You might be a little like me. You see the faces of starving children and your heart breaks a little. But you really have no idea how to make a difference beyond making a donation. Part of the way forward is awareness of the problem and how to solve it and recognition and encouragement of those women already on the front lines.
I am lucky that my day job allows me to work with organizations whose mission it is to make a difference. So I am always interested when I get a pitch from one that is using communication tools in a unique way, which is what I got from Oxfam America last week.
Best of all, you can easily get involved and it only takes two minutes.
In celebration of International Women’s Day this Thursday, March 8, Oxfam has put together a pretty original and compelling campaign to recognize women who are already making a difference in your community. They have put together two ways for you to do this immediately:
1. Send an International Women's Day eCard to a woman you know, to say thank you for all that she does. Better yet, send it to several women who’ve made the world a better place.
2. Give the Oxfam America International Women’s Day 2012 award to a woman you think has made a difference to the world. She could be a teacher, your mom, a non-profit leader, a woman entrepreneur, the neighbor who always checks up on you when you’re ill… the possibilities are endless. You can send it as a PDF or print it out.
I plan to send out quite a few of these to some amazing women whom I know are changing the world. I hope you do the same.
Consider these facts:
- Sixty-six percent of the world’s work falls on women’s shoulders, yet they earn only 10% of the world’s income;
- If women were given the same level of access to resources that men have, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%;
- Hunger and poverty are about power and inequality, and women and girls face the biggest inequalities of all.
Watch the video to learn more about how Oxfam America helps to end hunger and injustice.
