Gia Ren (Chia Gen) and Baby Gizmo (Baby)

Chia

While I was stationed in South Korea I found my baby Shih Tzu.  I named her Gia Ren ~ pronounced Chia Gen for …well I can’t exactly remember and I can’t find the book I found the meaning in but I think it means love of family… or something like that.

She is a cutie pie!

Baby G.

Her daughter was my Mom’s dog and she named her Baby Gizmo.  She wanted to name her puppy Gizmo because of the Gremlins but ended up naming her Baby instead, and she is the biggest baby I know!

I delivered Baby and her brother and sister on my own.  It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  Poor Chia was so quiet…she was a few feet away from me and I didn’t hear her going into labor.  My daughter told me she saw something wet and it was on.  Buch, Baby’s big brother was breech and I cried when he finally took a breath.

They are such a joy to be around.

Oh the personalities of a Shih Tzu!  Baby is a bit neurotic and when she barks you can hardly hear her.  The more excited she is the less you hear her.  Sometimes you see her jumping as she is barking but nothing is coming out…the funniest thing to witness…uffdah!

More pictures of Chia, Baby, Sweaty, and Butch

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I received an email from Michael O’Reilly, Program Director of Amnesty International USA. This looks like an amazing opportunity for anyone to take a stand and make a difference to the Huge Task at hand. ~Teri~
	1) Write a letter. 2) Save a life. Who knew that protecting human rights could be so simple? Join the 2009 Global Write-a-thon and write for human rights!

		Dear Teresa, In Nepal, Rita Mahato, a health worker, has received death threats for seeking to protect women from violence. In Uzbekistan, two human rights defenders, Azam Farmonov and Alisher Karamatov, are jailed for promoting the rights of farmers. In Ethiopia, Birtukan Mideksa is serving a life sentence for seeking peaceful political change. These are just a few of the cases of torture, abuse and political imprisonment that Amnesty activists around the world will rally around during the upcoming Global Write-a-thon. In the days surrounding International Human Rights Day — December 10 — the world’s largest letter writing event will take place. Our global network of activists, acting independently and in groups of various sizes, will collectively send a tidal wave of letters and postcards on behalf of individuals in danger of severe human rights abuse as a sign of solidarity and a reminder that they are not alone.
		Be a part of the Global Write-a-thon event and make a difference in the life of someone who needs you. We have lots of resources to make your Write-a-thon letters powerful and your events memorable. If you register now, you will receive information about special Write-a-thon offers, exciting tools for promoting your events, and the latest updates about this year’s cases. Please help us spread the word! Reach out to people in your communities, schools, churches, Facebook groups or other social networks. We want to make this the best Write-a-thon ever! During last year’s Global Write-a-thon, more than 7,000 people in the U.S. pledged to write 200,000 letters in support of our cases. Every year, this worldwide event gets bigger and bigger — and we expect to top all records this time around. We’ve seen prisoners freed and lives spared because your letters make things happen! Just last year, Ma Khin Khin Leh, a school teacher in Myanmar and Hana Abdi, a women’s rights advocate in Iran, were both released from prison after Write-a-thon letters overwhelmed their respective government offices. Together, we can bring justice and human rights back to people who need it. Join the Global Write-a-thon today and show the world that when you stand up for human rights, you never stand alone. Sincerely, Michael O’Reilly Program Director Individuals at Risk Campaign Amnesty International USA

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I recently had a friend call me up… from my days in the Air Force (we’ll call him Bob) to ask me about P90X.  Well, since I am an Independent Beachbody coach I told him all of the great aspects of the fitness program.

He was really impressed and needless to say, since he searched me out, he was determined and ready to take on the intense program.  As I interacted with him over the process of ordering, giving him some suggestions and talking about the results I received from using the program in the past, my best friend Sally and I decided we needed to get back on it again and start working out as well.  We wanted to support Bob because we knew how hard it can be staying motivated while you work out.

Bob was saving me, as I was soon to find out, from an ever expanding waist.  When Sally and I took our measurements prior to starting the program I found out that my waist had not only grown but was bigger than ever before!

How could I so easily go back to being out of shape, knowing the benefits I got when I worked out and followed the diet plans… sheesh!

So I am so grateful to Bob for opening my eyes and getting back on the “X”!

I am on day three and I can really feel (the pain) the changes my body is making .

As I get ready to take on today’s workout I feel good about it.  I’m not dreading it at all???

Thanks Bob and I will check on you later so we can compare (pain) results.

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Mom’s run a health and fitness based business from home and get paid to get fit!!!

I know plenty of women who would love to work from home if they could only figure out how.  Well there really is nothing to figure out… people are doing it all over the world and being successful.

Figure out what it is you want to get out of life then you will know how you can contribute.  For me the choices are simple.  I need to stay fit and be healthy; I need to be socially active with people who want the same things for themselves and their families;  I want to contribute to women’s issues and society as a whole.

So what am I going to do about it?

I am becoming more involved socially and taking part in a business that has a social conscious as well.  You can check out some of my other blog pages and see what other great stuff I am up to and supporting.

After plenty of research and minimal leg-work I found Team Beachbody, a part of Beachbody that was just in the beginning stages of developing a coaching program for it’s customers.  When I started they had just gotten a decent website up with news, training, and the coaches were quite successful with the business (most of them were in shape too).

The business opportunity is that of an online fitness coach.  The coaches motivate customers who buy Beachbody products like, P90X, Turbo Jam, Hip-Hop Abs, Slim In 6 and many more types of products.  Our goal is to use the products, learn how to eat healthy, and teach our children, friends, and family to do the same.  Pretty simple, lot’s of fun, and has brought my family closer than anything before it.  Beachbody has brought us back to the dinner table and cooking together in the kitchen.  My daughter loves to go through the recipe books and the online network of Beachbody to find great recipes she thinks she will like (finicky eater) and that she can prepare.

I am currently in the process of building this page & I don’t want you to miss out on an opportunity to find a great opportunity for yourself…So I’m publishing this portion as I build the rest of this page.

I hope you find something here of interest and have a great day!

… Coach TeriJo, 28 September 2009

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Taken from the book “HALF THE SKY” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The first step is the hardest, so here are several things you can do right now:

I told you I would get you the list of organizations you can help support.  Here they are!!!

1.    Go to www.globalgiving.org or www.kiva.org and open an account.  Both sites are people-to-people (P2P), meaning that they link you directly to a person in need overseas, and this makes them an excellent way to dip your toe in.  Global Giving lets you choose a grass-roots project to which to give money in education, health, disaster relief, or more than a dozen other areas around the developing world.  Kiva lets you do the same for microlending to entrepreneurs.  Browse the sites to get a sense of the needs and donate or lend money to those that appeal to you, perhaps as a gift to a family member or a friend.  Or try a third site, www.givology.com, started by students at the University of Pennsylvania to help children in developing countries pay for primary school.  The site initially focused on China but now has since expanded to India and Africa.  On Global Giving, for example, we have supported a program to keep runaway girls in Mumbai from entering prostitution, while on Kiva we lent money to a woman making furniture in Paraguay.

2.    Sponsor a girl or a woman through Plan International, Women for Women International, World Vision, or American Jewish World Service.  We ourselves are sponsors through Plan and we exchange letters and have visited our children in the Philippines, Sudan, and Dominican Republic.  Sponsorship is also a way to teach your children that not all kids have iPods.

3.    Sign up for e-mail updates on www.womensenews.org and a similar service, www.worldpulse.com.  Both distribute information about abuses of women and sometimes advise on actions that readers can take.

4.    Join the CARE Action Network at www.can.care.org.  This will assist you in speaking out, educating policy makers, and underscoring that the public wants action against poverty and injustice.  This kind of citizen advocacy is essential to create change.  As we’ve said this movement won’t be led by the president or by members of Congress, any more than their historical counterparts led the civil rights or abolitionist movements-but if leaders smell votes, they will follow.  The government will act where our national interests are at stake; however, history has repeatedly shown that where our values are at stake, leadership must come from ordinary citizens like you.

These four steps are simply a way to break the ice.  After you have done that, browse the organizations listed in the appendix, find one that seems particularly meaningful-and dive in.  Join forces with some friends or form a giving club to multiply the impact.  Now let’s get on with it and speed up the day when women truly hold up half the sky.

34 Million Friends of UNFPA, www.34millionfriends.org, supports the work of the UN Population Fund.  It is a similar to Americans for UNFPA, www.americansforunfpa.org.

Afghan Institute of Learning, www.creatinghope.org, operates schools and other programs for women and girls in Afghanistan and in the border areas of Pakistan.

American Assistance for Cambodia, www.cambodiaschools.com , has fought trafficking and now has a program to subsidize poor girls so that they remain in school.

Apne Aap, www.apneaap.org, battles sex slavery in India, including in remote areas in Bihar that get little attention.  Apne Aap welcome American volunteers.

Association for Women’s Rights in Development, www.awid.org, is a global organization focused on women’s rights.

Averting Maternal Death and Disability, www.amddprogram.org, is a leading organization focused on women’s rights.

BRAC, www.crac.net is a terrific Bangladesh-based aid group that is now expanding in Africa and Asia.  It has an office in New York City and accepts interns. Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), www.camfed.org, supports schooling for girls in Africa.

CARE, www.care.org, increasingly has focused on women and girls.

Center for Development and population Activities (CEDPA), www.cedpa.org, works on issues related to women and development.

Center for Reproductive Rights, www.reproductiverights.org, based in New York, focuses on reproductive health worldwide.

Central Asia Institute, www.ikat.org, run by Greg Mortenson (author of Three Cups of Tea), provides education in Pakistan and Afghanistan, for girls in particular.

ECPAT, www.ecpat.net, is a network of groups fighting child prostitution, particularly in Southeast Asia

Edna Adam Maternity Hospital, www.ednahospital.org, provides maternity care in Somaliland.  It welcomes volunteers.

Engender Health, www.engenderhealth.org, focuses on reproductive health issues in the developing world.

Equality Now, www.equalitynow.org, lobbies against the sex trade and gender oppression around the world.

Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, www.etwla.org, mobilizes Ethiopian women to fight for equal rights.

Fistula Foundation, www.fistulafoundation.org, supports the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia, established by Reg and Catherine Hamlin.

Girls Helping Girls, www.empoweragirl.org, was founded in 2007 by a fifteen year-old California girl, Sejal Hathi.  It builds relationships between girls across continents and supports education and health programs in fifteen countries

Global Fund for Women, www.globalfundforwomen.org, operates like a venture capital fund for women’s groups in poor countries.

Global Grassroots, www.globalgrassroots.org, is a young organization focused on women in poor countries, particularly Sudan.

Grameen Bank, www.grameen-info.org, pioneered microfinance in Bangladesh and has now branched into an array of development programs.

Heal Africa, www.healafrica.org, runs a hospital in Goma, Cong, that repairs fistulas and tens to rapevictims.  It welcomes volunteers.

Hunger Project, www.thp.org, focuses on empowerment of women and girls to end hunger.

International Center for Research on Women, www.icrw.org, emphasizes gender as the key to economic development.

International Justice MMission, www.ijm.org, is a Christian-based organization that fights sex trafficking.

International Women’s health Coalition, www.iwhc.org, based in New York, has been a leader in the struggle for reproductive health rights around the globe.

New Light, www.newlightindia.org, is Urmi Basu’s organizations to help prostitutes and their children in Kolkata.  India.  It welcomes volunteers.

Population Services International, www.psi.org, is based in Washington, D.C., and makes fine use of the private sector in reproductive health.

Pro mujer, www.promujer.org, supports women in Latin America through microfinance and business training.

Safer Birth in Chad, www.saferbirthinchad.org, supports maternal health programs in Chad.

Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), www.sewa.org, is a huge union for poor, self-employed women in India.  It accepts volunteers.

Shared Hope International, www.sharedhop.org, fights sex trafficking around the world.

Somaly Mam Foundation, www.somaly.org, led by a woman who as a child was trafficked herself, fights sex slavery in Cambodia.

Tostan, www.tostan.org, is one of the most successful organizations in overcoming female genital cutting in Africa.  It accepts interns.

Vital Voices, www.vitalvoices.org, supports women’s right in many countries and has been particularly active in fighting trafficking.

White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, www.whiteribbonalliance.org, campaigns against maternal mortality around the world.

Women for Women International, www.womenforwomen.org, connects women sponsors with needy women in conflict or post conflict countries.

Women’s Dignity Project, www.womensdignity.org, cofounded by an American woman, facilitates the repair of obstetric fistulas in Tanzania.

Women’s Learning Partnership, www.learningpartnership.org, emphasized women’s leadership and empowerment in the developing world.

Women’s Refugee Commission, www.womensrefugeecommission.org, is linked to the International Rescue Committee and focuses on refugee women and children.

Women’s World Banking, www.womensworldbanking.org, supports microfinance institutions around the world that assist women.

Women Thrive Worldwide, www.womenthrive.org, is an international advocacy group focused on the needs of women in poor countries.

Worldwide Fistula Fund, www.worldwidefistulafund.org, works to improve maternal health and is building a fistula hospital in Niger.

Worth, www.worthwomen, org, runs literacy and microsavings programs in Nepal and Africa, with the aim of helping women earn their own incomes.

Here’s what people are saying about “Half The Sky”.

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Why my blog tab reads ‘Random Babble”…

The Reason for the title…well there’s a few really, is because I’m just an average woman trying to communicate on issues that are important to me.  I’m not a graduate of higher learning and I don’t want people’s comments to be tips on my format, context, spelling, or grammar.

Another reason is I’m not quite sure what I’m going to be talking about.  I know I will share things from my life and I will share my views on… really anything if it lights my fire or I think people will be interested and want to comment on it.  (I’m hoping to have an active blog (fingers crossed) and maybe a network on Ning to talk about issues, network and take action.)

I’ve been on this earth for a little over 40 years now and I believe I have a little something to say that some people may find interesting, insightful, and helpful.  I got into blogging by way of my business finding ways to connect with people and build relationships all in the hopes of growing my business.  But I have other ways to grow my business.  Sure I’m going to include it in my blog BUT that’s not the purpose of it.

I want to build my blog around women and women’s issues.  I have always been kind of free speaking with how I feel about things and how they are…maybe how they should be as far as girls and women are concerned.  Well NOW I’m actually going to do something about it.

I’m going to help bring the issues of the day and issues for tomorrow to the forefront alongside other people and organizations.  I hope to contribute what I can and when my kids have finally left the nest, in about 6 years, I should be in a good place to really get active.  At that point I can live out of a suitcase or a backpack and go where help is needed.

I plan to get involved locally and give what I can now.  As my business grows I will be able to contribute more and more.

I have wondered for quite some time how to get involved in the issues I am interested in and I am currently reading a book that has so many of them listed in the back of the book and it tells you how you can get involved now!  I am in the process of typing all of them up in a text document and I will find a place to load them into my blog.

This is important…I’m not going to change my momentum from this!

The more I learn the more I find… the more I find the more I know I need to learn.

The name of the book is “Half The Sky” Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

I will get a link to the book and my list up tomorrow… oh and the picture at the top is supposed to be my banner.  I’ll figure out how to have it as my blog header .

                                                                 ~Thanks for reading…

                                                                                                        Teresa~

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