Here’s a wonderful example of how a group in Vancouver developed what is now an annual event...

Dancing for Partners...Mom & Me Dance
There is something so special about Mothers’ Day…flowers, candies, token of love for all the hard work our Moms achieve over the past 12 months. There is a group in North Vancouver, Mom and Me, which has decided to extend the appreciation of mothers on a global level. Mom and Me was conceived and created two decades ago by Jo-Anne Kates. She provides pre and postnatal classes for new moms in the district, along with a myriad of necessary and informative support to mothers.

Last year, the mothers were moved to action by the South Asian tsunami, but quickly realized there were more women in the world that could benefit from their fund raising efforts. They wanted a charitable organization where they were assured that 100% of their money could go directly to help women. Partners in the Horn of Africa fit the bill with its mandate of empowering women and they decided to mark Mother’s Day with a family dance for the women of Ethiopia.

The event was a great success. Over 150 people attended. Partners’ board member Yehalem Metiku presented an evocative slide show of the plight of Ethiopian women and described the Partners’ micro financing project where the monies from the evening were being directed. With the support of Mom and Me’s contribution over 100 unemployed women in rural Ethiopia were given loans to open their own businesses. As initial loans are repaid, the women are entitled to larger loans and are encouraged to band together to form larger businesses. These projects have been a great success and many women are now operating their own small businesses. For these women, the cycle of poverty has been broken.

Buoyed by their recent success, the Mom and Me group are planning another celebratory community dance to acknowledge Mother’s Day 2006, and are hoping to attract more local citizens to dance to a charitable beat.

The women of the Mom and Me Network are sterling examples of the principles of Partners in the Horn of Africa – women in the developed world empowering Ethiopian women through grass roots action.