We are thankful for our mothers and all the ways in which they have inspired us. Here are a few touching stories that we have collected from our Givology team and network:
“I would not have become the woman and mother I am today without the determination and sacrifice of my own mother. She fought for the family, pushing everything aside for my sister and I to get the best education we could afford. Just like the many Givology students who have similarly devoted mothers, I owe so much of where I am today and what inspired Givology.org's formation to my mother. Happy Mother's Day to everyone and remember that women truly lift communities, driving education and progress.”
[b]-[/b][b]-Jennifer Chen, Givology Co-Founder and CEO[/b]
“My mother is a Pharmacy leader who has worked in multiple hospitals managing and leading her teams to collective and individual success. But looking at all of her accolades you would never know the trials she has faced to get to where she is today. It wasn't until I was in college that I really grabbed a hold of my mother's favorite phrase "no one can take your knowledge away from you.”
While completing her post-secondary education in Nigeria my mother had been twice unjustly denied certification of the completion of her program for one administrative reason or another. Those three years ended up being a waste; not counting towards her Pharmacy education. Imagine pushing through all of that, completing your degree, immigrating to the US as a licensed practicing pharmacist only to have to start all over as a pharmacy technician in order to fulfill the requirements to be allowed to practice in the USA. Time and time again, one unbelievable blow after another; even at the brink of giving up she did not let the "no's" stop her. It was with this same tenacity and heart that would sit with me after a tiring day at work to teach this stubborn girl her multiplication tables and push her to practice her cursive "s". She never let me give up on myself. She stressed the importance of reading to my siblings and myself, always making sure we had our bookshelves full, our library cards brandished and a bedtime story at night.
As I move along this path called life, I turn to find so many things to thank my mother for; the love of learning she instilled in me, the flourish of my cursive "s", knowing even the 12 x... and pray I will fight half as hard against the "no's" that may come in my way.”
[b]-- Yejide, Givology Team Member[/b]
[i]Neema Namadamu is the founder and executive director of [url=https://www.givology.org/~socwomen/]SAFECO Synergie of the Women’s Congolese Association[/url] which is an association of women and women-led NGOs who encourage and support one another in their work on Peace, Rights, and Development agendas that prioritize human rights and rights of nature. She is also founder of Hero Women Rising. In 2014 the Huffington Post shared a story that Neema wrote about her mother; the following is an excerpt from this piece. [/i]
“When I was in the third grade my mom arranged for me to live with her brother and his family away from the village environment, in a small city. She always made sure my dad sent school fees to my uncle for me. When it was time to enroll in the 7th grade, my uncle was away, taking his sons to a boarding school in another province. So I grabbed my stick a vaulted myself to the Secondary school and enrolled myself. I went on to become the first girl with a disability from my tribe to graduate from university. I was privileged to serve our nation’s minister of gender and family as technical advisor for persons with disabilities, and was able to put my three younger brothers through school.
In the last couple of years, with World Pulse’s help, I opened a Center in a rented room in a Cyber Café where women could come and get connected online and tell their stories of living in the worst place in the world to be woman (according to the UN). These women found their voice and began calling for peace, for dignity, for sanity in Eastern Congo. They named themselves the Maman Shujaa, which means Hero Women in Swahili, and the world logged in to hear these resilient Solutionists trumpet their universal song of Peace, Hope, and a Future for Congo. I am known as the founder of the Hero Women of Congo, but there is a woman who
founded me – a simple woman from a very remote village in Congo; an illiterate professor of Life who birthed an infectious hope and expectation of a different future in her daughter – Polline Nyirambarato – the exemplary Hero Woman of Hero Women; my Mom.
“Catch every blessing God gives you; don’t miss even one.” – Polline Nyirambarato
[b]-- Neema Namadu, Founder and Executive Director of SAFECO[/b]
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[i]Neema and her mother, Polline Nyirambarato (above and below).[/i]
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[/color]Read the full story here:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congos-hero-women-creatin_b_5170187.html
[b][u]In celebration of Mother's Day, we are matching all donations to Givology. This is a great way to double your impact![/u][/b]