All posts by Jennifer James

Jennifer James is the founder of Social Good Moms, a global coalition of 3000+ mothers who care about pressing global issues. She has written over 70 articles for the Gates Foundation and has written about women's and girls' issues for ELLE and Cosmo South Africa and Huffington Post's Impact. She has been named a Fast Company Most Generous Social Media Maven and is a recipient of two International Reporting Project fellowships to Zambia and Tanzania and a National Press Foundation Vaccine Fellowship. James has reported about global health from Haiti, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, the Philippines, and Zambia. You can contact Jennifer at info@mombloggersforsocialgood.com.
Blog, Charity, Children, Environment and Climate, Unites States

Why Save the Children Is Uniquely Suited to Help Kids After Hurricane Harvey

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I have worked with Save the Children in some capacity for the past five years whether seeing their work around the world, blogging on pro-Bono campaigns or partnering as a consultant. That’s why I can personally vouch for the amazing work they do for the most vulnerable children who have experienced psychological trauma from all-too-routine natural and man-made disasters. Many people think Save the Children solely provides aid during global catastrophes that happen in far away places, but they also provide substantial aid here in the United States. Save the Children was instrumental during hurricanes Katrina and Sandy as well as the tornadoes that continually tear through the mid-west. They also were there for both the Lousiana and eastern North Carolina floods last year. I am confident in their ability to focus on not only the physical but the mental well-being of the smallest among us.

Take a moment to fill out an ICE (in case of emergency) card where you can include contact information for all family members even those who are in other states! This is important when lines are down. You never know when a natural disaster will hit, so make sure to do it now!

In a climate where some national organizations are coming under increased scrutiny about their ability to adequately help families with simple supplies, supply lines, and logistics during stateside national disasters, Save the Children continues to be a rock for children and their families. I wasn’t asked to write this post, but feel strongly it’s necessary to urge as many people to donate to Save the Children during Harvey relief efforts. Thus far Save the Children has brought truckloads of infant and toddler supplies to four shelters in Austin while strengthening its work to support children in area shelters.

Save the Children Harvey emergency response
Save the Children staff member Coleen Vivori plays with Brianna*, 4, and Khloe*, 5, at Save the Children’s Child-Friendly Space located at Kazen Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, where hundreds of displaced families, including many with infants and toddlers, are seeking refuge in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Save the Children’s emergency response team is on the ground in Texas, working to meet children and families’ immediate needs as Hurricane Harvey blasts inland from the Texas coastline. (PRNewsfoto/Save the Children)

Officials anticipate that more than 30,000 Texas residents will need shelter including in three mega shelters located in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Save the Children has teams on the ground, and at the request of the City of Austin, is en route to the city’s four major shelters with essential items including portable cribs and sheets, strollers, baby wash basins, hygiene kits and lotion packs.

Save the Children is also opening child-friendly spaces in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

“Child-Friendly Spaces are a hallmark of Save the Children’s emergency response, and are essential in helping children cope and build resiliency during disasters,” said Jeanne-Aimee De Marrais, the organization’s senior director of U.S. emergencies. “We are working hard to make sure that children and families in Texas are getting the supplies and care they need.”

“We are evaluating the immediate needs of families who are being rescued in Houston, and those who are still stranded,” added De Marrais. “We know the longer-term needs will be in Houston and we’re determined to get child care and early education programs up and running as quickly as possible.”

To support Save the Children’s response efforts around Hurricane Harvey, please go to www.SavetheChildren.org or text Hurricane to 20222 to donate $25 to the Hurricane Harvey Children’s Relief Fund. (A $25 donation will be added to your mobile bill. Messaging & Data Rates May Apply. Terms:  www.hmgf.org/t. Privacy Policy: www.savethechildren.org/privacy.)

Blog, Disaster Relief, United States

7 Local Houston Organizations to Donate to Now and When the Cameras Leave

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The video and photos coming out of Houston and surrounding areas really make your heart sink. It’s unimaginable what hundreds of thousands of people are going through due to the rains and flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The area stands to face weeks, months, and likely years to fully rebuild. Now, chemical plants are blowing up and people and their pets are still being rescued from homes and dropped off in temporary shelters with little knowledge of how their home has fared or what they will be able to salvage.

It’s true that Americans really want to open up their wallets to help, but what are the best organizations to donate to? You can always donate to large national organizations that have massive scale-up relief capabilities like Save the Children. We know the phenomenal work they do with children and how they help them cope with natural disasters like deadly tornadoes and hurricanes like Katrina, Sandy, and the Louisiana floods last year.

Continue reading 7 Local Houston Organizations to Donate to Now and When the Cameras Leave →

Africa, Blog, kenya, Maternal Health

Kenya Maternity Fee Waiver is Great – But There are Still Gaps in the Policy

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Kenya’s pregnancy policy hasn’t addressed the inequalities between rich and poor.
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Estelle Monique Sidze, African Population and Health Research Center

About 21 pregnant women die every day in Kenya due to complications from childbirth. That’s equivalent to two 10-seater commuter micro minibuses, known as matatus, crashing every day with the loss of all the passengers on board.

Pregnant women in Kenya die because they either do not receive appropriate care during pregnancy or are unable to deliver with the help of skilled health attendants.

Continue reading Kenya Maternity Fee Waiver is Great – But There are Still Gaps in the Policy →

Africa, Blog, Children, Maternal Health, Poverty

Finnish Fashion Designer Creates Maternity Wear for 12-Year-Olds to Highlight Worldwide Child Pregnancy

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Child pregnancy is a worldwide blight. Seven million girls in developing countries under the age of 18 become pregnant every year meaning that they have to grow up too soon, put an end to their education, look for adequate healthcare that they can afford, earn money somehow, possibly marry a much older suitor, and figure out a life for her and her child. 11 percent of all worldwide births are by girls between the ages of 15 – 19 according to the World Health Organization. These pregnancies cause far too many maternal and newborn deaths across the globe.

To bring awareness to the number of girls who become pregnant each year in lower-and-middle-income countries, Finnish fashion designer Paola Suhonen created a collection of six, brightly-hued maternity dresses with childhood motifs for 12-year-olds. If this sounds a bit sensational, you’re correct. Suhonen’s maternity collection is solely designed to show the world that too many young girls become pregnant each year because they often don’t have other life options but to become pregnant and are often not taught proper sexual and reproductive health education. It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure, but it happens every day. In fact, 5,500 girls under the age of 15 become pregnant daily.

Working in collaboration with Plan Finland as an issue raising endeavor, Suhonen traveled to Zambia with renown photographer Meeri Koutaniemi to recreate what would be a regular fashion shoot, but instead featured an expectant child mother, Fridah, as her primary model.

“I designed a collection that I wish is not needed and that I don’t want to sell,” said Suhonen. ” This campaign brings together two very important issues – children’s and women’s rights. I hope that people will wake up to the circumstances in which millions of girls live in developing countries.”

Plan Finland has created a thorough FAQ page to answer any questions about the ethics of this campaign. You can donate here.

Africa, Blog, Breastfeeding, featured, kenya, Maternal Health

Why Kenya Needs to Adopt ‘Milk Banks’ to Reduce Infant Deaths

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Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Brown University

Mother’s milk has an enormous impact on child survival. While in Kenya it has improved over the past decade, the number of children who die before five years remains significant. The rate has decreased from 115 per 1000 live births in 2003 to 52 in 2014.

Neighbors Rwanda (2008), Tanzania (2012) and Uganda (2011) have recorded 50, 66 and 65 deaths per 1,000 live births for children below five years, respectively.

The main causes of childhood deaths are infections, preterm births and lack of sufficient oxygen, or asphyxia.

Breastfeeding infants on breast milk alone until they are six months old has been shown to reduce child mortality. When mothers can’t provide their own milk, the next best alternative is donor milk from other women. Access to “human milk banks” gives vulnerable infants, without access to their mother’s own milk, a healthy start to life.

The milk bank concept was initiated in Vienna in 1909 and was preceded by a century old practice of wet nursing – a mother breastfeeding another mother’s child.

Since then, over 500 human milk banks have been established in more than 37 countries globally in developed and developing countries. The pioneer countries include Brazil, South Africa, India, Canada, Japan and France.

Continue reading Why Kenya Needs to Adopt ‘Milk Banks’ to Reduce Infant Deaths →