of human rights around the world. I started Every Mother Counts in 2010 because I was tired of hearing the same shocking statistics about the hundreds of thousands women who die each year from complications caused by pregnancy and childbirth despite the fact that almost 90 percent of them are preventable — using currently available technology, skills, drugs and equipment.
Christy Turlington Burns, ONE member and founder of Every Mother Counts, shares a resourceful way you can help the world’s poorest today.
When was the last time your cell phone saved your life?
In the world’s poorest countries, this happens every day. Cell phones help mothers get the medicine they need, babies receive life-saving vaccines and families stay healthy and strong.
As a ONE member and founder of Every Mother Counts, the advocacy and mobilization campaign I started to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction globally, I’ve seen these programs in action and they work.
I’m thrilled that “No Woman No Cry,” my documentary on maternal and child health, premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network last weekend for Mother’s Day. It couldn’t have aired at a better time. I hope that it encouraged women to advocate for improved health for moms all over the world. In case you missed it, here’s the trailer:
Model, mom and activist Christy Turlington Burns is visiting Guatemala to check in on maternal health progress after shooting a piece of her documentary, “No Woman No Cry,” there a few years ago. This is her third blog post in the series.
If anyone ever asks the question, “How much can one fit into three days in Guatemala?” I can tell you that the answer is BASTANTE — a lot!
Christy talks to the media at an event
Today we shifted gears to focus on the original purpose of our trip — premiering my documentary film, “No Woman, No Cry” at the ICARO Film Festival in Guatemala. This has been a step in the direction of a dream I’ve always had since finishing the film — and that is to bring the finished product back to each of the countries profiled in the movie. And there was an added bonus to doing so — spending the day with the resilient maternal and child health community here in Guatemala.
Model, mom and activist Christy Turlington Burns is visiting Guatemala to check in on maternal health progress after shooting a piece of her documentary, “No Woman No Cry,” there a few years ago. This is her first blog post in the series.
I arrived back to Guatemala yesterday and it feels like seeing an old friend. I’m back to premiere the documentary, “No Woman, No Cry,” a part of which was filmed down here in early 2009. The film’s primary focus is on the barriers to health care for women at a critical juncture in their pregnancies in four countries — Tanzania, Bangladesh, the US and Guatemala.
Christy Turlington Burns with baby Alejo at the Hospicio San Jose in Guatemala
These barriers too often contribute to what are largely preventable deaths. Since completing the film, I’ve been eager to come back to Guatemala to share the finished product with those who participated in the making of it and check in on how things have progressed (or not) since I was last here.
Our fourth post from our special correspondent this week, model and activist Christy Turlington Burns.
Today I was finally able to venture over to the Clinton Global Initiative (an idea founded in order to turn ideas into actions to “help our world move beyond the current state of globalization to a more integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values”) for the last day of workshops and sessions at the conference.
I sat in on a plenary session regarding the current state of Haiti and heard remarks from President Clinton about all that CGI members have contributed both before and after the devastating earthquake that struck the country last January. He applauded President Preval’s efforts to rebuild the country and reminded us all of the incredible devastation Haiti suffered. President Preval reiterated the need for international aid and investment in the infrastructure of tomorrow: human infrastructure. He stressed an emphasis on education so that the men and women of Haiti could someday thrive. He then invited Wyclef Jean onto the stage and officially named him the Goodwill Ambassador of Haiti and also applauded Dr. Bill Pope, world leader against HIV/AIDS. He also gave special thanks to Paul Farmer and his Partners in Health organization – which has been tirelessly providing health and food provision services in Haiti for so many years.
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