In every job there are certain inherent obstacles and challenges that seem, to many, insurmountable. Often the challenges are ignored or simply accepted, but one Mentor Mother in Lesotho turned a difficult problem into something different, by becoming an “Easy Rider”.
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Almost ten years ago, the United Nations Summit seized the opportunity of a new century to create a plan to tackle some of the world’s largest inequalities. Through the Millennium Declaration, eight goals were put forth in hopes of capturing the world’s interest and inspiring the international community to take action. Governments, corporations and NGOs all adopted these goals in hopes of addressing and furthering human rights on a global front. Inspired by the determination and motivation of the international community, m2m continually strives to do its part, and today successfully addresses four of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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In April 2009, Milker Simba, m2m Kenya Country Manager, was invited to participate in a conference regarding positive prevention of HIV/AIDS, held in Hammamet, Tunisia by the Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and UNAIDS.
A follow-up to the LIVING 2008 Summit held in Mexico last year, the objective of the two-day conference was ‘to lay the ground for a common understanding on positive prevention that guides the work and partnerships between multilateral, bilateral, governmental and civil society organizations.’
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Recently, m2m held a training workshop in the Ugu region in KwaZulu-Natal for newly-recruited Mentor Mothers. Attended with great enthusiasm, m2m‘s regional trainer, Noma Radebe, reflects on the outstanding training session, attributing its success to: the level of creativity that participants came up with; the will power to go on with life in spite of being HIV-positive; and the level of appreciation that participants had for mothers2mothers. |
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Since March m2m has participated in several conferences and forums that have sprouted further potential partnerships and collaborations with organizations across the world. Gene Falk, m2m Co-Founder and Executive Director, was featured at the 2009 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, held at Oxford University in the UK. Additionally, Robin Smalley, m2m Co-Founder and International Director, attended two conferences where m2m’s history, achievements and effective service-delivery was very well received by all participants.
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This month at the World Economic Forum (WEF), mothers2mothers’
Founder/Medical Director, Dr. Mitchell Besser and co-founder/Executive
Director, Gene Falk, were recognized as winners of the Africa Regional
Social Entrepreneurs of 2009. m2m
was one of three winning organizations based in Africa, to be honored
by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at the World
Economic Forum on Africa meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. mothers2mothers was recognized for its innovative model on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT). |
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