Jackson Free Press

I was running late and felt lost in the hallways of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C, last week, as I attempted to find Sen. Roger Wicker's office. My feet ached because I had bought into the "pain equals beauty" mantra and walked miles in heels. I was in D.C. after the CARE organization invited me to attend their conference. I followed two young Mississippi women as they lobbied on behalf of legislation to improve access to food, health and maternal care for women throughout the world.

Each year advocates attend the CARE conference in Washington, D.C., and lobby their state representatives to act on global initiatives. CARE is a humanitarian organization based in Atlanta that provides sustainable solutions to global poverty, focusing on women and children. More than 800 advocates attended the conference to receive a crash course in lobbying and training on global issues affecting women. This was the first year that advocates from Mississippi attended.

After arriving in time to see Jackson women Brittany Hickman and former JFP editorial intern Sital Sanjanwala take these issues to our state leaders, I leaned against a wall outside Wicker's office to catch my breath. Suddenly, I felt something cold and wet on my arm. As I turned around, I realized that I had leaned up against a freshly painted white wall in my new black dress--now striped black and white. Navigating my way through D.C., in rush hour and getting stuck on a Metro train had already put a damper on the morning. I was starting to feel more like Bridget Jones than Nellie Bly.

This experience reminded me of how easy it is to get tunnel vision when we are consumed by our own problems. When I learned about the obstacles that the majority of women face in developing countries, my problems started to pale in comparison.

For example, 60 million girls ages 17 or younger are married--many to men twice their age. Many of these girls marry as young as 10. Before getting the chance to fully develop or have an opportunity to succeed, they are having children and becoming family caretakers.

Lack of education and economic opportunities are just two factors why girls are married so young. In countries such as Sierra Leone, Nepal and India, marrying off a young girl is a way for families to gain financial stability. Maternal-care issues are another issue for women in many countries, including our own. Every minute of the day a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth due to inadequate medical care or facilities.

But we can take steps to improve the lives of women in the world. Last week U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., introduced the Global MOMS Act that would give the U.S. an opportunity to improve maternal health around the world. The bill would create collaborations between U.S. agencies and develop a strategy to end barriers to health care for mothers and newborns, such as providing more health clinics and family planning education.

Another piece of legislation, the International Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009, calls for President Barack Obama to develop a strategy to prevent child marriage in developing countries and integrate child-marriage prevention policies in U.S. Foreign Policy.

During the conference, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave the keynote address and called on attendees to be the voice for others.

"We need to be the actors, we need to channel our care into action," Clinton said. "By creating the conditions in which families and communities thrive, we can create stability, opportunity and progress far beyond any one community and any one country."

She ended her address saying, "Talent is universal, opportunity is not."

It's easy to have tunnel vision, especially in Mississippi. We have some of the highest rates of poverty, obesity and infant mortality. A majority of our citizens are undereducated, and the status of women is significantly lower than other states. So why add solving the rest of the world's problems to our list?

Because if we don't, who will? Derreck Kayongo, a regional coordinator for CARE, is a former refugee from Uganda. As one of the conference's trainers on legislative issues, he talked about the importance of acting on a global scale.

"Mississippi and Africa have some of the same issues," he said. "Championing rights for women in Somalia is one way to share similar stories. The more spokespersons we have, the more seriously these issues will be taken."

On the last day of the conference I watched as Sanjanwala and Hickman overcame their first-time lobbying jitters and spoke to staff members from the offices of Sens. Wicker and Thad Cochran, and U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper. These young women spent their time and money to be the voice for others.

If we look at the success of organizations like CARE and other programs in developing countries, perhaps we can address some of our own issues in Mississippi. I know firsthand how difficult it can be to think of problems that seem so far away, and many times it feels as if there isn't enough we can do on a personal level that can make a significant difference.

I'd like to see more women be voices for women who can't speak for themselves--in our state and beyond. This week's cover story about domestic violence by Ronni Mott is one way that the Jackson Free Press strives to do just that. But in terms of looking outside our own borders, we have the opportunity as individuals to tell our elected officials about the role of our country in improving the lives of others and creating a better future for women and children that allows them to use their talents and skills.