Dear Friends,

Recognizing that you may be still enjoying summer or in the midst of sending children and/or college students out the door, I respectfully ask that you take a moment to read this brief email.

I’m writing to thank you. Thank you for being there for the mother down the block, your best friend and for us mamas at MAU Central. Thank you for being exuberant, focusing on what we want to create together, and for sharing the MAU message. Thank you for being a protector, a far-reaching visionary and a natural born collaborator.

I’m thanking you, not because I’m going to ask for money, but because this is a moment of reflection for our movement. We started MAU almost nine years ago after 9/11 as a response to our sadness and fear for the kind of world our children might inherit. In that time, the word of MAU has spread to all 50 states and 24 nations. So many lessons learned, with the most powerful being an affirmation that mothers are integral in creating a better world for all children. Mothers possess the skill, ability and the courage. For MAU’s most recent successes, please enjoy MAU’s 2009 Annual Report.

In my own reflection, I recognize we have come to the end of one chapter and are beginning the next. While we have grown by word of mouth and run on the passion of MAU’s co-founders, staff and board, it’s time to invite a wider audience to be part of this magnificent transformation. It’s time to expand the leadership of MAU. It’s time to REALLY engage every MOM in MOMSville, mothers* of all shapes, sizes and political persuasion.

The process to expand the leadership and reach of MAU will begin in September and will take a year (fingers crossed). You are all invited to have a voice, so speak up. Beginning September 13th, Juliana Forbes, co-founder and MAU’s creative force, will serve as interim director, supported by MAU Central and the MAU Board. Much energy will be spent on how to make MAU more effective in reaching mothers in the US and building genuine partnership with mothers internationally. I will continue to serve officially as the chair of the board.

I hope you will share all your thoughts, questions and wisdom with us during this time of transition. Really; stop and imagine a world where a mother’s sensibility is vital to all the biggest negotiations in the world. Imagine mothers around the world creating the next chapter of our future. Think big mamas. This is our time.

With gargantuan gratitude to be walking this path with YOU,

Joellen

* mothers and others who exercise protective care over someone smaller

You might share about how you are engaging your children (i.e. future global citizens who are suddenly everywhere … )

You might share how you are Girlcotting an incredible company that sells Fair Trade and has a business model that totally blows your skirt up.

You might share how you are influencing policy by writing to, visiting or otherwise schmoozing your Senator. Homemade rhubarb pie, perhaps?

Or you might simply share a great fashion tip. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Twama writes: Currently I have managed to raise enough funds to sponsor 15 children for a year, under the Child’s Well-being Program. My goal is to sponsor 20 children from middle school to high school. This will just be a total of US$2,200 each year, approximately $16,000 Namibian dollars.

I will travel this winter to Namibia to officially launch the project. I’m also partnering with other AIDS organizations in Namibia to raise awareness with the I Am Aware program, and recruiting volunteers to travel around the US with this program.

Quick Facts:

• About 21% of the Namibian population are infected with HIV/AIDS
• About 180,000 children are orphaned because of HIV/AIDS
• About 17,000 children are infected with HIV/AIDS
• Most of these children are left without a home, money for education, health-care, or transportation to hospitals.

The I Care Fund (ICF) has three programs:

• Child’s Well-being Program aims to raise money to help AIDS orphans with free education and healthcare in Namibia. The aim is to give hope to the children, and let them know that someone cares and understand what they are going through.
• ICF Child Center will be a center (future goal) that will operate as a home/daycare center for children. Here children will play and learn at the same time.
• I  Am Aware is a leadership and mentorship program that hopes to educate the community (targeting youth) about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. The program aims to empower youth to stand up as leaders in their community against the spread of HIV, and also mentors families and individuals impacted by the disease, to help prevent suicides.

For more information and to support the I Care Fund, visit: www.icarefund.org (Don’t miss Twama’s MY STORY page!) or contact info@icarefund.org or 920 857 4321.

Supporters of 1Sky, 350.org, Energy Action Coalition and other groups are working together this month to send an urgent message to Congress—failure is not an option! Be part of this nationwide wakeup call to our elected officials who have been failing us, and our children, by not passing legislation to protect our climate and transition our Nation to clean energy.

During their August-September recess, all of our leaders need to hear from us loud and clear that we find ourselves in the middle of a real crisis of whether or not our planet will continue to sustain life as we know it. The impacts of the decisions made by our leaders now are enormous. And yes, on the flip side if we pass policies to encourage renewable energy technologies and deployment, our economy will benefit, good jobs will be created, and our nation will be more secure.

A real, visible climate movement, demonstrated by shadowing activities while our Senators are on recess this month, emboldens the best of our leaders to advocate with greater strength to their colleagues for action—and puts the fear of election losses into the worst—and ultimately builds votes for real climate and clean energy legislation.

Here’s how you can help! Show up to events where your senators will be this month and express your concerns about climate change and your desire for a clean energy future. Our goal is to let them know that we are outraged with the current inaction and expect them to get to work when they return to D.C. for real climate and clean energy legislation—that puts a cost on emitting carbon, creates green jobs, and protects the Clean Air Act. With climate impacts worldwide so evident (record heat, floods, drought, wildfires, desertification, etc.) and the potential benefits (economic, jobs, health, etc.) of transitioning to more renewable energy so great, half-measures from our leaders won’t do. (If you want inspiration, check out this recent article by Bill McKibben.)

Be on the lookout for opportunities in your community to attend events with your senators and representative. There are some good tips for finding events in your area here: http://www.1sky.org/files/Recess_shadowing_guide.pdf. You can often make a comment and ask a question during Q and A sessions or simply approach the senator directly before or after the event to shake hands and express your thoughts.  For some public events, holding signs or wearing t-shirts with climate and clean energy themes are also appropriate and good ways to visibly get our message out.

P.s. The MAU TOOLS—especially the recipe for taking Field Trips—might be useful in your fall adventures …

This opportunity is not to be missed. The extraordinary World Pulse is ensuring the voices of women and children are heard. Gather your courage and apply by September 14th!

Voices of Our Future is an online training program investing in women’s ability to use new technology and media to share their stories and innovative solutions with the world.

Apply to be an International Correspondent

World Pulse is thrilled to announce a call for applicants for the second annual Voices of Our Future program, an exciting, online training program in web 2.0, citizen journalism and empowerment for emerging grassroots women leaders from around the globe. 30 applicants will be chosen to learn how to use social media to share their stories and visions for social change with a global audience.

After being selected, the Correspondents will embark on a five-month “virtual” journey on the frontiers of new media and women’s empowerment.

They will receive:

• Web 2.0 and citizen journalism training via phone and internet by renowned experts, including The Press Institute and The Op-Ed Project
• Mentoring sessions and support via phone and internet from an Empowerment  Mentor selected by The Empowerment Institute
• Publication in World Pulse Magazine
• Opportunities to connect with grassroots women leaders from around the globe
• Technology stipend to offset communications costs*

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to speak for yourself to the world and advance your dreams for social change. To apply, sign up no later than September 14, 2010!

photo: Craig Lee

Whole Foods Market, Chef Ann Cooper, the nation’s “Renegade Lunch Lady,” and shoppers across the country have joined forces to fund salad bars for public schools across the country.

“With childhood obesity levels at an all-time high, everyone has a stake in this fight and must take action to help change the way our children eat both at home and school,” said Walter Robb, co-chief executive officer for Whole Foods Market. “We see partnering with our shoppers to raise funds for salad bars in local schools as an immediate way for us to come together and make an impact on our children’s health.”

From now until Sept. 29, shoppers may donate to the project at the check-out or make a donation online through saladbarproject.org. Each salad bar kit costs approximately $2,500 dollars, and includes a Cambro® portable 5-well salad bar unit with all the necessary insert pans, cutting boards, knives and shipping costs. Salad bar training tools and videos for school nutrition staff will also be available through TheLunchBox.org, which Whole Foods Market shoppers helped to raise funds to build last year so all schools can have access to tools for healthier food.

The salad bars will be donated to local schools through a simple online grant process. Whole Foods Market is partnering with Cooper’s nonprofit, F3: Food Family Farming Foundation, which will administer the process. Any public elementary, middle or high school within 50 miles of a Whole Foods Market is eligible to apply with the support of the school principal, nutrition service director and the superintendent of the district. The online application and full criteria is available at saladbarproject.org.

“The time is ripe for 31 million children. They deserve a solution and this Salad Bar Project is just that. I know we can make thousands of salad bars a reality for schools everywhere. Since adding a healthy salad bar to school lunch options is the number one thing parents and advocates can do to help improve school food, this is a win-win for schools and their students,” said Chef Ann Cooper.

“Making small changes, like replacing French fries with fresh fruits, steamed or raw vegetables and whole grains can make a big difference,” said Robb. “A fresh, healthy salad bar with an array of colorful choices empowers children to make smart food choices.”

More than 31 million children eat a federally funded school lunch daily through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). On average, only 90 cents per lunch is spent on food and many children are eating mostly frozen, highly processed, packaged foods. With no national standardized limit on sugar or other ingredients like artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, it is common to find hamburgers, chicken nuggets, French fries, chocolate milk and corn dogs offered as a typical school lunch.

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the Child Nutrition Act that would make changes to the types of foods that can be sold in schools. The House of Representatives now needs to pass its version of the bill in time for President Obama to sign the legislation before Sept. 30, when the current Act expires. Failing to do so puts the new funding and other policy changes in jeopardy.

Robb and Cooper will head to Washington, D.C., again this year to urge Congress to pass a strong child nutrition bill and ask policy makers to continue expanding options for healthier eating in schools.

For more information about The Salad Bar Project as well as solutions for affordable, healthy lunches and recipe ideas visit Whole Foods Market’s Web site.

Beth and members of Zenit's family

This just in from MAU co-founder Beth Osnes, the creator, performer and force behind The Mother Tour. Beth has journeyed around the country and internationally to places as diverse as Panama, Canada, Vietnam and Guatemala with the workshop; Ethiopia is her most recent stop. STAY TUNED for the DVD release of the Mother Tour (October) .

Traveling in Ethiopia was amazing! I was able to share the Mothers Acting Up Vocal Empowerment workshop with women in Addis Ababa and was so deeply touched by their concerns and their courage to rehearse using their voices to act on those concerns. I was also impressed with the work of the Population Media Center (my host for the workshop) that uses radio dramas to communicate positive social messages concerning women’s issues such as female genital mutilation, marriage by abduction, early marriage, and use of family planning.

I was there with Tiroir A Films, a documentary film company doing a film on population and the environment. Together we traveled to the villages to meet women who are the frontline heroes in turning around centuries-old traditions that keep women oppressed. Watch for the film, Pushing Ten Billion: Facing Our Last Taboo, which will feature the work of Mothers Acting Up. The movie culminates in the idea that it is through the empowerment of women that we will be able to start stabilizing our population growth and usher in a better future.

Here’s what this new law will do:  Now, when companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange pay governments to drill for oil and gas or mine gold and diamonds in their countries, they’ll be required to report that. It’s that simple. The fact is, far too often developing countries see money from their natural resources end up in the pockets of corrupt government officials.  But now, citizens will get to see exactly where this money is going—which means they can hold their governments accountable and make sure funds are spent on health care, clean water and the everyday necessities that everybody needs to lead healthy, productive lives.

It boils down to this: When governments are transparent, people can hold their governments accountable.  When people hold their governments accountable, real, positive change is possible. But one of the coolest things about this news? You played a huge role in making this happen. A few months ago, ONE members called their senators—sometimes repeatedly—in support of the Cardin-Lugar amendment, because we knew it would make a world of difference for the world’s poorest people if Congress would just get the job done.  So ONE members stood alongside our partners and key congressional champions, and together we came through in a big way.

Today our voices were heard and we won. This is a major win for the people who will be directly and positively affected by this law, and for everyone who believes in transparency and justice.  Thanks for all your hard work.