Reprinted with permission from Walking with Guatemalan Sisters in Faith by Amanda Craft. Below are several suggestions about what we can do for our own mothers and /or for other mothers:
1. International Violence Against Women Act
The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), first introduced in the Congress in 2007, has yet to be passed. It passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in December 2010 and is to be reintroduced to Congress this year. It would, for the first time, make stopping violence against women and girls a priority in United States diplomacy and foreign aid. The legislation is designed to stop the brutal violence against girls and women that afflicts communities and countries across the globe—domestic violence, rape, acid burnings, so-called honor killings and other gross violations of human rights.
What you can do
Urge your legislators to cosponsor the International Violence Against Women Act when it is reintroduced. The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness has a few easy ways for you to get involved.
Visit the Presbyterians Against Domestic Violence Network to learn more about what the network and local churches are doing.
For more on Presbyterian Women’s justice and peace efforts, contact Meagan Manas, PW’s justice and peace program specialist, 718/839-3782, meagan.manas@pcusa.org.
2. Make something special for your mom this year. Treat her to spa products that are healthy and environmentally friendly. This will require some extra work on your part, but think of the love that is mixed in with each recipe. The Healthy Spa Kit from the Eco-Justice Program of the National Council of Churches even suggests holding a spa event. What a great idea – a special girls' day for those who are way too busy to take time for themselves.
3. Take time to pray for the important “mothers” in your life. The women who have touched you in some way and inspired you to be the person God desires you to be. Reach out and remind them of the importance they have played in your life. Let us give thanks for everything they have done and continue to do.
4. Pray for the women and men that will take the difficult path to push for an alternative to the grave inequality in this country. It is only through working together that change will come. However, it will be the women of Guatemala who will carry the more difficult burden, risking personal safety and security, risking alienation and comfort, to demand this change. It will be the tireless work of mothers who will raise their children, both girls and boys, to see, perceive, and live in the world differently.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS IN YOUR LIFE!