CleanBirth - Saving Mothers and Babies in Laos

CleanBirth.org - Donate $5 Saves 2 Lives

Fundraising for Clean Birth Kits at the Farmer’s Market?

What do sterile birthing supplies have in common with locally grown produce?

Perhaps not much on the surface.  But farmer’s markets, like the Upper State Street Market in my neighborhood, draw people who are aware, concerned about health and motivated to engage in the community.  The pace of the market is slow and social.  People come for the food but they are interested in seeing what else is on offer.

I found it easy to draw market goers to my table and engage them in a brief conversation about birth kits.  Nine out of ten gave me the $5 donation, which covers the cost of one clean birth kit and training, that I was after.

It’s a fun, community-focused way to get out the word about your cause and a pleasant way to spend a morning.  Thanks to Natalie Peña, Market Manager at the Upper State Street Farm Market, for inviting me to participate and making me feel so welcome.

I’ll be back on September 8  from 10-1 to chat about birth kits and give a yoga demo (My classes at The Fitness Haven on State St. benefit cleanbirth.org too!)

So come on out, buy some veg, do some yoga and support women in Laos!

Where else can you do all that in one place?

50 Clean Birth Kits Sent to Laos

The maiden voyage of 50 kits has begun.  The kits are being sourced from AYZH in India (more about my collaboration with AYZH here).  They will travel to Lao PDR (Laos), hopefully make it over the border without a hassle from customs and will arrive at CleanBirth.org’s partner organization in Laos.

The object of this first mailing is twofold: 1.  to ensure that mailing them is possible (they don’t get lost and are permitted allowed in by customs) 2.  to get the kits into the hands of health ministers so that they are approved for use.

I have no control over either so I now wait.  Fingers crossed.

First “Birth Kits for Baby Showers” Baby Shower

I was thrilled that a baby shower hostess found my blog and decided to make a donation.  She incorporated the donation cards with plant-favors, as you can see from the picture.

I love the idea of Birth Kit for Baby Showers because people are already spending money on various toss-away baby shower favors.  Why not put those dollars to good use?

For $5 per guest, you can save the lives of a mom and baby AND provide training to community health workers.

Please, my loyal readers, forward this along to any expecting moms or baby shower throwers.  A mom in Laos thanks you!

My CBK Project: Introducing Birth Kits for Baby Showers.

Fundraising is officially underway.  I have raised enough money for 60 kits, including shipping and training for community health workers. So excited!

I have also come up with an idea for getting out the word about the kits:  Birth Kits for Baby Showers©.  Instead of a cute favor that is briefly admired and then forgotten about, why not give the gift of life for $5.   Each guest recieves a place card announcing that a donation of a Clean Birth Kit  has been made.  Here are examples of the cards:

My CBK Project: Unexploded Ordinance in Laos

The place that I am going is unfortunately the location of many, many UXOs.  I’m not worried, I’m  not one to wander off the beaten track (literal beaten track, the proverbial one is where I live:).  Here’s a exerpt from an article by ANTS BOLINGBROKE-KENT.

The statistics relating to America’s bombing of Laos defy hyperbole. In their efforts to cut the trail, the U.S. flew 580,000 bombing missions, dropped over 2 million tons of ordnance and gave Laos the deadly accolade of being the most bombed country in the world. The legacy of this still exists today: 50,000 people have been killed by UXO in Laos since 1964 and around 200 people still die every year.

This was a key aspect of our story, and near Sepon, Laos, we filmed a private UXO clearance team run by the MMG Sepon Mine. The team leader was a Swedish ex-special forces giant of a man called Magnus, cooler than a winter’s day in Magadan and harder than Rambo on steroids. Magnus has worked in every bombed hellhole on the planet, and his geographical resume reads like an FCO warning list: Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Bosnia, Kosovo. “Sudan was terrible,” he admitted, “but this is still the most bombed place on Earth.” Just that day his team had uncovered two live 750-pound bombs and a phosphorus bomb within feet of the main road to the mine.

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