Archive for the ‘social responsibility’ Category

Blog Action Day 2010: Water

October 15th, 2010
Today is Blog Action Day 2010. http://blogactionday.change.org/#why-water
The topic this year is Water.
Today I got up and brushed my teeth, flushed my toilet and washed my hands.
“The average toilet uses 8 litres of clean water in a single flush.” Source http://matadornetwork.com/change/40-shocking-facts-about-water
“Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.” Source http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/
“Currently, a staggering 2.6 billion people live without a safe toilet” source http://www.endwaterpoverty.org/the_issue/
Today I showered and gave my son a bath.
“90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable.” source http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/
“An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a typical person in a developing country slum uses in a whole day” source http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/#economics
Today I did the dishes.
“In Africa, women are predominantly responsible for collecting water. They walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 40 pounds to gather water for their community, which is usually still not safe to drink.” Source http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/
“On average, women in Africa and Asia have to walk 3.7 miles to collect water.” Source http://matadornetwork.com/change/40-shocking-facts-about-water
Today I drank more than 8 glasses of water clean tap water.
“Polluted drinking waters are a problem for about half of the world’s population. Each year there are about 250 million cases of water-based diseases, resulting in roughly 5 to 10 million deaths.” Source http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-pollution
“884 million people lack access to safe drinking water.” Source http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/the-coming-clash-between-water-and-energy/2
Today I turned my lights on, used a stove, and had power for my computer.
“In the United States alone, on just one average day, more than 500 billion liters of freshwater travel through the country’s power plants—more than twice what flows through the Nile.” Source http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/the-coming-clash-between-water-and-energy/1
“a single Google search takes about half a milliliter of water. Just a few drops, really. But the 300 million searches we do a day take 150 000 liters. That’s a thousand bathtubs of water to power the data centers that handle the world’s idle curiosity.” Source http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/environment/the-coming-clash-between-water-and-energy/2
Today, like most days, I didn’t really think about the amount of water I was using.
A typical individual in the United States uses 500 litres of water each day… The recommended daily water requirement for sanitation, bathing, cooking and consumption is approximately 50 litres per person per day… Over 1 billion people use less than 6 litres of water per day.” Source http://matadornetwork.com/change/40-shocking-facts-about-water
Sort of puts things in perspective doesn’t it?
Honestly, though I see these numbers and the disparity between my water use and the water availability for the poorest of the poor and I feel lost as to what to do about it. I have a hard time seeing how me taking a shorter shower will really help. It seems like then the water plant in my area will have more water, but it doesn’t really help anyone who really needs the water. Here are some ways that I found that will help those who actually do need the water though:
Take a stand and support clean water everywhere by signing this petition supporting the United Nations work to improve water and sanitation for billions. http://blogactionday.change.org/sign-petition
Raise money to help build a well in Africa through Charity: Water. All of the money you raise goes to people in need and within 12-18 months they will send you a picture and other documentation about the well that was built with the money you raised.
Donate money to  bring clean water to those who need it most through these other great non-profit organizations:
water.org http://water.org/
The water Project http://thewaterproject.org/
Living Water International http://www.water.cc/
Here is a short prayer I wrote on behalf of those living with unclean water, or no water at all:
Living Water, Breath of God,
we all need water in order to live and prosper,
So, we ask you to send rain to those places which are in draught,
And send workers to those places which are in need.
Living Water, Breath of God,
teach us how each of us can bring your kingdom to those who are thirsty.
show us how we can give a cup of water to a stranger who needs it.
Living water, Breath of God,
we recognize that many die needlessly do to water issues,
And we ask that this would not continue.
May those of us who have abundant water not waste your gift,
but instead may we recognize that every drop is a gift and that there are many who don’t have it.
May those of us who have abundant water
seek out ways that we can provide water for those who do not.
Living Water, Breath of God,
make us into water bearers who carry life giving water into the world.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

Today is Blog Action Day 2010.  The topic this year is Water.

Today I got up and brushed my teeth, flushed my toilet and washed my hands.

“The average toilet uses 8 litres of clean water in a single flush.” Source

“Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.” Source

“Currently, a staggering 2.6 billion people live without a safe toilet.” Source

Today I showered and gave my son a bath.

“90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable.” Source

“An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a typical person in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.” Source

Today I did the dishes.

“In Africa, women are predominantly responsible for collecting water. They walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 40 pounds to gather water for their community, which is usually still not safe to drink.” Source

“On average, women in Africa and Asia have to walk 3.7 miles to collect water.” Source

Today I drank more than 8 glasses of clean tap water.

“Polluted drinking waters are a problem for about half of the world’s population. Each year there are about 250 million cases of water-based diseases, resulting in roughly 5 to 10 million deaths.” Source

“884 million people lack access to safe drinking water.” Source

Today I turned my lights on, used a stove, and had power for my computer.

“In the United States alone, on just one average day, more than 500 billion liters of freshwater travel through the country’s power plants—more than twice what flows through the Nile.” Source

“A single Google search takes about half a milliliter of water. Just a few drops, really. But the 300 million searches we do a day take 150 000 liters. That’s a thousand bathtubs of water to power the data centers that handle the world’s idle curiosity.” Source

Today, like most days, I didn’t really think about the amount of water I was using.

“A typical individual in the United States uses 500 litres of water each day… The recommended daily water requirement for sanitation, bathing, cooking and consumption is approximately 50 litres per person per day… Over 1 billion people use less than 6 litres of water per day.” Source

Sort of puts things in perspective doesn’t it?

Honestly, though I see these numbers and the disparity between my water use and the water availability for the poorest of the poor and I feel lost as to what to do about it. I have a hard time seeing how me taking a shorter shower will really help. It seems like that just makes it so that the water plant in my area will have more water, but it doesn’t really help anyone who really needs the water. Here are some ways that we can help those who actually do need the water though:

  • Take a stand and support clean water everywhere by signing this petition supporting the United Nations work to improve water and sanitation for billions.
  • Raise money to help build a well in Africa through Charity: Water. All of the money you raise goes to people in need and within 12-18 months they will send you a picture and other documentation about the well that was built with the money you raised.

Here are some ways you can donate money to  bring clean water to those who need it most through these other great non-profit organizations:

Here is a short prayer I wrote on behalf of those living with unclean water, or no water at all:

Living Water, Breath of God,
we all need water in order to live and prosper,
we ask you to send rain to those places which are in drought,
And send workers to those places which are in need.
Living Water, Breath of God,
teach us how each of us can bring your kingdom to those who are thirsty.
show us how we can give a cup of water to a stranger who needs it.
Living water, Breath of God,
we recognize that many die needlessly because of water issues,
And we ask that this would not continue.
May those of us who have abundant water not waste it,
but instead may we recognize that every drop is a gift
and remember that there are many who don’t have access to clean water at all.
May those of us who have abundant water
seek out ways that we can provide water for those who do not.
Living Water, Breath of God,
make us into water bearers who carry life giving water into the world.
In Jesus name, Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -

Bethany Stedman

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Nursing in Public: A Little Story

May 14th, 2010

It was November, just before Thanksgiving. As we walked down the aisle of the plane I felt nervous. This was my first time traveling with a baby. My 7 week old son, Thaddeus, was in my arms, content for the time being. About midway through the plane I saw an older women sitting by the window. The family in front of us took the aisle across from her. They looked nice. They had a baby girl who looked to be about 10 months old and a son who I guessed was 3 or 4. We had smiled at each other as we waited in line to board. I quickly decided that this would be a good place to nurse and we took the two empty seats next to the grandmother.

I was worried that my son’s ears would hurt and that he would end up being that baby on the plane that cries the whole time and bothers everyone. I had done my research before hand and talked to my mommy friends. Everyone said that as long as the baby sucked and nursed during takeoff and landing he would be fine. The plane started to taxi out of the gate and I started to nurse. Thaddeus was having some trouble latching on. He seemed tired and uncomfortable already. Maybe his tummy was hurting. I finally got him situated and a stewardess came by. She leaned in towards me:

“Do you have something you can use to cover up?” she asked.

I was startled and a little disappointed. I thought that I was being fairly discreet already. I hated covering up – it made it so much harder. He usually didn’t get as good of a latch when I covered up and then my nipples would be sore. I stammered out a “yes” and asked my husband to grab a blanket from the diaper bag. A stressful situation just got more stressful.

I struggled to cover myself. Thaddeus came off the breast and cried. He wiggled around. He was so strong. I wrestled with him a bit while trying to hold the blanket and also get him latched back on. It wasn’t working. My husband held the blanket up for me and together we got Thaddeus nursing again. Soon he was asleep and we were able to relax a little.

On landing, I didn’t really even try to nurse him. It was too much trouble. I glanced at the 10 month old sitting across from us enjoying a bottle on her mommy’s lap. For a second I wished that I had pumped a bottle, but the one time I tried pumping I was miserable and it wasn’t worth the effort. We had Thaddeus suck on my husband’s finger during the landing, since he refused a pacifier. He cried the whole way down.

Once we landed Thaddeus was hungry. We went to baggage claim and I found a relatively quiet place where I thought I could sit and nurse. My husband left our bags with me and went to get the car seat and stroller which we had to check. I struggled with my screaming son. With the memory of the flight attendant fresh in my mind I tried to cover up a little, but that just made Thaddeus more upset.

A woman with a badge came and sat down in a chair not too far from me. After a few moments she leaned towards me:

“There’s a family restroom where you can nurse by the escalators.” She said as she pointed in the direction I had just come from not long before.

I am sure that she meant well. I am sure that she saw me struggling and thought it might be easier and more comfortable for me to nurse in a quiet place – maybe she was right. But, at that moment I didn’t want to struggle with my baby and my bags and wrestle my way back down the hall alone so that I could sit on a toilet in a public restroom and nurse my son. I wanted to calm and sooth him right then and there. Really I just wanted to cry.

Instead I stuttered out “thank you.” Picked up my bags, held my screaming baby close to my chest, whipped away a tear, and walked away. I got half way down the hall when I realize I really didn’t want to go to a family bathroom and nurse, plus my husband would have no idea where I went. But, I didn’t want to go back and sit by that woman either. So, I went to the carousel where my husband was getting the bags. Thankfully there were a few seats right by the carousel and I sat down there and tried to nurse for a second while my husband got the last bag.

This story isn’t really that bad. I have since this time heard stories about nursing in public that are truly outrageous.  This little story is really nothing to tell. I mean no one asked me to stop nursing or told me I couldn’t nurse someplace. In fact no one in my story is really negative towards nursing at all, but I can’t really say that they are supportive.

Now I am more informed. Now I am more comfortable with my right to nurse anywhere. Now I am more experienced with breastfeeding. I can nurse truly discreetly without a cover and I can use a cover much more easily now if I want to. My son is older and more experienced as well now. He can latch on without my help. Now I could handle a situation like the one I just shared with much more ease and grace, but then I couldn’t and it ended up being a very stressful experience for me. Then I wasn’t experienced at being discreet. Then I needed to be uncovered and able to see and help my son in order to get a good latch. Then I didn’t know my rights when it came to nursing in public.

I need the me of now to defend the rights of the me of then. My story isn’t that bad, but there are others that are. And I can totally see how even little experiences like mine could really start to get under your skin and cause you to give up all together. Before I became a breastfeeding momma I wouldn’t have thought twice about a story like mine, I would have thought no one did anything wrong. And it’s true, there isn’t really anything wrong about the flight attendant asking me to cover up or about the woman directing me to the family bathroom to nurse, but it also is something wrong about it. Personally I think it does feel like there is something wrong in our society when a momma feels uncomfortable and ashamed for naturally, freely and openly feeding her baby. I can see how if you had enough experiences like my little story and you didn’t have support from family and friends around you it would be easy to choose not to breastfeed at all or to stop earlier then you had originally planned. I can understand why “according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 70 percent of mothers start breastfeeding immediately after birth, but less than 20 percent of those moms are breastfeeding exclusively six months later.”

The choice to nurse or not to nurse is each mother’s personal decision, but wouldn’t it be great if we lived in a society where women really could freely make that decision. Where if they wanted to nurse they wouldn’t be made to feel uncomfortable for openly feeding their baby whenever they needed to and where ever was most comfortable for them.

Here is a GREAT article with 50 Reasons for Breastfeeding Anytime, Anywhere.

What nursing stories do you have? What has been your experience with nursing in public? If you’re not a momma, or you didn’t choose to nurse your baby, how do you feel about nursing in public? What do you feel is appropriate and not appropriate?

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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State of the World’s Mother’s 2009

June 17th, 2009

The last few days I’ve been reading (semi-skimming) Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers 2009 Report. It’s a 62 page document comparing different countries in terms of care for Children and Mothers. It’s been a really interesting read so I thought I’d share just a few facts from the research that I found surprising and/or interesting:

-          “Four decades ago, America had the best high school graduation rate in the world, but by 2006 it had slipped to 18th out of 24 industrialized countries. As recently as 1995, the U.S. was still tied for first place in the proportion of young adults with a college degree, but by 2000 it had slipped to 9th and by 2006 to 14th. According to the latest OECD figures, the United States has one of the highest college dropout rates in the industrialized world – 53 percent of Americans who enter college do not finish. Only Italy has a higher college dropout rate (55 percent).”

-          “Worldwide, 75 million children fail to complete primary school, either because they drop out in the early grades or because they never got the change to attend school at all.”

-          “In the United States, nearly 2.5 million – or 68 percent – of all American fourth graders are not reading at grade level.”

-          New Mexico, Nevada, Mississippi, Arizona and Alabama are the five lowest-ranked states in the School Success Index. Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine are the highest scoring.

-          The Complete Mothers’ Index ranks countries based on a number of factors to determine “where mothers fare best and where they face the greatest hardships… The contrast between the top-ranked country, Sweden, and the lowest-ranked country, Niger, is striking. Skilled health personnel are present at virtually every birth in Sweden, while only 33 percent of births are attended in Niger. A typical Swedish woman has nearly 17 years of formal education and will live to be 83 years old, 65 percent are using some modern method of contraception, and only one in 185 will lose a child before his or her fifth birthday. At the opposite end of the spectrum, in Niger, a typical woman has little over 3 years of education and will live to be 56. Only 5 percent of women are using modern contraception, and 1 child in 6 dies before his or her fifth birthday. At this rate, every mother in Niger is likely to suffer the loss of a child.”

-          The United States ranked 27th on the Complete Mothers’ Index. “One of the key indicators used to calculate well-being for mothers is lifetime risk of maternal mortality. The United States’ rate for maternal mortality is 1 in 4,800 – one of the highest in the developed world. Thirty-five out of 43 countries performed better than the United States on this indicator, including all the Western, Northern and Southern European countries (save Estonia and Albania) as well as Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. A woman in the United States is more than 5 times as likely as a woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece or Italy to die from pregnancy-related causes and her risk of maternal death is nearly 10-fold that of a woman in Ireland.”

There’s a lot more info in the report, but those were just a few little things that stood out to me.

These facts are sobering and personally make me wonder what can I and others like me do to change the living conditions of so many women and children around the world…?

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Earth Hour

March 23rd, 2009

 

Just a reminder that Earth Hour is March 28th (this Saturday). Check out this site for more information and join the effort by turning out your lights for one hour at 8:30 local time.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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There goes Christ…

January 28th, 2009

The other day I was walking out of the metro and I saw a homeless man, he was clearly drunk and talking to himself. And as I saw him and old saying that my mom had taught me years ago popped into my head:

“There, but by the grace of God go I.”

My mom had taught me this saying that we could never really think better of ourselves than others because really we are just like them. Without God’s grace and different circumstances and choices in our lives we might be in the exact place. But, I realized something as I thought about this saying. It doesn’t really teach what it’s intending to teach. It’s suppose to show us that we can’t look down on other people or judge them and we should instead be thankful that by God’s grace we aren’t in the situation that they are in. It’s supposed to show us our commonality as human brothers and sisters.

But, think about this saying for a moment, “There, but by the grace of God, go I.” As I thought about it I realized that it doesn’t minimize pride it magnifies it. It focuses not on our commonalities with our brothers and sisters who suffer, but on our differences. Yes, we recognize that they are in some ways like us but in the same breath we recognize that by God’s grace we aren’t them and we have it better than they do. Yes, we say it is by God’s grace that we have it different, but doesn’t that imply that God’s grace doesn’t also extend to the needy brother that we pass by? And really don’t we sort of think that yes it’s by God’s grace, but God’s grace is extended to me because well, I’m better – I didn’t make the mistakes that person made, I haven’t sinned like that person has, etc.

As I thought about this more I could see how some could say this saying in a way that had much more in common with Pharisee in Luke 18 than with genuine humility and thankfulness.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“There, but by the grace of God, go I.” Doesn’t connect people. It divides them. Even though it seems to acknowledge our similarities it says that by the grace of God that person is less than me and thanks God that I am not like him. Maybe instead of saying “There, but by the grace of God, go I.” We should say simply “There go I.” And remember that the needy brother or sister at our side is no different than us and we are no different than them. Or maybe instead we should say, “There goes Christ.” Remembering that whatever we do to the least of these we do unto Christ himself.

I think sometimes the place to start in changing our actions is changing our thought process and so I am trying to change the way I think and the language I use towards those who appear more needy than I appear to be.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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