Saturday 21 July 2012

thoughts on buying for the pea, with a great way to help mothers

Having my baby, the Pea, I am acutely aware that my purchases for her will define her own relationship with material possessions. I want her to have an edited array of gorgeous things that she can treasure, not a pile of plastic toys each birthday and Christmas. I want to give her experiences, create rituals, play together as we find the joy in each and every day. I want her to be as aware as some of the very young children I know, who choose to make a donation on their birthdays to help other children rather than have yet another toy.

As such, one of the ways I have celebrated her birth (and marked my own passage through labour) is by donating to the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia. At the cost of around $3 per kit, they provide the essentials for a mother to birth her child more safely. With an estimated 385,000 women dying from complications in childhood anually, I can't bear to birth my beautiful daughter without helping someone else to birth their child more safely.

If this strikes a chord with you as it did with me, please pass the link on to friends and family. Here's to all the mothers and babies of the world.

4 comments:

  1. Great to hear your passion for creating rituals. With that in mind, Gigli can you help me find a reliable supplier of religious gongs, ritual masks, book of chants and good quality daggers?

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    1. Dear Blotts, I fear you may be on the wrong blog for those items. Perhaps you might find what you are looking for on www.http//mybrotherisanidiot.com .

      Best of luck and thanks for writing!

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  2. Hi Jo, interesting you posted about the women dying in birth now, cause I am reading this book (http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_review-half-the-sky-how-to-change-the-world-women-in-our-world_1507039) and it talks about it as well as other issues related to violence against women. Worth reading.
    I loved your post. I will check the website out! BTW I totally agree with your thoughts about "disposable toys". :) Angela

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    1. Thanks for the link, Angela! I am reading this article as I write. It is always devastating to hear of the violence against women that is still considered lawful, or certainly culturally acceptable, in various countries. It's one of the reasons I am also a fan of donating through microloans; changing communities from the inside out, often by supporting women's small businesses.

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