Joellen's article on Global Citizenship

MAU Published in World Pulse MagazinePosted by Joellen Raderstorf
12:00 AM Dec 03, 2008
Raising Global Citizens
Featured in World Pulse Magazine Winter/Spring 09 (Subscribe)Easy things you can do to help any child get a better appreciation of the world she lives in Ask a class of fourth graders to check the labels in each other’s t-shirts, and you’ll find at least fifteen different countries listed after “Made in . . .” Our world’s children are inextricably linked: They breathe the same air, listen to the same music, sleep under the same stars, and wear t-shirts from each other’s countries. I was not raised in a family of world travellers, so my global experience as a child was limited to a trip with my high school a capella choir to the U.K. My own children have had the opposite experience; they’ve traveled literally around the world, meeting people of all faiths, cultures and economic circumstances. I am a mother committed to raising global citizens. The roots of Global Citizenship can be traced back as far as Ancient Greece. Two and a half millennia later, the definition of it, declared by Oxfam Education school curriculum, is:understanding the need to tackle injustice and inequality, and having the desire and ability to work actively to do so. It is about valuing the Earth as precious and unique, and safeguarding the future for those coming after us. Global Citizenship is a way of thinking and behaving. It is an outlook on life, a belief that we can make a difference. Over the years, I have accumulated a raising-global-citizens treasure-trove: books to read, games to play, and school activities to bring to the classroom. I’ve also discovered some golden rules to raising a global citizen. #1: Teach by example: If you are engaged in making the world a better place, your child will be too. #2: Learn from your children: They understand acceptance and diversity better than we ever will. #3: Expose children to many forms of action, but let them choose their causes for themselves. A few items from my trove:Start with reading. Children’s books hold life’s most precious secrets. Find books with the most beautiful messages, ones that highlight different cultures, faiths and lives (see sidebar). Expose your children to stories with powerful environmental messages and characters who undergo transformation from greedy antagonist to compassionate protagonist. As a brand new mama, I spent most of a 2,500 mile road trip in the back seat reading Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema. I can still recite the rhythmic verses and see Kipat standing on one leg, like a big stork bird. It made me yearn to visit Africa and I imagined the same hunger instilled in my sweet, gurgling son.Bring lessons into everyday activities. Integrating global awareness into everyday events makes it a natural part of life from the get-go. Watch movies that depict life in faraway lands. Host a lemonade stand to buy mosquito nets for children in malaria-prone countries. Start a giving-circle tradition, allowing each member of the family to gift money to non-profits. Help your child identify what they are passionate about. The best way is to listen. I recognized my middle son's passion for animal rights when he said, "Mom, we are all animals—humans are no better that any other animal."Role play. When we put ourselves in the shoes of others, our eyes begin to open. At my son’s school I organized an event called “The World Sits Down to Lunch”. Each child was randomly given a ticket determining what lunch they would receive. The number of tickets in each group proportionally represented the world’s population. That meant that the majority of children were sent to the “Not Enough Area”, with no table, used yogurt containers for bowls, a pot of rice and a large pan for collecting water. The “Just Enough” group were shown to a crowded table with rice, beans, one very small cookie per person and a Dixie cup of juice. And the “More Than Enough” children—only eight of the 54 students—were served by high school students gesturing to sit at a beautifully set table, urging: “Help yourself to all the burrito fixings and dessert you would like.” The classroom transformed into a microcosm of our world: scarcity, war, stereotyping, begging and plenty of emotion. But the children got it.In the following weeks they shared this experience over and over again. I witnessed the beginnings of an authentic sense of global family. Experience the world first hand. Step one: place a large map on a promenant wall in your house. Now ponder adventures your family might have and track where you’ve already been. Start a travel fund and check out travel books from the library. The options are vast—from a one week service trip to a round-the-world adventure. With our sons aged 12, 10 and 7— each carrying their own backpack—we embarked on the learning experience of a lifetime, visiting 14 different countries. Six weeks into our six month trip, we found ourselves running from a Tsunami. Travel as close to the ground as your appetite allows. My children preferred the temples of Angkor in Cambodia to the museums in Italy. Our time spent in orphanages in South Africa and befriending working children in Cambodia left a lasting global imprint.Whatever you do, acting as members of one global family will transform your children’s lives – and yours. SIDEBAR: Resources:Books:The Giving Tree, by Shel SilversteinA Life Like Mine, by UNICEF and Dorling KindersleyBringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna AardemaThe Quiltmaker’s Gift, by Jeff Brambeau and Gail De MarkenThe Wump World, by Bill PeetThe Milestones Project: Celebrating Childhood Around the WorldGames: Games for Change highlights digital games for social change. www.gamesforchange.orgCurriculum: Oxfam's curriculum for Global Citizenship and more. www.oxfam.org.uk/education/gc/Philanthropy: YouthGive is building a community of giving, created and guided by young people. www.youthgive.orgTravel: Globe Aware offers volunteer vacations for families. www.globeaware.org
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Global Citizens

Dear MAU Mavens,
As children and families gather for holiday celebrations, it's a good time to discuss how we can collectively raise Global Citizens...Luckily, MAU's own Joellen Raderstorf has written an article on that very subject! How very prescient of her!Find the article in the magnificent new edition of the World Pulse Magazine or read it here. The article contains tips, golden rules, resources and quotes like this: "Acting as members of one global family will transform your children's lives - and yours." What's not to like?Yours in spirited partnership,The Mavens at MAU Central P.S. Give the gift of engagement this holiday with a 2009 Calendar and a subscription to World Pulse Magazine.
Mothers Acting Up (MAU) inspires and mobilizes mothers* to advocate on behalf of the world's children.*mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller. You have received this email because you are on the Mothers Acting Up Action mailing list. If you no longer wish to receive emails from us, please visit this link.

Al Gore's NYT climate crisis plan

Here’s what we can do — now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing 19th-century energy technologies that depend on dangerous and expensive carbon-based fuels with 21st-century technologies that use fuel that is free forever: the sun, the wind and the natural heat of the earth. What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis — and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced. First, the new president and the new Congress should offer large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity.Second, we should begin the planning and construction of a unified national smart grid for the transport of renewable electricity from the rural places where it is mostly generated to the cities where it is mostly used. New high-voltage, low-loss underground lines can be designed with “smart” features that provide consumers with sophisticated information and easy-to-use tools for conserving electricity, eliminating inefficiency and reducing their energy bills. The cost of this modern grid — $400 billion over 10 years — pales in comparison with the annual loss to American business of $120 billion due to the cascading failures that are endemic to our current balkanized and antiquated electricity lines.Third, we should help America’s automobile industry (not only the Big Three but the innovative new startup companies as well) to convert quickly to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity that will be available as the rest of this plan matures. In combination with the unified grid, a nationwide fleet of plug-in hybrids would also help to solve the problem of electricity storage. Think about it: with this sort of grid, cars could be charged during off-peak energy-use hours; during peak hours, when fewer cars are on the road, they could contribute their electricity back into the national grid. Fourth, we should embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. Approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from buildings — and stopping that pollution saves money for homeowners and businesses. This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes. Fifth, the United States should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home, and by leading the world’s efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year in Copenhagen with a more effective treaty that caps global carbon dioxide emissions and encourages nations to invest together in efficient ways to reduce global warming pollution quickly, including by sharply reducing deforestation. Of course, the best way — indeed the only way — to secure a global agreement to safeguard our future is by re-establishing the United States as the country with the moral and political authority to lead the world toward a solution. Looking ahead, I have great hope that we will have the courage to embrace the changes necessary to save our economy, our planet and ultimately ourselves. In an earlier transformative era in American history, President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon within 10 years. Eight years and two months later, Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface. The average age of the systems engineers cheering on Apollo 11 from the Houston control room that day was 26, which means that their average age when President Kennedy announced the challenge was 18. This year similarly saw the rise of young Americans, whose enthusiasm electrified Barack Obama’s campaign. There is little doubt that this same group of energized youth will play an essential role in this project to secure our national future, once again turning seemingly impossible goals into inspiring success.
Al Gore, the vice president from 1993 to 2001, was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He founded the Alliance for Climate Protection and, as a businessman, invests in alternative energy companies.

This Mama is behind OBAMA!

Dear MAU Mavens,
Yesterday was a monumental day! Never before in the history of our nation have so many people participated in our democracy. For two years, mothers and others have been volunteering, organizing in their communities, talking to friends about what has been universally declared the most important election of our lifetime.We have elected a new president, one who speaks of hope and unity, not red states or blue states, but the United States of America.From Barack Obama's speech to 200,000 people in Berlin, Germany.This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands... This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.Mothers Acting Up (MAU) was born out of fear after the Twin Towers fell: fear of perpetual war, widening wealth gaps and dwindling resources. Fear that children's wellbeing would slide right off the radar screen. And it did.Today for the 1st day in the life of MAU, we have the opportunity to take action under an umbrella of hope, unity and renewed engagement.This is our moment, mamas!In hope filled partnership,Joellen and the Mavens at MAU Central

MAU 2009 calendar video!

http://www.mothersactingup.org/video/2009_calendar_promo.html

MAU 2009 handbook

The Moment: a calendar and guide for advocating on behalf of the world's children
The 2009 Calendar is here!The 2009 MAU calendar, The Moment, is dedicated to moments of personal change that shift the direction and purpose of our lives. Often these extraordinary moments are heralded by very ordinary tasks. They arrive -- when we're cradling babies, grocery shopping or bicycling -- and begin magically transforming us into passionate advocates.
The Moment is a weekly engagement calendar that also offers tools, information, weekly actions and most importantly, portraits of people who inspire our own activism – from the mom next door, to new moms, to Isabel Allende, Paul Hawken, Mukhtar Mai and Julie Chavez Rodriguez. This calendar and guide is a tribute to pivotal moments of change, designed to incite your own year of Moments

VOTE!

Vote, as if your child's life depended on it!

Check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vtHwWReGU0

Now, isn't that inspirational, please send it to at least five friends!

Mindful Mama

Check out this exclusive interview with Ani Difranco! This interview kicks-off the Mindful Mama photo/art/essay contest, inviting moms across the country to speak their mind - and heart - about parenting in today’s world. Over $10,000 in baby gear and eco-friendly prizes will be awarded to top submissions.Ani DiFranco is a pioneer of women’s music. Nominated for several Grammys, Ani owns her own record label - Righteous Babe Records-and now her own performance venue in her home State, New York. She was recently on NPR’s World Café, Jay Leno, and the cover of Mothering Magazine. Ani is a self-proclaimed feminist, participated in the march for women’s lives in Washington DC in 2004 and was the first musician to be honored with the “Woman of Courage Award” by the National Organization of Women in 2006. Ani’s daughter, Petah, is 18 months old and was born at home.The grand prize winner of the Mindful Mama contest will be awarded an all expense paid trip to see Ani DiFranco perform in NYC. Two nights at the Westin New York at Times Square, spa package and babysitter included. The runner-up will win a Green Nursery, including stylish furniture, organic crib bedding, a natural crib mattress, non-toxic paint and window coverings.Category winners will receive top-of-the-line gifts for mom, baby and home. Prize sponsors of the contest include over 20 companies that are leading the way in health and sustainability for families: BabyBjorn, Baby Planet, Baby Star, Bebe au Lait, Be Present, Britax Bumkins, Ellie’s Homestore by Eco Products, Dansko, Evenflo, Green Nest, Happy Baby, Hunter Douglas, Kushies, Kuster, Lansinoh, Maggie’s Organics, Medela, Moby Wrap, Natracare, Natural Mat, New Chapter, Nordic Naturals, Pangea Organics, RW Knudsen Family, Scandanavian Child, Summer Infant, Traditional Medicinals and World of Good.For more details on the contest visit www.mindfulmamamagazine.com

Summer 2008

Hi MAUmas in Bend,

This summer MAU Bend concentrated our effort on the Citizen MaMA campain to curb the effects of global warming, on mama at time. We parked our family car for three out of the five work week days and walked, biked, triked, and burleyed our way around our neighborhood. Visit http://www.citizenmama.blogspot.com/ to learn more about our national collaboration!
The project continues into the fall.


Welcome back Mavens! Now that school, political campaigns and falling leaves are in full swing, it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Setting distractions aside (like the thousands of Sarah Palin emails), more than ever we need to engage every MAU in MAUville to ensure a peaceful and sustainable planet for the world's children.
Definition of a MAU: a mother* advocating on behalf of the world's children. Methods of advocating include, but are not limited to: raising your children to be global citizens; caring for children in your community; supporting non-profits that assist children around the world; writing letters to the editor of local newspapers; meeting with elected officials; working to elect pro-child candidates or running for office yourself(!).
In the months ahead, the MAU Website will shine the spotlight on what YOU and other MAUs are doing and expanding opportunities to network. You'll also be invited to partake in various MAU pilot projects. Send news of your acting up.
Each and every one of us are part of a revolutionary change and know 5 or 10 other mamas who are actively engaged, but aren't yet part of the MAU network. Invite every mama in your midst to join MAU today. When one million mothers* advocate for the world's children, our collective call will be heard!
Check out MAU's new home page for all the MAULights:
The Moment is HERE! The 2009 MAU engagement calendar and guidebook is inspired by the personal moments of Isabel Allende, Paul Hawkin, Mukhtar Mai and the Northern Michigan MAUs who raised $60,000 in two years to benefit children around the world. Talk About It! The political limelight is on Mothers for perhaps the 1st time in the history of the U.S. Let's use this opportunity to call for pro-child candidates rallying behind a pro-child agenda. MAU Live: The Mother Tour traveled to Vietnam and Malaysia this summer. Get a recap, tour dates and buy a DVD of the show for engaging friends and relations. Entertainment often opens doors that statistics just can't...The Girlcott of the Moment: The #2 MAU Principle is Follow the Money. If each of us spent our money on products, services and investments that nurtured the world's children, we would transform the world before our next paycheck. Check out WE ADD UP: groovy, cool t-shirts promoting efforts to curb global warming.Grateful to have your spirited partnership on this journey,
Joellen and the Mavens at MAU Central

Oregon Health Care

Oregon Health Fund Board members will crisscross the state for public inpcut on health care system changes. This board is legislatively charged with the responsibility of developing a health reform proposal by the 2009 Legislative Session.
These community meetings give you the chance to promote the importance of health care issues that are important to you ( addiction issues, elders or childrens' healthcare, mental health, HIV, cancer, veterans issue, the list goes on and on...) and /or those that you serve. Please help by attending the forum in your area and spread the word about these meetings! The greater the public input in this process, the more inclusive the proposal will be.

Interpreters and childcare will be available.
Contact Oregon Health Forum at: www.healthforum.orgor 503-226-7870 or 800-501-4220.


Bend, Thursday, June 57 - 9 p.m.Bend Armory875 SW Simpson AvenueBend, OR 97702

World Food Shortages

Dear friends,
An emergency summit of world leaders is addressing the skyrocketing food crisis. The head of the United Nations will receive our call to action at the summit this Wednesday. Help us hit 500,000 signatures! Sign the petitionThe world food crisis is skyrocketing – steadily rising prices are squeezing billions and triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa. Aid agencies say 100 million people are facing starvation.
In response, the United Nations is convening an emergency summit of world leaders in Rome this week. There is a real danger that rich country leaders will push half measures and band-aid solutions – we need a huge global outcry to demand rapid, massive, coordinated action.
The head of the UN, Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, will receive our petition at the summit at 9:30AM on Wednesday morning. This is a huge opportunity for our voice to reach our leaders directly, but we need half a million voices in the next 60 hours. Click below to sign the petition if you haven't yet, and forward this email to everyone you know:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php?cl=95090956
Already over 200,000 Avaaz members have joined our call for emergency food aid and deeper solutions such as investing in food production in poor countries and fixing harmful rich country policies such as burning food as biofuels. Our campaign was launched in response to a personal video appeal to our community from the foreign minister of Sierra Leone, where 90% of the population are facing severe hunger. Click above to watch the video.
The food crisis, like the climate crisis, is a planetary emergency. It's another sign of how interdependent and fragile our world is. And how we all need to work together, across all our borders and divisions, to save it.
With hope,
Paul, Ricken, Graziela, Galit, Iain, Ben, Pascal, Veronique, Milena and the whole Avaaz team.
PS – here's a link to see past Avaaz campaigns: www.avaaz.org/en/report_back_1
And here's some more background information on the food crisis:
The Director of the UN Human Development report warns in the Guardian that the Rome summit could just put a band-aid on this crisis:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/02/food.globaleconomy
The BBC analyzes the 'Silent Tsunami' of the food crisis:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/2008/costoffood/default.stm
The US will face criticism at the summit for 'burning food' as biofuels:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/business/worldbusiness/30food.html?em&ex=1212379200&en=7893996338e2f455&ei=5087%0A

Recap from Reclaiming Mothers Day Picnic

Hello Bend MAU,
Thanks to all of y'all who braved the wind, and chilly weather on Mothers Day, we had a great first Reclaiming MD event here in Bend!
Our Global Warming awareness art was sent to Congress and our picture will be uploaded to the 1sky.org web site. We are also sending a letter about Bend MAU to our reps along with our vision to advocate for our worlds children.
Thanks everyone for helping put Bend on the national MAU map and providing a nurturing environment for activism.
Special thanks to our local musicians, Aspen, Charles, and Maggie for the tunes.
Thanks Magadalyn, for the beautiful and ultra yummy goddess cake.
Thanks Nicole, for capturing our the exuberance and love of our event. Here's the link to a web gallery with the Mother's Day photos. http://nicolewernerphoto.com/slideshows/mao/index.htm.
Stay tuned and keep in touch. Visit , bendmau.blogspot.com. We want your imput to know what Bend MAU should support, do, change, and engage in. Share your ideas and your passion for our global family.

VOTE, May 20th is the day to have your ballot in!
Below is a forward of the national MAU newletter that went out. We are in it!! Check out all the fabulous events that were happening all over the US on Mothers Day.

Dearest Joy Warriors & Apron String Revolutionaries;
The MAU Mother's Day stories and photographs keep rolling in! Thousands of mothers acting up gathered in cities and hamlets across the nation to celebrate the day in the spirit of Julia Ward Howe: advocating for the world's children. We've gone public with press aplenty, witnesses to the powerful force that is mother leadership! And in a year when many events partnered with 1Sky on their collective Mother's Day Action, it's no surprise that the weather played a large role in the festivities.
Here are a few reports:
From Teresa in Snohomish, WA: Our Mother's Day Gathering for Peace was a huge success! We had well over 125 people and it didn't rain! Our tradition is to have a girl/woman from every decade read a portion of the Mother's Day Proclamation by stepping up onto a tree stump. We even had our spry, mid-70s grandmother step proudly up on the stump!

From Kate in Northern Michigan: A great group of area women came together to celebrate and collaborate during our annual Northern Michigan MAU Mother's Day event. This year, we focused on a simple recipe for success with our theme, "Just Add Water." We honored five local women who have been passionate advocates for our lakes and rivers, and were fortunate enough to hear their inspiring stories of activism. Our bazaar brought in $8,000 -- a fantastic kick off toward our $14,000 goal to bring a PlayPump well system to a village in Tanzania.

From Paige in Nashville: Gale force winds (up to 30 miles per hour) radically altered our plans for our 3rd Annual Peace Parade. Two trees fell while we were at the park to set up. Mother Nature was to be respected and lived with in all her wonder. We opted to go out for coffee instead of setting up, then gathered for our parade and cake and a spirited reading of the proclamation. We had a surprisingly large crowd, given the weather. It was wild and great and we went from one stilt walker last year to two this year. We nearly blew away. But didn't.

From Juliana in Boulder: Mother's Day began the week before in Boulder with Girlcotts celebrating local fair trade stores, a performance of (M)other and Janna on TV! Then on Sunday, the Raging Grannies led a parade of stilt-walkers and strollers to gather for music, kids activities, cake and a thousand fair trade roses from Transfair/USA. Eight other organizations joined MAU in the celebration; talking with participants and hearing the eloquent words of MAU Co-founder Erica Shafroth and Jen Parsons. The entire crowd enjoyed stirring music from Danea Shanti and Ancestral Voices, including a troop of belly dancers! A festival atmosphere prevailed, culminating in an hour-long interview with Dr. Daddio!

From Kate in Bend, OR: I am very inspired and unbelievably satisfied: we had a splendid Reclaiming Mother's Day event. Our first annual MAU celebration of Julia Ward Howe's original vision started off with gusts of wind, snow and chilly temps. No matter though: families still came to picnic, play and participate in the movement.

David in Oklahoma City: In the midst of a rainy month we were blessed with an absolutely beautiful sunny afternoon and had a crowd of 75-100 people -- women, men and children -- who enjoyed being on the grass and even under a large shade tree, so everyone stayed comfortable. [We had] a wonderful speech by State Senator Connie Johnson, whose birthday it also happened to be. Our two elementary-school essay contest winners read what they had written on the subject, "I Want To Live In a World In Which . . . " and they each received $40 in gift certificates for their efforts.

Laura in Austin, TX: Adorned in colorful tutus, feathers, and flowers, Austin mamas marched across the pedestrian bridge, which spans our beautiful Town Lake, declaring, "There ain't no power like the power of the mama, and the power of the mama don't stop!"

Cheers to mamas, papas, mini-MAUs and all who answered Julia's call to "Arise!" Yours for the JOYFUL revolution, The Mavens at MAU Central

P.S. MAU Central gives a huge shout out to Paige for all the encouragement, support and guidance she dispatched along the planning route to Reclaiming Mother's Day.
On June 1 MAU Central will say goodbye to Paige as Outreach Coordinator, sending love and blessings to her next adventure. On behalf of all MAUs who have been touched by her spirit, we thank Paige for her incredible leadership, passion, exuberance and her wonderful laugh! We hope to hear it often in the years to come...

Reclaiming Mother's Day

Sunday
May 11
2-4pm
Harmon Park
Come celebrate the original Mother's Day Proclamation. Join us for a picnic, live acoustic music, children's activities, face painting, FREE gourmet cake, and make a political statement to advocate for our worlds children. Costumes are encouraged, bring your joyous spirit and revel in the day!

10 Ways to be a MAUma

What is the sound of mothers Arising?

This Mother's Day, MAU Mavens across the country will be strapping on stilts, baking pies for elected leaders, hawking fair trade roses and singing in the streets! Reclaiming Mother's Day events - now in their sixth season - celebrate Julia Ward Howe's 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation. This year, MAU invites YOU to celebrate her call to Arise by gathering your family and community together through cakewalks, letters to the editor, Standing Women events, mama's open-mic nights, or . . . the sky and your imagination is the limit! When mothers* publicly express our commitment to children, our communities, media and government sit up and take notice. Let's sing it out in the streets, "We will protect our children with our personal & political strength - wherever they live on earth."

Thanks to MAU Mavens and partner organizations, MAU is excited to present the very 1st ever "Top 10 Ways to Reclaim Mother's Day":

Holy Symbolism!
Step outside your comfort zone, and get up on stilts. Parade, prance and promenade with a loyal spotter by your side. When we lift our voices AND our bodies together on behalf of the world's children, we become a GIGANTIC force to be reckoned with.
Dare to be a Joy Warrior! Deliver pies to your local members of Congress as part of the Department of Peace's 4th Annual Mother's Day National Action: Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie Campaign.

Posies with a purpose:
Ask for or send fair trade flowers through Transfair/USA. Fair trade benefits every person along the path, from seed in the ground to blossom in the vase.
Review Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers Report (2008 report availably May 6). Learn simple solutions to stop the deaths of nearly 10 million children a year; educate your community with a letter to the editor on this topic.
Part your purse strings, because giving matters. Donate to MAU, inspiring and mobilizing mothers* to advocate on behalf of the world's children. Your donation, in honor of a mother or other, allows MAU to reach out to a million mamas with templates, tools and recipes for actions that prioritize the lives of our children.

Press the candidates for Prez to take action for the world's children.
Take a photo of your family at brunch this Mother's Day and send to the presidential candidates, letting them know you are a Mother Acting Up who wants Global Action for Children.

There is an elegant beauty to simplicity.
Stand with Standing Women at 1 pm (your local time) on May 11 in support of a better world for our children.

Host a 1Sky climate change event, make a banner calling for serious climate action and then upload pictures and drawings of your children and families alongside the banner as part of a national call to action to Congress.

Join with CodePink mamas at the Mother's Day Picnic for Peace in Washington, DC's Dupont Circle, walk across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, or gather at Merchant's Gate at Columbus Circle in Manhattan for the 2nd Annual Mother's Day Peace Stroll.

Find a MAU Mother's Day Reclamation event near you, and revel in it, mama! Gather round, hand out Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation, eat cake, birth strategic plans to act locally and think globally. Together, we can change the world.

Double Your Donation to MAU this Mother's Day!

Double Your Donation to MAU this Mother's Day!Mothers Acting Up (MAU) inspires and mobilizes mothers* to advocate on behalf of the world's children. MAU believes that when mothers lead, generations of global citizens will follow.
In celebration of all of YOU, an anonymous donor has graciously and beneficently offered to match every dollar you contribute to MAU between now and Mother's Day. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and double your donation in honor of all the mothers ACTING UP in your life; together we are Reclaiming Mother's Day.
Make a donation in honor of your favorite mom and we'll send them a Julia Ward Howe Mother's Day card on your behalf.

2008 year of the Strategy Mom

Dearest Joy Warriors & Apron-string Revolutionaries,

As MAUs continue to design the top ten ways to Reclaim Mother's Day, we humbly offer the second MAU Principle to incite some new ideas:
Follow the money: Every dollar spent, each tax dollar collected is a vote. It's time to get educated about what we're funding with our budgets - from personal products to the government policies our tax dollars support. If anyone knows how to shop, balance a budget and make sure everyone eats, it's mothers. Make sure your dollars vote for a healthy future. If all mothers embraced this principle today, tomorrow the world would be vastly more just. In the US, women spend 83% of the money. Good gravy!!
Let us be empowered and flex our economic muscle…Girlcott: use your dollars to create social change by supporting businesses and corporations with just trade and labor practices. Spending money never felt so good…
Buy Local, buy Fair Trade:
When possible, choose local foods, supporting regional agriculture and reducing the environmental impact of mass transport. Perhaps even throw a few seeds in the ground of your own backyard! Fair Trade Coffee (and other goods) are widely available, the purchase of these commodities allows for livable wages to be paid, directly supporting a higher quality of life for farmers and their children.
Know your federal budget:
It only takes a few minutes to see with your own eyes what your tax dollars are buying. Over half our federal discretionary budget is spent on "security" without any significant percentage allocated for preventative measures like funding for education and development, including our promised share of the UN Millennium Development Goals (eight international targets to end extreme poverty).
Vote:
Speaking to the importance of mothers in the coming election, Lorelei Kelly (a mother acting up) has designated 2008 the year of the Strategy Mom. She recognizes the importance of mothers voting, and the possibility that we can be the ones to bring the well being of our human family to the forefront of this pivotal election.Share how you Follow the Money by dropping us a line. If you visit the federal budget website we'll send you a FREE MAU BUMPER STICKER!

In most spirited partnership, Paige, for the MAU Mavens

In Boulder, Dr. Karambu Ringera led school children in a lesson on the importance of education for all. All eyes were on Dr. Karambu as she spoke of dirt-floored classrooms, distances walked and how few students know whether they'll return to school next year in Kenya.It's not too late for teachers to join The World's Biggest Lesson on April 23rd at 9 am!

Reclaiming Mother's Day

We are holding our first annual Bend MAU Reclaiming Mother's Day Event!
This year on May 11th at from 2pm-4pm we will be having a picnic at Harmon Park.
MAU's Mother's Day events are inspired by the life, words and actions of Julia Ward Howe. After the Civil War, Julia called for a day when mothers would unite across boundaries - of nationality, race, religion or political affirmation - to protect our global family.
The picnic is still in the planning stages, so all help is welcome. Please contact Kate at bend@mothersactingup.org if you have anything ideas to share, media contacts, groups I should invite, or you want to participate as a facepainter, stiltwalker, bellydancer, cupcake maker, or whatever you can imagine!

Be Exuberant!

Dearest Joy Warriors & Apron String Revolutionaries,From all over the country, people are taking the MAU Pledge to bring the security of the world's children into the forefront of all discussions - from conversations with family and friends, to our wider communities and certainly with candidates and elected officials.How to do this effectively? To answer that, let's begin at the very beginning, with the MAU Principle #1:Be exuberant: Since we're ACTING UP for the rest of our lives, our activism has to be joyful. No one wants to rally around anger; studies show that negative advertising causes women to politically disengage. This movement is about the JOY of standing up for what you believe & publicly declaring your priorities. Let's gather in the streets, not with bullhorns, but singing.With its roots in the lavish abundance of growing and being fruitful, the quality of exuberance smacks with the juicy goodness of mother nurture, Mother Nature and Mothers Acting Up.Exuberance in practical application means saying, for instance: "Thank you, Delta, for revising your policies in support of breastfeeding families," instead of, "Hey, Frontier, you messed up and breastfeeding moms are angry!" or by saying "Children Deserve a Bigger Piece of the Pie," instead of "Bush Hates Kids." But this is not about being sunny for sunny's sake. This is about focusing on WHAT WE WANT rather than looking back at what we reject. It's moving towards, rather than against.While perhaps Pollyanna in part, this primary MAU principle is neither easy nor simple. Sustaining exuberance is a tough row to hoe, a perennial crop whose nutritive value staves off depression, indifference and offers a real life solution to overwhelm and fear. Kind of like mother's milk for the great human family itself, exuberance promotes real security.Go forth and be exuberant mamas. Live in liberation of what others think of your choices. Model this joyful abundance because it feels good, because your kids will enjoy it far more than staying holed up in fear and loathing, and because you're likely to inspire others to sing along.Try sowing seeds of exuberance by sharing this email with two friends and asking them to declare themselves Mothers Acting Up. Try bolstering your own activism by writing YES on a mirror with lipstick so you see it each day; the affirmation a reminder of your call to duty and your sheer brilliance in carrying out your mission.In awed wonder at your beauty and power, Paige, for the MAU MavensPS. Click on the words in RED to link to more information. To respond to this email, click on Paige or email beheard@mothersactingup.org.

Spring Bend MAU

Febuary 14th girlcott at Thump Coffee 9:30
Come support and enjoy fair trade chocolate, coffee, and conversation. To find out more about girlcotts or for Thump's location go to:
http://mothersactingup.org/level3/recipes_girlcotts.html
http://www.thumpcoffee.com/location.htm

March 1st, Saturday
10am-noon
Westside Village school hosts MAU community meeting.
Meet at the cafeteria for food, art, and inspiration.
1101 NW 12th street

MAU Bend Spring 2008

Valentine's Girlcott. Lets give a big high five to a local buisness that supports fair trade chocolate. Email me at bend@mothersactingup.org if you have a favorite spot you want to nominate! We will meet there enjoy a humane treat, and give them a MAU Girlcott certificate of appreciation.

Meet and greet at Westside Villiage School the first week of March. The exact dates and time will be posted closer to the event. Come gather, take action to work toward improving the lives of children all over the world, and paint a banner for the first ever MAU Bend Mother's Day Parade.