Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- There are still a couple weeks left to find that perfect Mother's Day gift that will let your mom know how much she means to you. We've found a few options you can purchase online, that will also help a mother who is less fortunate.
Go ahead and buy your mom a box of chocolates, a piece of jewelry or even flowers. If you do it online from the Women's World Health Initiative -- a nonprofit organization founded by a Utahn -- you'll be helping a mother in Africa.
It was a group of women in Senegal that touched Dana Allison so much she started Women's World Health Initiative.
"That focuses on mothers in developing worlds," Allison explains.
While in medical school, Allison worked with the United Nations on the Burmese border, mostly with women.
"That's where I really saw the suffering of women in vulnerable populations," Allison says. "Having childbirth, a child, was a time of mourning and uncertainty, rather than joy like we have here."
She says the U.N. has published some shocking numbers about women like this.
Having childbirth, a child, [is] a time of mourning and uncertainty, rather than joy like we have here.
–Dana Allison, founder, Women's World Health Initiative
"Once every minute, a mother loses her life in child birth. Here in our society, we don't understand that -- 1 in 100,000 lose their life's here," Allison says.
So, she put her medical dreams on hold and now runs her non-profit organization full time. She hopes this Mother's Day, people will buy their moms chocolate fudge, a Hope locket necklace or flowers from the organization's website.
"Depending on the level of donation, you will receive a gift -- and card that indicates to the receiver a tribute has been made in their honor to save another woman's life," Allison says.
Seventy-five percent of the proceeds will go toward training the medical community in Senegal on how treat preventable birth complications.
Saving a mother saves a child too.
"Children have a greater chance of surviving the first five years of their life if their mother is alive and well," Allison says.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
