For Mother's Day, give a girl Room to Read

Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program encourages the enrichment of girls’ lives through education. Currently it supports more than 10,500 girls in eight countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Zambia). Through the end of May, all donations to Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program will be matched up to $250,000. Honor your mom or an important woman in your life by making a donation in her name. Make a Mother’s Day donation and send a free Mother’s Day e-card via Room to Read!

Inkham, Room to Read

One of the girls the program mentors and supports is Inkham from Oudomxay, Laos. She is eleven years old and lives with her family. Both of her parents are mute. Her day consists of waking up at five in the morning, cooking breakfast, walking to get water and cutting greens from the field. Then, she goes to school at seven thirty. If she is lucky, one of her classmates will give her a ride on their bike to class. Her favorite thing to study is the Lao language both in reading and writing. She has particular mentors that Room to Read has introduced her to. When she is finished with school she goes home and reads to her parents. She hopes that she will achieve her goal of graduating high school with 90 percent in all of her classes. By doing this, she will be able to achieve a scholarship to college. Through the help of Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program, Inkham has the resources to continue in school and aim at achieving such high aspirations of education. Watch the video about Inkham now!

April 25, 2011

10×10 Partner CARE's Mother's Day Gift Packages

This week on the 10×10 blog we’ll be sharing some of our partners’ initiatives for Mother’s Day 2011. If you’re still not sure how to say “I love you” to your mother or the other special women in your life this year, consider a gift or donation idea from our 10×10 partners.

CARE Mother's Day Tea and Chocolate Package

10×10 partner CARE and Full Circle Exchange are working together this Mother’s Day to honor mothers around the world. They have created beautiful “Mother’s Day” gift sets of organic, fair trade chocolate, coffee and tea. Each set includes a brochure explaining Full Circle Exchange’s partnership with CARE – and introduces the special person who recieves your gift of love to one of the many mothers around the world who are thriving with the help of CARE.

In addition, you can include ( for free) a beautiful, custom gift card with your own tribute or words of thanks to your mom or another special woman in your life.

Here’s the big payoff: The purchase price of every gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $1 million by Full Circle Exchange and our philanthropic partners to help provide mothers, their families and their communities with opportunity, empowerment and hope through CARE programs around the world. You can give your mom something delicious, and help moms around the world find a better life.

Place your order by April 29 to guarantee delivery by May 6.

Prices for Mother’s Day packages range from $32.95- $49.95.

April 22, 2011

10×10 Partner Girl Up Shares Stories from Ethiopia

by Haley Priebe

This April, Girl Up’s team visited one of their programs in Ethiopia. In the Amhara region, where almost 50% of girls are married before their 15^th birthday, they met girls with inspiring stories – girls who escaped child marriage to attend school and learn life skills that they can invest back into their families for years to come.

(Watch their video about how Girl Up is working to stop child marriage.)

One such girl is Sesuagno Mola.

Married at age five and a mother at age fourteen, Sesuagno was not allowed to attend school. At first, she did not even believe that she would be able to join the Girl Up-funded Berhane Hewan program, which works to support adolescent girls in the rural Amhara region. But her husband’s family granted her permission to join the program when they learned that she would cook Injera – Ethiopian bread – there, because they reasoned she could sell the bread for extra income. CONTINUE READING

April 21, 2011

Book review: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Review by 10×10 Advisory Board Member Terry Hong

This post originally appeared on Bookdragon, which is the the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program’s book review website. Author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is also a 10×10 advisory board member. Buy the book using the link below and a portion of the purchase price will benefit 10×10.

I picked up Gayle Tzemach Lemmon‘s already-bestselling debut title with a mission: after reading too many death-and-destruction books one after another, I needed some inspiration to reverse me out of a downward spiral. Our mutual involvement in a fabulous project which puts us on the same web page out there in the virtual world (although we have yet to meet in livetime) meant Dressmaker already came with a hefty endorsement.

“What I found in Kabul was a sisterhood unlike any I had seen before, marked by empathy, laughter, courage, curiosity about the world, and above all a passion for work,” Lemmon writes in her introduction. What began as a double assignment in 2005 for the Financial Times and Harvard Business School led Lemmon eventually to Kamela Sidiqi, one of the many “[b]rave young women [who] complete heroic acts every day, with no one bearing witness.” Lemmon thankfully moves anonymity aside and reveals Kamela’s resilient story to a growing audience all over the world. CONTINUE READING

April 19, 2011

Envision: Addressing Global Issues through Documentaries

By Erika Howard

Panelists at the 2011 Envision Program

Last weekend The UN Department of Public Information and the IFP (The Independent Filmmaker Project) hosted the 3^rd annual Envision at The Times Center in New York City. Since 2008 the annual forum has focused on using documentary films to highlight important global issues. This year’s theme was how we can use film to achieve the first millennium development goal of eliminating extreme poverty and hunger. In addition to documentary filmmakers, the event was attended by an international group of NGOs, activists, UN representatives, and journalists.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Harry Belafonte gave the opening night address, and was followed by the screening of an HBO documentary The Sound of Mumbai, that featured the journey of Indian children who live in slums of Mumbai, but are given the hope of a better life through a classical musical performance. The second day featured an address by Hugh Evans, co-founder of The Global Poverty Project whose compelling multi-media presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons encouraged attendees to join the campaign to become more active about fighting extreme poverty. Visit http://www.livebelowtheline.com/ to learn more about this campaign.

The conference also featured additional screenings that included the 2011 Oscar nominated documentary feature, Waste Land. Earlier, a group of notable documentary filmmakers participated in a panel discussion called “On the Front Lines: Balancing Issues and Art in Documentary Storytelling.” The filmmakers screened portions of their work, and spoke about how documentaries have the power to not only raise awareness about important issues, but can galvanize change in societies.

The last session of the day featured a panel that addressed, “The Role of Women in Alleviating Hunger and Poverty.” The panel discussed how women in developing countries often face societal limitations that deny them the ability to constructively contribute to their societies. However successful programs from NGOs such as Pro Mujer, proved that when investments are made in women, they have the extraordinary ability to bring out vital changes – helping to lift their communities from abject poverty, to a place where they can thrive and flourish.

April 15, 2011

Sunitha Krishnan Rescues Girls from Prostitution in India

by Christina Lowery

The other night, I had the great opportunity to attend the Vital Voices 10th Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center. I was there as the guest of Intel, our amazing sponsor and a supporter of Vital Voices, an organization whose mission is to identify, invest in, support and bring visibility to extraordinary women around the world. From the beginning until the close of the program, I had my mind blown by the determination, fearlessness, big-heartedness, dedication and fire of the women who were honored.

Although an enormous security line forced me to miss Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s opening remarks, I settled into my seat as Diane von Furstenburg was introducing the evening’s Human Rights Award. I want to share with you the story of Sunitha Krishnan, the recipient of the award.