In Uncertain Times, Think Like a Mother 👩👧
In a world of chaos and unjust treatment, there is a group of women collaborating and reshaping communities by empowering women with the tools necessary to implement change.
These groups of women are clustered across the globe representing the name – ‘Madre’.
At its core Madre engages with women in vulnerable positions and equips them with the necessary resources to transform difficult circumstances to meet the greater needs of the communities within which they live. From exposure to gender-based violence to women coping with the traumas of war zone conflicts and the consequences of climate change on harvests and income shortages, to name but a few. Madre supports these grassroots women’s groups by mobilizing humanitarian aid, health care, and shelter. Healing the cracks of shattered communities through skill-sharing initiatives and collaboration efforts.
Madre teams up with local women’s organizations and indigenous communities to take action and advocate for discussions around gender-based violence. Forging ahead with grassroots solutions such as building clinics and counseling centers, to equip women with tools to prevent abuse in war and disaster areas. Madre also addresses issues around climate change policies- building clean water systems to preserve future harvests, as well as providing a platform for grassroots women's voices to influence national and international climate policy discussions.
Madre has come a long way since its inception in 1983 and seen many successes in its pursuit to liberate women from such environments. One such celebrated success was seen in January and October of 2015 where Madre teamed up with WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) at ‘The Strategies for Change’ conferences in 2015 to bring together collaboration efforts between Iraqi and Syrian women in Istanbul. Discussions around national and international advocacy, legal support, and media reform were some of the many topics addressed. In Kenya, MADRE currently funds women’s projects on how to adapt to drought and prevent conflict between communities around resource scarcity. They funded water tanks for three communities, one of which provides water to 800 - 1,000 people a year. Today in Guatemala, MADRE promotes healing, cultural preservation, and transitional justice for Indigenous women survivors of genocide, by supporting a series of traditional Mayan dance and storytelling sessions.
Never doubt a small group of thoughtful and committed people can change the world, indeed its the only thing that ever has.
- Margret Mead
Yisfat Susskind, Madre’s Executive Director, has had a profound impact on generating exposure and awareness around Madres core initiatives, her debut 2019 TED Talk, on ‘Think like a Mother' has reached over 1.3 million views and her writing has circulated across publications in The New York Times and The Washington Post, and Ms. Magazine to name a few, generating conversation and support for Madres future endeavors. From pillar to post, Madre is equipped to overcome barriers facing women's participation in advocacy, through funding training, stipends, travel, translation, child care, providing humanitarian aid (medicines, health supplies, wheelchairs) to sister organizations where such items cannot be locally sourced.
Organizations such as Madre, exist not only to bring about social change in disadvantaged communities but to empower and connect women all over the world in creating futures of solidarity and collaboration around areas of shared concern, they embody the words of Margret Mead when she once said: “Never doubt a small group of thoughtful and committed people can change the world, indeed its the only thing that ever has.” Camilla Torlage
Camilla Torlage
Camilla grew up in Durban, a coastal city along the shores of South Africa. At age six she moved cities and lived most of her adult life with her mom and younger sister in Johannesburg, shortly after graduating she completed her TESOL certification and set off on her travel journey- living, working and volunteering across Thailand, Vietnam, India, Brazil, Argentina and Peru and now she is currently based in China working at an online Education company in Beijing. Having been brought up in a single-parent household and schooling in a single sexed schooling environment she is very supportive of women empowerment projects such as ‘MADRE’ and aims to get more involved in their volunteer programs in the future.