Friday, August 22, 2008

Heart to H.E.A.R.T.

Want to help the women and children of Tibet?

There are few times something as easy as voting online for a humanitarian project can do so much good.

This is one of those times!

My friend Arlene Samen is the founder and director of a non-profit organization called One H.E.A.R.T. (Health Education And Research, Tibet). The mission of One H.E.A.R.T. is to save the lives of Tibetan women and children, one birth at a time. Through culturally sensitive training programs, One H.E.A.R.T. provides birthing materials for rural health workers in Tibet and trains them in their use. Unlike most countries, Tibet has no midwife tradition; thus a very high percentage of women and babies are dying in childbirth, often alone in dirty freezing sheds with no access to medical care of any sort.

As with most non-profits, One H.E.A.R.T. constantly fights the battle of funding. Arlene is forever seeking out organizations, grants, and donations to help with the logistics of her mission. American Express has a Members Project that has committed to provide 2009 funding of $2.5million to be shared among the Top 25 Projects, as decided by online voting.

This is where you can help. By voting for One H.E.A.R.T., you can help Arlene continue with her worthwhile mission. It's easy and it costs you nothing but a few moments of your time to give her project your vote. I hope you will consider doing this now because there is a voting deadline of September 1st. She needs all the votes she can muster before then.

To vote: Click here for the American Express Members Project Page set up for One H.E.A.R.T. You'll see a box that says "Should this project make the Top 25?" -- click on the box under that labeled *NOMINATE THIS PROJECT*. You will be asked to sign in. I did it as a Guest Member. After that is successfully completed, the One H.E.A.R.T. page will reappear. You can then vote to "nominate this project". The 25 projects that have received the most votes by September 1st will be sharing the American Express 2009 funding grant of $2.5million.

If you wish to learn more about Arlene Samen and One H.E.A.R.T., click here for her website. To read about her involvement in many other humanitarian projects and awards she has received, you can simply google her name.

For many years, Arlene worked as a Nurse Practitioner with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division at the University of Utah's Health Science Center. It was during these years of providing emergency maternity care that she began a mission of obstetric aid to women living on Native American reservations in the U.S. This mission is now global, serving the women of Tibet, Nepal, Mexico, Ecuador and other desperately poor women of the world. Through One H.E.A.R.T., Arlene is devoted to providing pre-natal health care and teaching safe birth practices to third world women, one birth at a time.

Arlene was featured as a CNN Hero this year! Click here to see video clips of some of her One H.E.A.R.T. work profiled by CNN. On the CNN link, click on links located to the left of her photo: Story / Videos / Extra 1 / Extra 2. Each one reveals a different aspect of teaching and connecting with third world women -- women who are experiencing the highest death-in-childbirth rates as well as the highest infant mortality rates.

Arlene was in Lhasa Tibet during the recent violent Tibetan protests and Chinese crack-down, doing what she always does, helping mothers. It was a very tense few weeks with the TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) in lock-down before China allowed her to return back to the U.S.

I hope you will consider giving One H.E.A.R.T. your vote for American Express funding by clicking on the link before September 1st. It will only cost you a little time.

or: Click here if you wish to make a donation directly to One H.E.A.R.T.

I've never used my blog this way before. I hope you understand why I feel this is a worthwhile cause. And I truly thank you for your time and consideration.

11 comments:

enigma4ever said...

oh this was so nice...wish I was not soooo broke...but I will send folks here this weekend,.....wonderful that you did this..thank you....

DivaJood said...

Thank you for the link to vote - signing up as a guest counts as much as being a member of AMEX.

D.K. Raed said...

Enigma:
That's the great thing about this particular funding grant -- all you have to do is vote online!


Diva:
I wondered about that myself, but when I signed in & voted, I saw my vote was counted the same way as any AMEX member vote.

jmsjoin said...

All right I did it! I must be a dunderhead! I seem to have a problem with anything to have to do with computers.

Fran said...

This is sweet & a totally appropriate way to use a blog. The TAR community could use all the help it can get right now.
Good job!

D.K. Raed said...

Avg Pat:
I had a little trouble completing it, too! It kept telling me my email was wrong. Well eff-me, how is it they know my email & think I don't? So I logged out & when I went back to the site, everything went smoothly.

Fran:
I never know where the boundaries are. But you are right, TAR needs a lot of help, so finding someone who is actually helping is rare.

Mariamariacuchita said...

This seems like a worthy and valuable way to help. I voted. Thanks for sharing this. The pictures are incredible and moving.

Utah Savage said...

Great piece. I'm on board.

Off Topic, thanks for your kind words. I sat and sobbed last night after reading your wise and warm words of encouragement. Honestly, I think I'm a having a melt down partly because the ticker isn't working right. I have an appointment Monday with the hole in the heart guy. Funny how facing your mortality makes you feel so fragile, yet still want to off yourself. God what strange creatures we humans are.

Billie Greenwood said...

Done.
BTW, how wonderful to have a friend like Arlene. It speaks volumes of good things about you.

D.K. Raed said...

UT Savage:
Thanks so much for getting on board. I know it's tough when you are feeling low right now. I bet you are right about the ticker, so good you are getting it checked out. I very much admire how strong you are, but strange? well aren't we all. I'll be around your place later ... the morbid thoughts may always around, but morbid actions don't have to be.

B. Explorer:
It was hard for me to even ask for votes, so please know how much I appreciate you taking the time. There aren't many people like Arlene, at least not that I know. Right now, I'm a little tired of politics & am working on a semi-border related piece that you might like. Check back tomorrow. (what a tease, eh?)

D.K. Raed said...

MariaMaria:
oops, how could I miss that flapping raven? Thank you, too! I know I need to visit you & Ingrid. I tried to catch up the other day, but found myself suddenly & uncharacterically reticent, so I backed off. WHERE does the time go?