Listed below will be some websites with causes and topics that might be of interest to you...or someone you know may need in them in the future.
Personal topics
Raising GirlsAgainst Sterotyping of Sex by media
This is strictly speaking not actually a food, food related topic, but does come in under the banner of it in relationship to the fact that more women than men use food to increase of decrease their size and change their image.
I have recently come back from a conference on the Wellbeing and mental health issues related to teenagers given by some of Australia's leading experts in this field. These people all have a passion for their field of study and after thinking about it I sorted through notes and my thoughts to look on it from a Christian perspective.
We were told that by the time girls hit highschool they fear looking fat more than losing their parents, getting cancer or a nuclear war. (Cramer & Steinwert (1998) cited by Crafti. N (2011).
Researcher Maggie Hamilton have come up with the following questions and written lots of books on the topics:-
- Why are girls as young as five years old concerned about their looks and addicted to shopping?
- Why are they having sex and binge-drinking so young, responding to chat-room predators, and bullying their peers via email and text messages?
- Why are depression, cutting and eating disorders on the rise,
Why, with so much choice, do so many just want to marry young and have babies?
In a few short years our girls have become vulnerable – not just teen girls, but also young girls and baby girls. They are being forced to grow up faster than ever before. What a twelve-year-old girl experienced at seven is not what a seven-year-old girl is now struggling with. Many of the guidelines we offer girls no longer apply, or are contradicted by messages from media and advertising telling girls how to look, think, behave and feel.
Let's take a stand Ladies and make the marketing and business people develop some moral standards.
The following organisation is a grassroots organisation that is campaigning for women's rights especially girls. These women are professionals who want to make the general public and business take responsibility for young girls to be just that enjoying their childhood and not to be exploited (commercialised etc...)
White Ribbon Day
Why wear a white ribbon?
Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge that the wearer does not excuse violence against women, and is committed to supporting community action to stop violence by men against women.
http://www.whiteribbon.org.au/
The Butterfly Foundation
The following url is for a orgainisation that assists women with eating disorders.
The contact Number for counselling etc is 1800 334673
http://www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/
Overseas Aid or topics
Stop Fistula
I opened my Koorong Catalogue today and found this cause in it. After reading about what those women go through to give birth with no help and the complications that occur, I could not stay silent on this matter. Can we who live in the first world with good health care and child birthing facilities not care and help our sisters in the world who have nothing but a dirt floor and no nursing care at all during this time.
- Every year, more than half a million women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth
- 99 per cent of these women live in developing countries
- About 2 million women worldwide are currently living with fistula
- Each year, up to 100,000 new cases of fistula occur.
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| This is where Clinics or help is needed. |
Christian Blind Mission is assisting these women to gain their basic rights.
http://www.cbm.org.au/
The Birthing Kit
"Every minute, a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth"
With an estimated 385,000 women dying annually in childbirth, many from infections acquired during childbirth, there is a great need for our clean birthing kits.
Most women we assist for reasons of isolation, cultural choice or poor transport have little or no assistance during childbirth. Many mothers and babies die from preventable infections. By providing a clean birthing kit and training in how to use it, these mothers will have the resources to reduce infection.
The Foundation is a not-for-profit non-government organisation (NGO) that provides birthing kits and education in clean birthing practices. We have no religious or political affiliations.
http://www.birthingkitfoundation.org.au/
Project Uplift
My sister sent me this website. Ever wondered what to do with those bras you have that you can no longer wear because you've either put on or lost weight or have finished with due to no longer feeding children and are still able to be worn. Read on...
The reason behind this cause is as follows that women from Fiji were asking aid workers for bras. They are very expensive and sometimes the only bra that these women own are the one that they are given. The importance of this is that in the heat these women get thrush and rashes. These then are passed onto their babies as they breast feed. This cause started in 2005.
Types of bras needed:
- Nursing
- Masectomony
- 18+
Also if you have swim wear a 1 piece.
For collection or assisting with sending out of these articles please go to the following website. The more people that help the more can be done.
http://www.upliftbras.org/
Family
This url is for the Australian branch of this orgainisation.
Their Mission Statement is to "Promote a drug-free lifestyle and Christian Values in the home and community."
http://www.wctu.com.au/index.html
