Mother’s Day Is Every Day

We shouldn’t need an official report to enlighten us about the situation of mothers around the world. We should already know.

It’s all well and good for Save the Children to give us a yearly report of what mothers are facing from the top of Mommyville (Norway) to the pits of it (Afghanistan). People need to be aware. Frankly, though, I find it hard to believe people aren’t already.

Afghanistan has been a war torn country for ten years now (since America began the war against it, trying to hunt down the elusive Osama). Mothers are clearly not living it up there. Their kids are growing up seeing the suffering and impoverishment that comes along with war while kids from Norway have mothers who are less stressed out. They work for employers who give them a year off to look after their newborns.

Afghani women are trying to raise families with odds stacked against them. Sadly, we can expect that they won’t get a nice card with flowers and a nice meal out on Mother’s Day.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to say that people aren’t aware of maternal and infant death and women who are living below the poverty line. The evidence is the many comments concerned citizens posted at the bottom of an article on the recently released results of the above report.

Many were happy to see that this article mentioned a couple of organizations that help women and children around the world on a daily basis, like Every Mother Counts and CARE. What’s more, they added to the list. Clearly, some people are aware of what’s going on and want to contribute to saving the lives of mothers and their babies.

But some people may need a jolt to bring them back to reality (or to see it in the first place). They may need to hear that more women die in childbirth than they do from bombs in Afghanistan.

It just strikes me that an annual report still isn’t enough to effect change on a larger and more dramatic scale. We need to build awareness and we need to find answers.

Much like privileged moms want to be appreciated every day and not just on the official Mother’s Day, women in sub-saharan African countries and war torn countries like Afghanistan need help every day.

Despite the fact that we honour it on a specific date, Mother’s Day is 365 days a year.

Contact the author here: tinybart@morningquickie.com