Guiding Coalition

Guiding Coalition

At Mothering Across Continents, we treasure the involvement of a core group we call our Guiding Coalition. These are women who actively embrace dreams, provide counsel and serve as spark and "manager" for our innovative pilots. Guiding Coalition participation changes over time as projects are launched, expanded and transitioned to others to sustain. As an illustration, we share here a few profiles of Guiding Coalition members.

Sharon Dempsey (center in light shirt, wearing glasses) was born in South Africa where she lived with her husban

d and two daughters, prior to work-related transfers to Switzerland and the US. The Dempseys have lived in the US for six years and now consider Greensboro, NC, home. Sharon currently is in her final year of a Masters in Social Work program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has organized a collaborative committee representing the Joint Masters of Social Work Program of UNCG and NC A&T University, the UNCG Department of Social Work, and the NASW-Student Organization that will launch an “I CAN” campaign, encouraging students to fill cans with quarters over the course of one week to support a children’s center in the Ufafa Valley of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Woza Moya's children's center is the only site providing early childhood education, play therapy and primary school scholarships in a community of 6,000 people. One donation can, when filled with quarters – about $125 -- will enable a child at Woza Moya to attend school, have books and appropriate clothing, for one year.

Jerri Hatch, Washington, DC, describes herself as an environmentalist with a love for animals, the outdoors and travel. In January 2009, her passion for travel took her to Rwanda, Kenya and Zanzibar. While in Rwanda, she asked to visit a "small village school." Her travel agent sent her to Mwiko School, which serves 700 children with inadequate teaching materials, school supplies, books, pencils or blackboards. The teachers have little, if any, training.

But there is hope. Mwiko School has an "Environmental Club" where food is grown in a garden near the school, and chickens and rabbits are raised. Jerri, who is leading our Mentoring Mwiko efforts, hopes the garden can become self-sustaining for the school and that food products can be sold to show the benefits of what a little bit of work can give to the community.

Karen Puckett, Salisbury, NC (bottom center) and Judy Maves, Atlanta, GA (bottom right) traveled to a heavily guarded Sudan in February 2009 on a mission to look for opportunities to build a school in one Lost Boy's home boma.

Karen, upon returning to the US, connected with Mothering Across Continents, which also was working with a Lost Boy who wants to return to the Sudan and build a school. Karen, a public school media center specialist, now is working to develop the Raising Sudan project. She was awarded a Humanitarian Award at the 33rd Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration and Humanitarian Awards Day at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Salisbury, NC.

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