Happy New Year! My family New Year’s greeting is often, “May the New Year be filled with health and prosperity.” The ozone soup that we eat first thing on New Year’s Day is filled with ingredients cut in a round shape to symbolize coins. Eating plenty of symbolic coins assures us that the New Year…
THE MODEL OF POWERFUL IMPACT “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” said Mahatma Gandhi. He understood The Model of Powerful Impact. Change starts from within. When we recognize that we have the power to change our circumstances, we inadvertently enact a change on our community and the world. I’ve recently been…
The Ultimate Protection System I have been thinking a lot about this year’s United Nations Commission on the Status of Women’s priority theme. It’s about social protection systems and special systems and infrastructure that can empower women and girls. From all my lived experiences, I have found no greater social protection system that empowers young…
We Greatly Value the Unique and Contributing Role of Families! We Value Intergenerational Connectedness Summer can be a time, especially here in the United States, when families gather to reconnect and strengthen family bonds. These family reunions encourage us to make the effort necessary to spend time with our family members, to grow closer to…
Two Poems and the Power to Choose As a little girl I remember sitting at my father’s feet as he would recall classic poems and teach my five siblings and me the principles that could be derived from each masterpiece. Two in particular piqued my interest as a little girl and have stuck with me.…
That’s me in the middle – one sister with four brothers. Actually, I had a big sister, but when I was only six months old, my sister Charlotte passed away. The government was testing nuclear bombs in Nevada, and many people in Nevada, Utah, and Idaho were victims to the illnesses caused by the nuclear…
Queen Mothers, You and Me Since coming back from attending the Commission on the Status of Women this year, I have been reflecting on the many incredible women we met from across the globe. One in particular was a wise and peaceful community leader by the name of Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely, a goodwill…
A delegation of Big Ocean women attended the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in March. We gathered information, made new contacts, and interviewed women from around the world who are impacting their communities in positive ways. We are excited to share with members and cottage leaders over the coming months.…
Twenty years ago, my family and I spent two years in Ireland. I had a baby there, and spent a few days in the maternity ward at the Coombe Hospital in County Dublin. The amenities were different, the accents were different, the food was different. I almost refused breakfast one day because I had no…
We live in a time of confusion and contradiction. We live in an age when we are bombarded with calls to respect a specific group of people or a cause. There are public campaigns to respect women, to respect people of different races or ethnicities, to have respect for our environment and respect for human…