Bush Cuts Birth Control

Excerpts from Nicholas D. Kristof’s “Can This Be Pro-Life?” in the NY Times:

“The Bush administration this month is quietly cutting off birth control supplies to some of the world’s poorest women in Africa.

Thus the paradox of a “pro-life” administration adopting a policy whose result will be tens of thousands of additional abortions each year — along with more women dying in childbirth.

The saga also spotlights a clear difference between Barack Obama and John McCain. Senator Obama supports U.N.-led efforts to promote family planning; Senator McCain stands with President Bush in opposing certain crucial efforts to help women reduce unwanted pregnancies in Africa and Asia…

…Retrograde decisions on reproductive health are reached in conference rooms in Washington, but I’ve seen how they play out in African villages. A young woman lies in a hut, bleeding to death or swollen by infection, as untrained midwives offer her water or herbs. Her husband and children wait anxiously outside the hut, their faces frozen and perspiring as her groans weaken.

When she dies, her body is bundled in an old blanket and buried in a shallow hole, with brush piled on top to keep wild animals away. Her children sob and shriek and in the ensuing months they often endure neglect and are far more likely to die of hunger or disease.”

Crayon Box Preschool

“For many years, owning a business of my own did not seem possible to me.” 

—Adriana Razo, who started her South San Francisco bilingual preschool program with the help of ALAS, a Women’s Initiative training program for Latina entrepreneurs.

Find out how to get involved at www.womensinitiative.org.

Isabel Allende’s Heroes:

“Women who care for others, support their families, struggle with poverty, abuse and repression, and also manage to love and sing in spite of all the odds.”

“We believe that if we empower a woman, we save a family, and if we help families, the community at large benefits. By empowering women we can change the world. An empowered woman will educate her children and raise strong daughters.”  

–Author Isabel Allende, whose Isabel Allende Foundation supports Chilean and San Francisco Bay Area non-profits such as Homeless Prenatal, Women’s Recovery Services and Mujeres Unidas y Activas.

20 Questions for Isabel Allende

1. What is an irresistible human trait?
Kindess.

2. What is the highest form of giving?
To give time and love.

3. What is your most positive flaw?
Generosity.

4. What skill do you wish you possessed?
I wish I could sing beautifully.

5. Which is more important: security or passion?
Passion. I am not interested in security, it’s boring and it’s also an illusion because life is risky and no one can be totally safe all the time.

6. What is your driving force?
Feminism. The desire to be independent, free, and fend for myself and my children.

7. Who are your favorite writers?
Too many to name them.

8. Who are your heroes?
Women who care for others, support their families, struggle with poverty, abuse and repression, and also manage to love and sing in spite of all odds.

9. What does the Isabel Allende Foundation do?
My Foundation tries to empower women and girls in the areas of education, health and protection. We believe that if we empower a woman, we save a family, and if we help families, the community at large benefits. By empowering women we can change the world. An empowered woman will educate her children and raise strong daughters.

10. Name three things that empower women.
Women need educational skills to support themselves. Health is essential, and that includes prevention and contraception. Women should be organized, keep in touch with each other and be informed, because isolation makes them vulnerable. Together they are strong.

11. Name three Bay Area nonprofits that need support.
Homeless Prenatal.
Mujeres Unidas y Activas.
Women’s Recovery Services.

12. What is the sweetest smell?
The smell of a baby.

13. What is the loveliest sound?
The laughter of children.

14. What do you do to relax?
Write.

15. What is your daily creed?
Do no harm and do good whenever possible.

16. Which novel is in your carry-on bag?
I travel all the time and in my carry-on there are always six or seven books. I don’t have just one book with me. I seldom read a book twice because there are too many good writers out there and not enough time in my life to read them all.

17. Where (and/or with whom) do you feel truly at home?
I feel at home where Willie, my husband, is. It can be in a plane, on a safari in Africa or underwater. He is my home.

18. What motivates people to give?
In most cases, the motivation to give is simple generosity and compassion, but I have heard that some people give to show off their wealth. It used to be diamonds, now it’s philanthropy. Excellent! The motivation doesn’t really matter, as long as they give.

19. What is a food you couldn’t live without?
Water.

20. What is the soundtrack of your life?
Silence. The sounds of Nature are enough for me.