Michaela Haas

Restoring Balance: Women's Wisdom for the Modern World

2013-05-07T10:49:37-04:00

Recently ,His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama made headlines when he enthusiastically supported the idea of choosing a female successor.

The first Western Buddhist woman who swore to attain enlightenment in a female body was Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, who became famous worldwide through Vicki Mackenzie's book "Cave in the Snow" that chronicled Tenzin Palmo's quest to attain realization as a woman. Born as a fishmonger's daughter in London, Tenzin Palmo (born Diane Perry) has set an unprecedented example of following in the footsteps of the most dedicated Tibetan yogis by spending 12 years in solitary retreat in a cave in Ladakh, immersing herself so deeply in this tradition that she has earned the unabashed respect of traditional Asian teachers and modern Westerners alike. She is the most senior Western Tibetan Buddhist nun alive and has just realized her heartfelt aspiration: Her nunnery is solely dedicated to offering the nuns optimal opportunities to study, debate and meditate -- a privilege usually reserved for monks.

"Even Tibetan masters are beginning to realize, if you want real devotion and focus, you have to look to the nuns," Tenzin Palmo says proudly in the new book "Dakini Power." "I tell my girls, now you are given all the opportunities, you can accomplish whatever you want!"

In this interview by Ronny Novick at Ten Directions Productions for Dakini Power, she speaks about how to use daily life as a spiritual practice, restoring the world that is out of balance, and our true nature.

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. Photo: Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo and her nuns in North India. Photo: Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery

An image from the recent consecration of Tenzin Palmo's temple in North India. Photo: Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery

The True Meaning of Forgiveness: Women's Wisdom for the Modern World

2013-04-19T12:30:19-04:00

Venerable Thubten Chodron is the author of "Buddhism for Beginners" and founding abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Washington State, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery for Westerners in America. Thubten Chodron gave this short teaching well before the Boston Marathon Tragedy, but her words about "The True Meaning of Forgiveness" could not be more timely. If we hold on to anger, we hurt ourselves the most, and the violence will never end.

Thubten Chodron is renowned for her extraordinary ability to present even the most profound spiritual teachings simply and directly to Western audiences. With her characteristic warmth and humor, she skilfully weaves together traditional teachings with practical advice for modern women and men.

She grew up as a "nice Jewish girl" near Los Angeles before exploring the counterculture of the Seventies and discovering the Buddhist path in Nepal. She has been ordained as a Buddhist nun since 1977. She is dedicated to using the Buddha's teachings on how to work with emotions in a contemporary context. In this short video, Venerable Chodron speaks about the true meaning of forgiveness. Venerable Chodron clarifies how forgiveness really means letting go of our own anger, which enables us to go through life without holding on to resentment and grudges. She highlights how this is a necessary first step before we can cultivate compassion for others. Her most recent publication is "Don't Believe Everything You Think," and her own life story is featured in more detail in the new book "Dakini Power."

We will post a series of precious words of wisdom from the female Buddhist teachers over the next few weeks.

A Female Dalai Lama? Why It Matters

2013-04-15T12:08:33-04:00

There is no hope for a female pope, but there might be one for a female Buddhist leader.

When Pope Francis washed the feet of two young women during Easter, this provoked the criticism of conservative Catholics who pointed out that the liturgies only allow men's feet to be washed, and cheers of progressives who saw it as an omen for a change in the Church's stance toward women. Many hope that the new pope will be a little more inclusive, especially when it comes to women's issues and questions concerning sexuality and contraception. More than 70 percent of American Catholics want the new pope to ordain women, approve the use of contraception and let priests get married. The Bible demands that the pontiff has "clean hands and a pure heart." Theoretically, any Catholic male can be elected pope, but women are the only group categorically excluded. I happen to have been born in a Bavarian village not far from Pope Benedict XVI's. In my elementary school a crucified Jesus adorned every classroom, and I am intimately familiar with the reasoning why Catholic bishops think allowing women into their ordained ranks will forever remain impossible. The statements about women were, in fact, one of the reasons I left the Catholic Church as a young women when my world views clashed with the rules I learned from my local priest.

When I became a Buddhist almost 20 years ago, I was initially enthusiastic to learn that the Buddha was the first religious founder after the Jains who allowed women into the ranks of his order -- a revolutionary decision at the time, more than 2.500 years ago. The historical Buddha clearly encouraged nuns and lay women along with men to be the pillars of his community. But practically speaking, over the centuries, women were not allowed to participate equally there either. For instance, throughout Asia, women rarely had equal access to education. After studying Buddhism for a decade in India and Nepal I couldn't fail to notice that all my teachers were men. Where were all the women? If Buddhism is based on the equality of all beings and gender didn't matter, why then was there such a huge imbalance? I started to seek out female Buddhist teachers and found myself in the middle of a sea change.

Every time Buddhism migrated from its place of origin in India to other countries, whether Sri Lanka, Burma, Japan, China or Tibet, the philosophy, customs and rituals transformed as well. Not surprisingly, Buddhism's relocation to the West comes with a sea change of emphasis and culture. In Tibet, revered masters might isolate themselves in remote caves, sometimes for decades, in deep meditation. In the West, teachers reach thousands instantly by streaming their wisdom on podcasts. In many Asian Buddhist communities, open dissent is unthinkable, while in academia, critical discourse is crucial.

Of all these changes that we are watching Buddhism undergo in the West, the most momentous may be that women are playing an equal role. As I describe in my new book, "Dakini Power," more and more Buddhist women are now rising as teachers in their own right who understand their responsibility: to invigorate and bolster women to hold up "half the sky" as spiritual seekers and teachers. Just as in business and politics, religious women demand to be acknowledged in the many leadership roles they assume. Feminist Buddhist scholar Rita Gross points out in her book Buddhism After Patriarchy, "The single biggest difference between the practice of Buddhism in Asia and the practice of Buddhism in the West is the full and complete participation of women in Western Buddhism." The 14th Dalai Lama has acknowledged this by pointing out that his next incarnation could be a woman. "I call myself a feminist," he said. "Isn't that what you call someone who fights for women's rights?" Despite the complex historical, religious and political factors surrounding the selection of incarnate masters in the exiled Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama is open to change. Why not? What's the big deal?

"The lamas can't ignore this any longer," says Western nun Karma Lekshe Tsomo, the founder of the most important international organization for Buddhist women, Sakyadhita ("Daughters of the Buddha").

"In most Buddhist centers, look into the kitchen -- all women. Look into the offices, who does the administration? Mostly women. Who does the driving and organizing, the cleaning and the correspondence, the shopping and managing? Mostly women."

That women then also become teachers, abbesses and even Dalai Lamas is only a natural evolution.

The current transformation of Buddhism in the 21st century is stunning on so many levels, and women play a role in this endeavor as prime agents. The Himalayas were always a nursery for accomplished female practitioners and to some extent still are. "There were certainly many great female practitioners in Tibet," British nun and abbess Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo writes in her book "Reflections on a Mountain Lake."

"But because they lacked a background of philosophical training, they could not aspire to write books, gather disciples, go on Dharma tours, and give talks. When we read the histories, we will notice that nuns are distinguished by their absence. But this doesn't mean they weren't there."

While iconic archetypes of feminine enlightenment were erected on shrines, few women in Tibet were actually emboldened to follow in their footsteps. Despite an encouraging quote of Padmasambhava, the eighth century pioneer of Tibetan Buddhism, that women's potential to attain liberation is supreme, most Buddhist cultures throughout the centuries perceived women as lesser beings. The few encouraging statements are outnumbered by plenty of passages that lament the hardships of womanhood. Commonly used Tibetan words for woman, lümen or kyemen, literally mean "inferior being" or "lesser birth." Some orthodox masters doubt to this day if women can attain realization at all, and age-old liturgies have women pray for a better rebirth in a male body. To this day nunneries in Asia usually lack the resources the monasteries get, and full ordination for women is currently not a possibility in the Tibetan tradition, though many monks and nuns, including the Dalai Lama, are working toward a change.

The Dalai Lama has spoken out many times about the need for resolving the issue. "Two thousand five hundred years ago, the Buddha was preaching in a male-dominated society," he stated in an interview. "If he stressed feminist viewpoints, nobody would have listened to him. The important thing is that now, for the past thirty years, we have worked to change that."

This is a challenge all religions in the 21st century face in one form or another. Any organization that categorically excludes 50 percent of their brightest, most capable and compassionate people from its leadership suffers and won't be able to escape change forever. The papacy won't be a mamacy any time soon, but at least we know that Her Holiness is an option.

The Killing Fields of Today: Cambodia's Landmine Problem Rages On

2013-04-02T17:07:25-04:00

On April 4, 2013, the world will mark the 8th annual United Nations International Day of Mine Awareness, a global observance designed to grow the movement to ban anti-personnel landmines, promote disarmament and clearance, and provide victim services. Lotus Outreach International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicating to enhancing education and economic opportunity for marginalized communities in Cambodia, is marking the occasion by drawing attention to the intergenerational effects of landmines on children in this war-torn nation.

Anti-personnel landmines -- which are specifically designed to explode upon contact with a person -- have killed or maimed an estimated 100 million people worldwide, with at least 63,000 victims in Cambodia alone. Cambodia's notorious landmine problem is the product of a civil war that spanned three decades, culminating in a genocide in the late 1970s that claimed the lives of up to three million people, or one-third of the entire population. Today, 40,000 people -- one out of every 290 Cambodians -- are amputees, the vast majority of whom are men and thus the traditional heads of household.

"Tragically, landmine clearance is an incredibly expensive and laborious undertaking," shares Lotus Outreach Executive Director Erika Keaveney. "It is estimated that a single landmine -- which costs just $3 manufacture -- will cost upwards of $1,000 to identify and safely remove. Even the most optimistic estimates suggest Cambodia won't meet its landmine clearance goals for another five years. In the meantime, thousands of families struggle to survive in the face of the devastation landmines have inflicted on their lives. Lotus Outreach is working to ensure these families can meet their most basic needs and keep their kids in school."

The intergenerational effect of landmines is profoundly evident in the life of 16-year-old Tuon Samphea, the sole caretaker of her father who stepped on a landmine while foraging for bamboo shoots for food. The explosion cost him several of his fingers and both eyes, and he lay bleeding and disfigured alone in a field for ten hours before anyone found him. Today Samphea, an only child, looks after his every need including preparing meals and bathing him. Despite these demands on her time, Samphea is able to continue to go to school each day as a result of a scholarship provided by Lotus Outreach's Girls' Access to Education (GATE) program. In addition to providing school supplies, uniforms, and tutoring support, the GATE program provides Samphea and her father with a large bag of rice each month to ensure they will not go hungry if Samphea attends school instead of working. "One of my main ambitions in life is to ensure my daughter can be educated. Without the scholarship and rice support, this wouldn't be possible," shares Samphea's father.

The father of Tum Sokpheak likewise lost his leg to a landmine while foraging for food to feed his seven children (one child since died of dengue fever). With Sokpheak's parents unable to work, the family survives on a $55 monthly pension and the $25 monthly rice stipend provided by the GATE program, which has enabled them to keep all of the children in school for now. "Education is very important to us but it is difficult to pay for the cost of schooling and get enough to eat," shares Sokpheak's mom. "We want our children to have a good future and will try very hard to keep them in school. The rice support is enabling us to do that now." A GATE participant for seven years, Sokpheak is slated to graduate high school this summer and hopes to enter a four-year medical program at Battambang University shortly thereafter. Despite her family struggles, she ranks third in her class of 47 students.

The severe penury confronting Sokpheak and Samphea is not exceptional among GATE scholars, who are selected based on a comprehensive criteria including income, family size, and parental disability. But households with landmine victims face unique challenges, foremost among them the constrained ability to secure food. Though a full third of Cambodians live below the national poverty line of $1.25 per day, households with a landmine victim are 40 percent more likely to face difficulty securing food than the population at large. This is not only the result of the lost labor of the landmine victim, but the lost labor of his or her primary caretaker which translates into higher opportunity costs for sending children to school. Further, 61 percent of landmine victims report going into debt to pay for their initial medical treatment, exacerbating their poverty trap.

By addressing the intersecting problems of food security and children's education for these families, Lotus Outreach is working to halt the transmission of poverty through future generations, thus bringing Cambodia one step closer to healing from the scars of the past. To learn more about Cambodia's ongoing legacy of landmines and other explosive remnant of war, visit http://www.cmac.gov.kh/.

Sokpheak's father. Many NGOs in Cambodia provide prosthetic limbs to landmine victims, but they are still unable to engage in heavy manual labor or agricultural work, the main thrust of rural economies in Cambodia.

Sokpheak (center right) at school: Sokpheak has been in the GATE program for seven years. She will graduate soon, and hopes to continue on to university. She currently ranks third of 47 students in her class.

Samphea and her father: Samphea's father was foraging for bamboo shoots when he stumbled on a landmine. His leg was badly injured, he lost both eyes and his hand was disfigured. He was not found until 10 hours after the incident.

All Photos: Copyright Lotus Outreach

Watch a short video of Thuo Somphea preparing a meal for her father:

Lotus Outreach is a California-based 501 (c)(3) dedicated to ensuring the education, health, and safety of vulnerable women and children in the developing world. GATE is one of several successful development programs it operates in Cambodia today.

10 Tibetan Buddhist Women You Need to Know

2013-03-20T15:35:54-04:00

Many of us dream of exchanging our day-to-day responsibilities for a heartfelt life full of purpose, but few of us ever get around to doing something about it. The women featured here are the exception. They followed their intuition against all odds, made dramatic and unusual decisions and sometimes had to fight for their survival in order to lead the lives they envisioned. While iconic archetypes of feminine enlightenment (dakinis in the ancient language of Sanskrit) were erected on shrines, few women in Asia were actually emboldened to follow in their footsteps. That women participate equally is probably the single biggest change with Buddhism being established in the West. Here are ten extraordinary female teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, who have transformed the way Buddhism is viewed in America (more information in the new book "Dakini Power: Twelve Extraordinary Women Shaping the Transmission of Tibetan Buddhism in the West").

1. Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche

"If being a woman is an inspiration, use it. If it is an obstacle, try not to be bothered by it."

Her Eminence Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche's position in the Buddhist world is entirely unique. She is one of the very few fully trained female Rinpoches ("precious masters") in the Tibetan tradition. Born in 1967 as the daughter of the late Kyabjé Mindrolling Trichen, she, her younger sister and her mother were the only women growing up among 400 monks at her father's monastery in India. The Mindrolling lineage is one of the rare Tibetan traditions that do not distinguish between male and female heirs.

Now one of the most influential and vibrant women teachers, Khandro Rinpoche travels tirelessly between her late father's monastery and her own two nunneries in India, her American headquarters, Lotus Garden, in the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia, and an ever-increasing number of Buddhist communities. In addition to receiving the traditional training usually reserved for male teachers, she also studied journalism, business management, homeopathy and sciences.

With her unparalleled training, she has built a reputation as a sharp-witted and unconventional teacher who is never afraid to "rock the boat" as she continues to question the responsibility and role of women in the Buddhist society. Educating and empowering women is at the core of her work: "Maybe I can be a medium through which more women become confident, dynamic leaders."

2. Dagmola Kusho Sakya

First Tibetan woman ever to immigrate to America.

Dagmola Sakya is one of the very few senior Tibetan ladies who were born in pre-Communist Tibet, but are now recognized as outstanding teachers and live in America. Together with her husband, the renowned Dagchen Rinpoche, she established a beautiful monastery in Seattle and teaches around the world.

A combination of the most unlikely circumstances enabled Dagmola to become one of the first Tibetan women to teach in the West. Born 1936 in a tiny village in East Tibet, she was the only girl allowed to go to school. Instead of complying with the established system of arranged marriages, Dagchen Rinpoche fought for her hand. After barely escaping the Communist prosecution in Tibet with her family, she made a new home in Seattle in the '60s with her five boys, while holding down a 9-to-5 job at a blood bank.

Her experience as a working mother of five resonates with many women. When students ask her for advice on how to combine a spiritual path with the stress of modern life, she does not need to put herself in their shoes -- she knows the challenges only too well.

"Practice is in every day life, not just sitting on the cushion," Dagmola says. "Every move, every breath, every thought is practice."

3. Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (Diane Perry):

"I took the vow to attain enlightenment in a female body."

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (Diane Perry) became famous worldwide through Vicki Mackenzie's book "Cave in the Snow," which chronicled Tenzin Palmo's quest to attain realization in a female body. Born as a fishmonger's daughter in London, Tenzin Palmo has set an unprecedented example of following in the footsteps of the most dedicated Tibetan yogis by spending 12 years in solitary retreat in a cave in Ladakh, immersing herself so deeply in this tradition that she has earned the unabashed respect of traditional Asian teachers and modern Westerners alike. She is the most senior Western Tibetan Buddhist nun alive. She is currently realizing her heartfelt aspiration: to build a nunnery solely dedicated to offering the nuns optimal opportunities to study, debate and meditate -- a privilege usually reserved for monks.

"Even Tibetan masters are beginning to realize, if you want real devotion and focus, you have to look to the nuns," Tenzin Palmo says proudly. "I tell my girls, now you are given all the opportunities, you can accomplish whatever you want!"

4. Pema Chödrön (Deirdre Blomfield)

Most successful female Western Buddhist teacher.

Pema Chödrön, most beloved female Western Buddhist teacher. Collage: Noa P. Kaplan
Facing what scares us is Pema Chödrön's signature topic. A glance at her book and audio titles provides a first-aid kit for handling life: When Things Fall Apart, we have No Time to Lose so that we Start Where We Are, Don't Bite the Hook, and go to the Places That Scare You for Taking the Leap. These slogans from her bestselling books, encapsulate Pema's heart advice. "Dakini Power" describes her own transformation from the Catholic elementary school teacher named Deirdre Blomfield-Brown into a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and one of the most successful Western Buddhist teachers. She has established the Pema Chödrön Foundation and is the principal teacher at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia.

When asked how she got into Buddhism, she always says half-jokingly: "Because I was so angry with my husband."

5. Ven. Thubten Chödron (Cherry Greene)

An innovative abbess.

Venerable Thubten Chödron is the author of "Buddhism for Beginners" and founding abbess of the innovative Sravasti Abbey in Washington State, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery for westerners in America. She is renowned for her extraordinary ability to present even the most profound spiritual teachings simply and directly to Western audiences. With her characteristic warmth and humor, she skilfully weaves together traditional teachings with practical advice for modern Western women and men. In "Dakini Power," she speaks about her upbringing as Cherry Greene, a "nice Jewish girl," her years of exploring the counterculture of the '70s, her prison work and her dedication to using the Buddha's teachings on how to work with emotions in a contemporary context. She is faced with the irony that she is perceived as a liberal in traditional Tibetan circles, while some Westerners automatically see her as part of the "hierarchical" monastic institution because of her robes.

Chodron comments, unfazed, "Curiously, while women's issues are at the forefront of discussion in Western Buddhism, once a woman becomes a monastic, she is seen as 'conservative and traditional.'"

6. Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo (Patricia Zenn)

Surfing to realization.

Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo already had a religion when growing up in Malibu: surfing. But being constantly teased by her classmates about her family name, Zenn ("Are you Buddhist or what?"), she borrowed a book about Buddhism to find out what this was all about and instantly knew that this was it.

Ordained in 1977, she quickly realized that conditions for Tibetan Buddhist nuns were dire. Almost 30 years ago, she single-handedly started a movement to give nuns access to education, at a time when this idea was, at best, treated as a waste of time, or even frowned upon by the established monasteries. She is the co-founder of Sakyadhita ("Daughters of the Buddha"), the most important international association of Buddhist women, and the founding director of Jamyang Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the education of Himalayan women. In a way, the California girl has come full circle: now she lives in California again, where she is a professor teaching Buddhist philosophy at the University of San Diego. But whenever she can, she goes to see "her" nuns in the 15 study centers dotted all over the Himalayas that would not exist without her untiring efforts.

7. Sangye Khandro (Nanci Gustafson)

"Enlightenment is a full-time job."

Sangye Khandro has translated and mastered some of the most profound Buddhist teachings. One of her renowned translator colleagues says she might be the Western woman who has received more teachings and transmissions than anybody else. She lives on the beautiful 100 acres of Tashi Chöling, a retreat and teaching center in the mountains near Ashland that she founded together with her husband and teacher, Gyatrul Rinpoche. She has translated for the finest Tibetan teachers. Despite receiving many invitations, she rarely agrees to teach, preferring a reclusive lifestyle focusing on translations and retreats. Together with her partner, Lama Chönam, she has founded the wonderful translation committee Light of Berotsana.

8. Lama Tsultrim Allione (Rosmanière Ewing)

The enlightened feminist.

Lama Tsultrim Allione, charismatic Western teacher and bestselling author of "Women of Wisdom" and "Feeding Your Demons," was recognized and enthroned as an emanation of one of the most beloved female Tibetan saints, the 11th century dakini Machik Labdrön. She balances the commitments for her family and three kids with the passion to bring century old healing practices to the West. Once among the first American women ordained as a nun, she has since given back her vows to raise a family and integrate her spiritual values into a lay practitioner's life. The radical life change led Lama Tsultrim to question: How exactly did motherhood fit in with Buddhism? When she looked at the life stories of the great saints of her lineage, almost all of them were male, and the few women had either abandoned their children or were celibate nuns.

"I had no role models for women in my position, no stories to follow," she says. Her newly built temple, Tara Mandala in Colorado, is dedicated to the "enlightened feminine."

9. Chagdud Khadro (Jane Dedman)

A perfect example.

Chagdud Khadro is the title her late husband, Chagdud Rinpoche (1930-2002), gave to Jane Dedman after several years of marriage. Khadro and Chagdud Rinpoche were married for 23 years, until his passing in 2002. Now in her '60s, Chagdud Khadro spends most of her time near Três Coroas on the East Coast in Brazil, in a Buddhist center that bears her name -- Chagdud Khadro Ling. She is especially renowned for her teachings on phowa, the traditional Tibetan transference of consciousness at the time of dying. Her students all stress her impeccable work ethic and humility. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, whom Chagdud Rinpoche asked to help guide his centers, calls her "a perfect example of a lama's wife. She puts all the others to shame, even the Tibetans."

10. Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel

The power of open questions.

Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel, the author of "The Power of an Open Question," grew up as the daughter of a communist record manager in Santa Monica, yet amid the anarchistic debates at home, she was eaten up by a yearning question: "What should I do with my life?" A vivid dream during her college years inspired her to travel to Nepal where she met her teacher and husband, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She became his first Western student. Under his guidance she has studied and practiced Buddhism for more than 25 years. She spent seven years in solitary retreat in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado while raising her son at the same time. She seems to effortlessly juggle her many commitments as a retreat master, teacher, author, mother and student, and speaks openly about the challenges of implementing Buddhist practices in a modern world.

"It is like an unspoken rule that we don't talk about our doubts or unresolved questions," she says, "and I question that."

Read more life stories of dakinis ("female messengers of wisdom") here and contribute your own experiences and stories of inspiring Buddhist women in the comments!

Click through for a slideshow of other inspiring Buddhist women:

Shit Happens: Breaking the Silence on Fecal Contamination

2013-03-19T11:49:01-04:00

On 20th Anniversary of World Water Day, Lotus Outreach Works to Increase Awareness on Linkages Between Waterborne Illness and Open Defecation, Poor Hygiene in Rural Cambodia

On May 22, 2013, the international community marks the 20th anniversary of World Water Day, established at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development as a global day to celebrate fresh water. Lotus Outreach International is marking the occasion by working to increase awareness on a widely ignored, and taboo, barrier to freshwater access in the developing world: fecal contamination of water sources caused by poor hygiene and open defecation.

According to the World Health Organization, diarrhea alone kills 2.2 million people each year, and causes 8.5% of all deaths in Southeast Asia--with children under five being disproportionately affected. Other waterborne disease caused primarily by fecal contamination of food and water sources include typhoid and cholera, both of which have been largely eradicated from the developed world, but infect around 20 million people in the Global South each year.

"The development community is all over water access--building wells, distributing water filters and even handing out water purification drinking straws--but few organizations are willing to have a candid discussion about the real culprit in waterborne disease: human fecal contamination," shares Lotus Outreach's Executive Director Erika Keaveney. "When we allow our discomfort to censor the discussion, we do a great disservice to the communities we serve. The fact is most people in our target villages in rural Cambodia simply do not understand that germs are transmitted via human feces."

Despite significant progress in the past few decades across the spectrum of human development indicators--including life expectancy, education, and maternal health--open defecation is still widespread in Cambodia, with 72% of the rural population engaging in the practice in 2010 (compared to 89% in 1990). Further, hygienic behaviors such as hand-washing after defecation and before food preparation are rarely practiced, with Lotus Outreach community surveys placing the rate of people who wash their hands after defecation at as low as 5% in the mountainous villages of the Pursat province.

Lotus Outreach attributes these troubling statistics to lack of information on preventative health practices: "behavioral change starts with knowledge, which is actually quite easy and inexpensive to spread," shares Keaveney. "We literally bring a microscope into a village, and show moms and kids--for the first time in their lives--what a germ looks like, and explain how they are spread. We also conduct public awareness sessions on hygiene and sanitation--including the importance of hand washing after going to the bathroom and the risks associated with open defecation."

As a part of its hygiene and sanitation programs, Lotus Outreach additionally installed 24 toilets for "model families" in Pursat, with the goal of sparking a cultural shift in toilet use. Indeed, at the beginning of the project in 2009, only 31 families (about 3% of 1,059 total) had toilets. At the end of project in 2012, 200 toilets were installed in the area with 33% of the population reporting using toilets on a regular basis.

Lotus Outreach is not alone in its push to break the silence on the topic of fecal contamination. In August of last year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $3M grant project to spawn innovation in toilet models that can function without water, electricity or a sewage system--necessary features in the push to expand toilet use in the developing world.

"Our goal is not to minimize the importance of water access," states Keaveney. "Indeed, we have been running critical water access projects since 2007. Our goal this World Water Day is rather to bring attention to an unsexy problem that is largely ignored by the media."

A Cambodian boy enjoying clean water. Photo copyright: Lotus Outreach

A public education session on water in Cambodia. Photo copyright: Lotus Outreach

About Lotus Outreach: Lotus Outreach is a California-based 501 (c)(3) dedicated to ensuring the education, health and safety of vulnerable women and children in the developing world.

Cure for Environmental Fatigue: A Conference on Pathways to 100% Renewable Energy

2013-03-14T16:33:57-04:00

A recent global poll by UK-based research firm Globescan suggests that when it comes to environmental crises, people around the world are becoming less worried. Oddly, the general level of concern in the 22 countries polled seems to be going down, just as the problems are rising. Air pollution, water pollution, species loss, automobile emissions, fresh water shortages, and climate change are getting worse, but people seem to care less.

The New York Times concludes the world has been struck with a case of environmental warning fatigue.

Dr. Hermann Scheer was among the seers warning of this years ago. Former German Parliamentarian and a pioneering architect of Germany's clean energy policies, Scheer sharply criticized the environmental movement for cultivating despair and urged instead a focus on solutions, the cornerstone of which he advocated was transitioning to 100% renewable energy. Many of the world's existential crises after all, including all those mentioned above, are largely or entirely rooted in dependence on non-renewable fossil and nuclear energy sources.

Results of latest polls tracking support for renewable energy suggest maybe Scheer and his ilk were on to something. Recent polls from the U.S. and Europe show desire for replacing conventional energy with renewables is on the rise. The support seems to cross party lines in states like North Carolina, and some believe interest in the issue helped swing the 2012 Presidential election. Even in Germany, where reports have lately blasted the country's aggressive renewable energy program as unpopularly expensive, polls suggest most citizens actually favor the change to renewables.

"I think it's human nature to burn out dwelling on problems, no matter how urgent they are, and to get inspired about solving them," says Diane Moss, Founding Director of the non-profit Renewables 100 Policy Institute, of which Dr. Scheer was a founder before passing away in 2010.

Moss has observed growing enthusiasm for renewable energy development from where she sits. "When we first started Renewables 100 in 2007, our 100% renewable mission was radical. Now among many cities, regions, and businesses, it's becoming the new normal. The international interest we're seeing in the upcoming conference on pathways to 100% renewable energy tells me that the 100% renewable concept is becoming a hot ticket."

Maybe there is a lesson in all this for those trying to address the environmental ills of the world: put a strong dose of solutions in your wake up call or you may end up tiring people out.

Rooftops with Solar Panels in Freiburg, Germany. Photo Copyright: Paul Gipe/wind-works

The Government Has Guns, She Has A Pen: Tibetan Poet Tsering Woeser

2013-03-07T17:40:11-05:00

This International Women's Day, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry will honor ten courageous women, some of which have risked their lives to expose abuse and injustice.

Among these women is one fearless Tibetan poet, Tsering Woeser. As the U.S. Department of State acknowledges: "In a period marked by increasing self-immolations and protests in Tibetan areas of China, Tsering Woeser has emerged as the most prominent Mainland activist speaking out publicly about human rights conditions for China's Tibetan citizens." Tsering Woeser, however, will be unable to accept the award in person, as she has been placed under house arrest again. Just like before, for instance, when she was honored with the Prince Claus Awards in 2011, the Chinese government has refused her request to receive the award.

Born in Lhasa, Tsering Woeser has documented the unrest and self-immolations in Tibet for many years. She has famously said, "You have the guns, I have the pen." Her website, Invisible Tibet, together with her poetry and non-fiction and her embrace of social media platforms like Twitter, have given voice to millions of ethnic Tibetans who are prevented from expressing themselves to the outside world due to government efforts to curtail the flow of information. The English translation of her blog has become a primary source for information about Tibet. She is married to Wang Lixiong, a Chinese scholar and Tibetologist, who has become one of the most outspoken dissidents in China.

The State Department praises Tsering Woeser in the awards statement with these words:

Despite the constant surveillance of security agents and routinely being placed under house arrest during periods deemed to be politically sensitive, Tsering Woeser bravely persists in documenting the situation for Tibetans, noting that "to bear witness is to give voice to," and asserting that "the more than 100 Tibetans who have expressed their desire to resist the forces of oppression by bathing their bodies in fire are the reason why I will not give up, and why I will not compromise.

"The International Women of Courage Award represents due recognition of Woeser's courageous efforts to champion justice and rights in Tibet and China," said Mary Beth Markey, President of the International Campaign for Tibet. "This award is not only an acknowledgment of Woeser's personal accomplishments, but also an affirmation of the U.S. government's concern for the Tibetan people in their struggle for rights and dignity."

The F Word in Buddhism: 'Daughters of the Buddha' Discuss How Buddhist Women Can Achieve Equality

2013-01-07T12:09:16-05:00

Patricia Zenn already had a religion when she grew up in Malibu: surfing. But as she was constantly teased by her classmates about her family name ("Are you Buddhist or what?"), curiosity led her to borrow a book about Buddhism when she was only 11 years old. To her surprise, she instantly realized "this was it!"

Fast forward to 1977, when she was in her early 30s, the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa ordained her in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and gave her the Tibetan name Karma Lekshe Tsomo. Very fittingly, "Lekshe" means "eloquent." Venerable Lekshe quickly realized that conditions for Buddhist nuns were dire. She single-handedly started a movement to give Himalayan nuns access to education. At the time, more than 30 years ago, this idea was, at best, treated as a waste of time, or even discouraged by the established monasteries.

"They're telling the nuns, 'Oh, you're so humble, you're not interested in gaining prestige and power like these Westerners,'" Lekshe says with a calm voice but a quizzical look. "Well, I just wonder why they are not telling the monks that. If women are perpetually disadvantaged, this is what you end up with. Surveys show that the nuns' health is by far the worst of any group. Their educational standards are by far the worst too. There is a lot of work to be done, and awareness raising, especially among women."

Karma Lekshe Tsomo set out to develop a network of supporters, even at the risk of her own life and cost to her health. Along with her late teacher Freda Bedi and her friend Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, she is among the earliest and fiercest advocates for the education of Tibetan nuns. Karma Lekshe Tsomo is the president of Sakyadhita ("Daughters of the Buddha"), the most important international association of Buddhist women, and of Jamyang Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the education of Himalayan women.

I am often surprised how few Buddhist women know about Sakyadhita, and this is why I write about it here. This week several thousand Buddhist women (and a few men) gather for the Sakyadhita conference in Vaishali, an ancient city in North India that the Buddha visited on many occasions. Every time Sakyadhita chooses a different country, but at every conference they discuss meaningful ways in which Buddhist women can advance their access to education and full ordination (which is not available to women in several Buddhist traditions despite the Buddha's initiative to ordain women). The Sakyadhita conferences have generated a worldwide Buddhist women's movement. "Cultivating confidence," "Buddhism at the Grassroots," "Women Changing Buddhism" and "Women's Stories" from India and all over the world are part of the topics presented at this year's conference. Noted speakers this year include Venerable Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, whose life story has been told in Vicki Mackenzie's bestselling "Cave in the Snow," and Rita M. Gross, the author of "Buddhism After Patriarchy."

What is the main obstacle? "Sexism," Lekshe candidly sums it up. She is not afraid to use the F-word. "Feminism," she says, delivering the punch line with a coy smile, "has been called the radical theory that women are completely human." The gender imbalance affects Buddhist women worldwide. "We are talking about more than 300 million women dedicated to peace, honesty, loving-kindness and compassion. Certainly we would want to optimize the talents and potential of these wonderful women." In the West, more and more teachers recognize this potential, but "women have almost no voice in Asian Buddhist institutions. For women to move into positions of leadership, they need to be fully educated and trained."

Lekshe, a professor in Religious Studies at the University of San Diego, is confident that things will change: "Why shouldn't women have the same opportunities? More and more, I see it as a human rights issue."

Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, the president of Sakyadhita (Photo copyright: Gayle M. Landes)

An interview with Karma Lekshe Tsomo about her international research:

A Rebel Nun? Rather, an Angel in a Rough Patch of Hollywood!

2012-12-07T12:12:00-05:00

A visit with Sister Margaret Farrell at the Covenant House in Los Angeles.

On a bright sunny afternoon at two o'clock, a half-naked young man breaks through the electronically secured doors of the Covenant House in North Hollywood. Blood gushes from wounds on his shaved head and neck. Sister Margaret Farrell dashes off to her office. She returns with a stack of fresh towels that she presses against his neck to stop the bleeding until the firemen respond to the emergency call.

Only minutes earlier, the streets had seemed clean, calm and deserted, but suddenly a guy had jumped out of a car to stab Margaret Farrell's client, seemingly out of nowhere. Later she will visit her client in the emergency room and learn that he suffered a bad concussion and a brain trauma. "Gangs," she says knowingly, "Maybe he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It is possible that this was an initiation ritual for a newcomer in a gang, or a gang conflict."

Margaret Farrell never knows what the day will bring, but she is prepared for almost anything. Since a visitor once tried to attack her, she has positioned her desk so that she can jump to the door faster than a client. The word "Hope" is nailed to the entrance, and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" to the wall. Her tiny office must be the most crowded 60 square feet on the planet: It is filled to the brim with diapers, teddy bears, sneakers, clothes, makeup, cream, band aids, thank you cards, city forms, latex gloves -- anything a client might need. Especially now, before the holidays when the nights get cold, any and every donation is welcome at the Covenant House and will be used to help the homeless. A photo shows her with a baby girl who was fished out of a trash can in Mexico. Next to the entrance a miniature Rottweiler statue serves as a piggy bank for donations, a bright pink plastic Jesus blesses her desk from above. Visitors may grab from the hodgepodge whatever they need -- except for the Jesus and the Rottweiler. These she won't part with.

Margaret Farrell at the Covenant House. (Photo: Amy Gaskin)

Little gives away her Catholic denomination: Everybody is familiar with the black and white habit of Catholic nuns, but Margaret Farrell usually shows up for work in a flowery summer blouse and beige pants -- a typical business uniform. "If I wore my nuns' habit, people might be intimidated," she says, "As a community, we wear simple dress." For the last 12 years, the petite sister with the thick Irish accent has helped homeless youngsters in the Covenant House, which was founded by a Franciscan priest. In a way, Margaret Farrell is one of these "suspicious nuns" the Vatican has warned against. In April, the Vatican chastised the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR), in which 80 percent of the American Catholic sisters are organized. Margaret Farrell's order, the Sisters of Charity, is also part of the LCWR. The Vatican criticized the sisters for not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion and women's ordination and for spending too much time with the poor, the gay and the unfortunate. Rome even chided the nuns for featuring "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith" and punished the organization by subjecting it to the administration of three conservative bishops. Oh, Lord! Radical feminists in a group of ordained whose age averages 73?

Margaret Farrell prefers not to comment on the Vatican's actions, she rather focuses on getting teenagers off the street, but she knows some of the prejudices only too well. "Some say, how can I, as a nun, surround myself with such people -- gays, transsexuals, HIV-positive clients?" she says. "I usually respond: Read the Bible. Look which people Jesus surrounded himself with."

After growing up in Southern Ireland with Catholic parents, Margaret decided to join the nuns at age 22. A novice friend later convinced her to travel to California with her. The friend took one of the first flights back home, and today is married with three kids, but Margaret stayed, because she discovered her cause of heart: helping the needy. The Sisters of Charity that she is part of commit themselves to an extra vow to take care of the poorest, and thus the Covenant House in Hollywood is the perfect place for her: It offers a second chance for young people who ended up on the streets. Every night a van makes the rounds, offering food, water and blankets. Margaret has helped hundreds of people, clients like Octavio Del Castillo, who got kicked out of his house at age 13, when he came out to his parents. He took to the streets, to crack, and then to Sister Margaret. "Without Sister Margaret I wouldn't be alive today," says Octavio who is now, at 25, a successful manager at a sandwich chain. "She is my mother, my godmother, my angel!" he raves. It is ironic that a large percentage of Sister Margaret's clients come from Christian families and were disowned by their parents, when the children's sexuality no longer fit their parents' understanding of the Bible.

Many of her clients, including Octavio, therefore wanted nothing to do with her when they first met the Sister at Covenant House. "But Sister Margaret is different, because she is always there for you. Always," says Octavio who has rediscovered his Christian faith through her and usually joins her on Sunday for church. A whole shelf in Sister Margaret's cramped office is devoted to her clients who weren't as lucky. There's a picture of Ilea who died while riding his bike in Beverly Hills; Michael, who was shot on the street-walkers' patch; and Jesse, who succumbed to HIV at age 20. Sister Margaret collected his ashes from the crematorium because his mother wanted nothing to do with him, even after his death.

Sister Margaret does not say a single critical word about the church. "Jesus does not judge," she says, and therefore she, too, feels she has no right to judge. She is an extremely rare caliber of person, tirelessly devoted to watching out for others. When I ask her what she likes to do in her spare time, she lights up and tells me that her favorite thing is to visit youngsters in prison. She has learned not to wear wire bras, because the metal won't pass the security screenings at juvenile state prisons.

Even the young woman who wanted to physically assault her at their first meeting because she wanted nothing to do with a Catholic nun, has since succumbed to Sister Margaret's kindness. Now the chapel in the Covenant House features that same young woman's testament of gratitude to Sister Margaret: A colorful painting of two hands joining, with the words from Isaiah 41:13, "Do not be afraid, I will help you." If Sister Margaret is a radical, we need more radicals.

Margaret Farrell at her crowded desk. (Photo: Amy Gaskin)

It's Called 'Dog Whisperer,' Not 'Dog Wrangler'

2012-11-19T13:40:00-05:00

This summer, we conducted an unofficial (and involuntary) experiment: Take one unsocialized Rottweiler and see what five different dog trainers will do with it! When we first met three-year-old Molly at a local rescue group, she was wild and completely untrained, but she seemed sweet and longing to please. Apparently, this Rottie-mix had spent the first two years of her life just being chained up in a yard. The shelter volunteer called her a "junkyard dog." She didn't know what stairs were, a mirror, shopping carts. Every moving item sent her into a fit (bicyclists! Trash trucks!). A 10-minute walk with her was a full-body workout, with Molly darting in all directions. We had rehabilitated dogs before, but now we knew we needed professional help.

A rescue group recommended a resolute, but charming, trainer. Though she was expensive, after a thorough interview, her resumé with 30 years of experience, her promise to use "a holistic approach," "the most modern training techniques from around the world" and "positive reinforcement" convinced us. We pictured our dog running happily on her ranch with 20 acres, socializing with other dogs and getting rewarded after learning tricks. We would have loved to visit, but were told this wasn't possible.

Five weeks -- and almost $4,000 -- later, the trainer delivered Molly to our home. The first thing we noticed was how emaciated our dog was: her ribs were sticking out. Molly had lost more than 10 percent of her body weight. The trainer admitted that she didn't feed the dog when it didn't behave well. The trainer also showed us how to discipline our dog: When Molly pulled on the leash, we were to "karate chop" the pinch collar as hard as we could. "Harder, harder," the trainer would say. When Molly inched her paws off the stationing mat, the trainer very forcefully kneed her in the chest. When Molly got a little excited before the walk, the trainer jacked up the shock collar to send Molly wincing and jumping. Dog forgive us, we had made a terrible mistake!

Things only got worse. Molly seemed listless, and spent the first days just sleeping. We were in disbelief of how calm she was, her lack of stamina seemed unsettling. When we took her for walks, she started limping after less than half a mile. Her hesitation to perform a simple command such as "sit!" or "down!" seemed more due to pain than to defiance, all her slow, ginger body movements screamed pain. After a week, a vet confirmed our suspicion: Molly had severe inflammation in both shoulders. The x-rays showed fizzled bone splinters. While the trainer had chopped, kneed and jerked the seemingly stubborn dog, according to the vet our dog had been in "excruciating pain" all along.

We couldn't believe an experienced trainer would not have seen the many signs of illness Molly displayed: the frequent tremors, the listlessness, the limping. On top of it all, Molly's fears hadn't changed, on the contrary, some things had actually gotten worse since the training camp. She still panicked over everything loud, fast-moving or unfamiliar, especially other dogs. She lunged both at the vet and the surgeon. Later, we would learn that one cannot really train a dog unless the underlying issues of pain, fear and insecurity are addressed. Or maybe the pain caused her to lash out?

For the six-week rehabilitation period after a $5,000 surgery on both shoulders, our scooped up Rottweiler bounced off the walls in our apartment. We worked on her obedience and she became a perfectly well-behaved dog when no one else was around -- but as soon as a stranger or another dog approached, she still channeled Cujo. We discussed returning Molly to the shelter, but we knew it would be nearly impossible for such a physically and emotionally challenged dog to find a home. When she had recovered physically, we searched for a different trainer. The first one never responded to our written requests for an explanation, let alone an apology.

Our neighbors recommended Kirstin. Though she was only in her 20s, she already had an impressive resumé and three generations of animal training experience in her family tree. Her grandparents had trained elephants for the circus. Blonde and long-limbed, Kirstin was a Hollywood trainer to the stars. She entered our house under Molly's growling protest. She yelled at Molly to stop barking and growling -- most dog trainers will be careful not to do this: you can't correct a dog when you're already the "target," you need to build a relationship and some trust first. But Kristin asked us to put a muzzle on Molly, and then tried to "dominate" her by grabbing her "power points," the muzzle, the ruff, the paws. Our dog morphed into Voldemort and gave a Hollywood-worthy impersonation of the devil. Kirstin diagnosed "severe aggression," prescribed an herbal calmer for $200 (that proved to be useless) and prepared us for the worst: we might have to put the dog down. We broke into tears. The best thing Kirstin did was not to charge us for this piece of advice.

We are not ones to give up easily. Next, we went to a renowned training center at the other side of town. This, too, wasn't cheap at $150 per hour. Tempting us with waiving the consultation fee, they urged us to sign up for a package of private classes and laid out a detailed training plan for socializing our dog with stable dogs at their center. They would also come to our house where we frequently encounter off leash dogs. We signed. They literally waited until the moment after we had forked over our credit card for the entire package to reneg on the training plan: No, our dog couldn't be trusted to meet other dogs. No, they wouldn't visit our home. We spent three visits mostly parading around their empty parking lot, with the trainers asking us the same questions about feeding methods and toy aggression they had already asked us during the initial interview -- as if they didn't remember anything we had told them before. Very little training happened. They seemed to be more afraid of our dog than interested in helping her. We saw that this wasn't going anywhere and asked to cancel the contract. Surprise: The unused portion of the training sessions were nonrefundable under any circumstances. We should have read the small print.

After a short deviation with a fourth trainer who prescribed agility and attack training for dogs with aggression issues, but failed to show up for scheduled appointments, we felt we had heard it all: Every trainer had an entirely different approach, and the only thing they all agreed on was that the other trainers were wrong.

An unsocialized Rottweiler? Needed "a strong hand" (trainer 1) or "couldn't be rehabilitated" (trainer 2). Handfeeding? Was "essential" (trainer 1) or "dangerous" (3). Tug of war? Was "helpful" for aggressive cases to let off steam or "really dangerous and making matters worse." Collars? After the fourth trainer we had an extensive collection: tag collar, pinch collar, choke chain, Cesar Millan's Illusion collar, three different remote electronic collars, a slip leash, a halti and a gentle leader. I stopped counting after 10. And our dog was still having a nervous breakdown every time another pooch approached, even a chihuahua!

Cesar Millan, Michaela Haas, Junior and Molly at the Dog Psychology Center

We learned that our experience was not at all uncommon. I am writing about our journey because since then I have met many dog owners frantically reaching for "professional" help that is too often unprofessional. The title "professional dog trainer" is not protected in America. Anybody can call themselves a dog trainer, whether they are qualified or not. And as we saw firsthand, while most dog trainers know the basics of obedience training, very few are qualified to handle a scared Rottweiler. They tend to either use undue force or shy away from handling the dog at all. And they defend their various methods as religiously as any political party. When a dog trainer tells you that your dog cannot be rehabilitated, show them the door. Fast.

We had been avid watchers of the Dog Whisperer ever since we had rescued and rehabilitated a badly abused Akita-Chow mix three years ago. But getting Cesar Millan to come to our rescue seemed impossible -- maybe these days that's a privilege reserved for the very rich or famous. I finally reached two trainers who had worked with him and used his methods. Cheri Lucas, often featured on the Dog Whisperer show, and Brian Agnew happened to be in our area, and they came to our house.

When Molly barked and growled, Cheri and Brian didn't back off. They just stood their ground, calmly, neither shying away nor barging forward. They instantly diagnosed Molly as insecure, not aggressive. Cheri crawling into the playpen with our snarling Rottweiler would have been a neat opening for a Dog Whisperer episode. Call that confidence in your assessment! But this was even better: it didn't happen on TV, it happened in our home. After 10 minutes, they had Molly calmly walking on leash. After half an hour, their own dogs, a pit bull mix and a Collie were relaxing in our living room next to Molly. They showed me how to correct Molly when she freaked out: Gently, but firmly. Strongly, but calmly. They pointed out specific warning signals in her body language and the right moment for an acutely timed correction -- when she held her breath or tensed her jaw before the explosion. They used a halti, not a prong collar. When we sent Molly to Brian's home for more socialization, he sent us instagram proof of Molly's progress every day: Molly lying next to a pit bull puppy. Molly walking calmly with four other dogs at his side. We knew she was in good hands, and the progress she was making was amazing.

It wasn't the end of the project. Molly is still work in progress, but we become a better team every day. And recently, Molly even got a chance to go to the Dog Psychology Center and growl at Cesar to show her appreciation.

Cheri and Brian laughed knowingly when we told them about our odyssey. "We hear that all the time," they said, and joked: "The only thing five dog trainers can agree on is that they know more than their client." And I wouldn't even be sure of that.

Trainers Cheri Lucas and Brian Agnew with Michaela Haas and the pack

Photos: Josh Heeren

'Pissed Off' in Rural India

2012-07-03T12:34:42-04:00

Recently The New York Times highlighted a subject that, though considered taboo in the West, represents a critical human rights issue in the East: lack of access to toilets. The article, written by Jim Yardley, showcased the novel "Right to Pee" campaign in Mumbai which is working to counter menacing gender discrimination when it comes to public toilet access.

Poor sanitation facilities are a pernicious problem in India, where over half of the population lacks a toilet, and open defecation is the norm. Girls and women are more acutely affected by this issue, as they face danger and harassment when relieving themselves in the open. Furthermore, females are being unfairly and illegally charged to use public toilets by corrupt officials, compounding the myriad problems already facing the nation's poorest women and girls.

But there is an even more compelling case where of lack of toilet access, corruption and gender imbalances conspire to create a devastating situation in India: in its public schools.

When the international non-profit Lotus Outreach first began their Right to Education advocacy work in the conservative, predominantly Muslim district of Mewat, Haryana, the vast majority of schools did not have toilets available to students. "Lack of basic sanitation facilities for girls continues to prove a seemingly insurmountable barrier to their education," says Erika Keaveney, Lotus Outreach' Executive Director, "Studies show that there is a direct correlation between the dropout rate of girls and the availability of toilets in Indian schools. Conservative parents in Mewat understandably do not want their daughters -- particularly adolescent girls -- to relieve themselves in public. It is of therefore of little surprise that the female illiteracy rate in this region was a staggering 96 percent when we first began our work there in 2008."

However, this bleak picture is beginning to change. The program Lotus Education as a Right Network (LEARN) -- which utilizes community mobilization, legal advocacy and public interest litigation to expand access to quality public education in rural Haryana -- has met with tremendous success in ensuring adequate sanitation facilities in Mewat. In 2010 alone, LEARN oversaw the construction of 200 new toilets in public schools in our target area and Erika Keaveney hopes that by the end of this year, each of Mewat's 500 schools will have toilet facilities. The LEARN project achieves these incredible outcomes on a shoestring: their community watchdogs and legal advocates merely serve to ensure that state and federal funding designated for school infrastructure -- including toilets -- ends up where it belongs, rather than in the pockets of government officials with sticky fingers.

The success in ensuring the construction of toilets in public schools is facilitating a sea of change in girls' school attendance in the region. Indeed, several girls in the target area are now among the first girls in the history of their villages to reach the 10th grade, an outcome that wouldn't be imaginable if they were forced to walk five miles home to use the toilet during the school day.

LEARN participants in Mewat, India

These two toilets served around 400 children when Lotus Outreach staff visited Mewat in 2010.

School gets a toilet as a result of a LEARN complaint in 2012.

Copyright: Lotus Outreach

Why Giving Matters: How 15 Dollars Can Educate a Girl for a Year

2011-12-08T15:26:04-05:00

Now it is scientifically proven: Money doesn't buy happiness. Giving does. This is one conclusion to draw from a number of recent studies and surveys. The World Giving Index shows a greater correlation between a person's degree of happiness and giving than happiness and wealth.

Similarly, the University of British Columbia found that the amount of personal spending had virtually no influence on the spender's happiness -- but giving to charity or volunteering for a good cause made the giver considerably more content and happy. Erika Keaveney, executive director of the international non-profit Lotus Outreach, says, "There's plenty of evidence that charitable acts and happiness sustain each other in one big circle. The more we give, the richer we become. Giving a girl the gift of education not only makes a huge difference for the girl and her family, but it creates a remarkable return for the giver too."

Lotus Outreach has known for 20 years that people who give get happier as a result. Especially in developing countries, where a comparatively small amount goes a long way.

I am not against gifts and the joy of unwrapping presents, but let's face it: There are people who need holiday gifts more than we do. Lotus Outreach has created a holiday "wish list" featuring popular consumer products, how much they cost, and how an equivalent cash donation can literally change the world of Lotus Outreach's beneficiaries by improving access to education, health and economic opportunity in a sustainable, cost-effective manner.

Food for thought: as I embark on my Christmas shopping, do I want to give my granny $15 worth of chocolates or spend the same amount on providing 15-year-old Usha, a lower-caste quarry laborer in India, with an entire year of remedial education so she can pursue her dream of becoming a teacher?

I think my uncle will be happy to learn that instead of buying him a $25 Starbucks gift card, I will use the money to provide a widowed Cambodian mother like Chuin Chum Li with a microloan so she can start a small business such as raising chickens.

My teenage niece is old enough to appreciate that instead of spending $50 on a pair of jeans, I have purchased school uniforms for ten orphaned and vulnerable Cambodian girls like 10 year-old Sinha, so she can attend public school.

Instead of giving my nephew a $100 Nintendo handheld game, I will provide a sex worker like Heng with beauty skills training so she can escape the lethal pitfalls of Cambodia's commercial sex industry. One hundred and seventy dollars could buy my sister an e-reader -- or a woman like Kuen Sok basic education and sewing instruction so she and her five year-old daughter can escape Phnom Penh's brothels.

Let's see, for $300 I could send my business partner a bottle of exclusive champagne, or help 16 year-old Anjum delay marriage and childbirth by providing her with daily transportation to and from school until she graduates high school.

Five hundred dollars buys one Power Wheels truck or gives six rural Cambodian girls heavy terrain bicycles so they can traverse the considerable distance to the nearest school house each day.

For myself, instead of $1,000 dollar diamond studs, I have asked to use that money for a donation to provide a full scholarship -- including tuition, housing, meals and school supplies -- for a young Cambodian woman like Sima for an entire year while she pursues university education. My holiday shopping is done -- and my presents will have created more happiness for my family and others. This seems a bargain to create happiness for several people at once -- the giver, and the recipients.

The National Retail Federation predicts Americans will spend over $465 billion dollars on holiday shopping this season, over twice what they donate to charitable organizations in a given year. Giving the gift of hope to the world's least fortunate will not only change a life, but will provide the gifter and giftee alike with something that -- up until now -- money couldn't buy: happiness.

About Lotus Outreach: Lotus Outreach is a California based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the education, health and safety of at-risk women and children in the developing world. Lotus Outreach's unique approach to tackling poverty and its tragic consequences involves working with grassroots organizations in its target countries (India and Cambodia). For more information and photos visit the Lotus Outreach Website.

Lan Chin safely gets to school on her "Lotus Pedals." (Copyright: Lotus Outreach)

Unleashing The Power of The "Girl Effect"

2011-10-13T13:38:15-04:00

Many of us in the charitable community have already heard about the Girl Effect, a ground-breaking campaign launched by the Nike Foundation to bring attention to the unique role adolescent girls play in facilitating the development of third world economics.

But a recap never hurts, so here are some compelling stats to help set the stage:

• Today, women are the backbone of developing economies. They perform 66% of the world's work and produce 50% of the world's food supply.
• When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.
• An extra year of primary school boosts girls' eventual wages by 10 to 20 %. An extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25 %.
• When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 % of it into the health, nutrition and educational needs of their families (as compared to only 30 to 40 % for men).
• A child born to a mother with elementary school education is only half as likely to die before the age of 5.

Despite these facts, 70% of the world's 130 million out-of-school children are girls. And the situation gets worse as a girl reaches adulthood: women bear 70% of the world's poverty, earn only 10% of the world's income and own only 1% of the worlds land. (sources: girleffect.org, joinfite.org, unesco.org).

Girl Effect is designed to bring critical awareness to these facts, and educate the general public on the unique role adolescent girls can play in eradicating global poverty. Their campaign has met with breathtaking success, and in a few short years concerned global citizens have invested nearly $700,000 in the Girl Effect Fund to improve the health, education, training and economic opportunities of adolescent girls around the world--reaching them at the critical crossroad between childhood and womanhood.

The Girl Effect Fund, launched in partnership with GlobalGiving, is the Girl Effect's way of turning the inspiration the campaign has generated into action.

But this fall, Girl Effect and GlobalGiving have gotten even more creative in channeling this energy. Beginning October 15th, approximately 50 organizations around the world will compete in a month-long challenge to earn six of twelve featured spots on the Girl Effect Fund page. Girl Effect will select an additional six of these pre-screened projects to benefit from the fund based on their unique approach to empowering girls in the developing world. These twelve organizations will then receive an equal share of contributions to the Girl Effect fund throughout 2012.

One participating project, the Blossom Bus, provides daily transportation to and from school for adolescent girls in rural India who are left with little choice but to drop out after primary school because secondary schools are too far to commute to by foot. "Many of the girls participating in the project are the first girls in the history of their villages to reach grades 9 and 10," says Erika Keaveney, Executive Director of Lotus Outreach International, the organization responsible for the Blossom Bus project. "In fact," she shares, "a startling number of these girls narrowly escaped childhood marriages--often arranged once they turn 12 or 13 years old--as a result of the project."

True to the spirit of the Girl Effect, a mere $150 can help these girls not only escape child marriages, but become trailblazers for women's empowerment in their communities.

The challenge begins on October 15 and wraps up on November 15, and the top six organizations to recruit the greatest number of unique donors will become Girl Effect Fund partners for the entire 2012 year. To learn more, visit: the Girl Effect website, the Girl Effect Fund, GlobalGiving.org, and the Blossom Bus project page.

Watch the Girl Power video:

Turning the Tables on Domestic Violence in Asia

2011-09-07T17:52:59-04:00

In America, every 15 seconds a woman is beaten by her husband or domestic partner. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 -- more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. I always thought these figures were shocking, especially since they have been slow to change over the years.

However, I was even more stunned when I recently learned that 30 percent of women in Cambodia suffer from domestic violence. Every third woman in Cambodia gets abused? How could that be?

I put this question to Erika Keaveney, the executive director of the SoCal based non-profit Lotus Outreach, which has been working in the poorest regions of Cambodia and other parts of Asia for almost two decades. "Many women in Cambodia don't even know that they have rights," she explained. "Divorce carries an enormous social stigma in Cambodia, and so many woman literally have no way to escape a dangerous situation."

But she also told me the story of Goong Mouey, a beneficiary of the organizations's Consoling Through Counseling project, which highlights just how far a small amount can go to help women escape from domestic violence.

Mouey may have survived decades of war and genocide in Cambodia, but she didn't emerge unscathed. The Khmer Rouge completely shut down the public education system in the late 1970s, and 90 percent of all teachers were summarily executed. Mouey is a part of an entire generation of women to grow up completely illiterate, and with little to no economic opportunity. Escaping her abusive, alcoholic husband and unable to provide for her five young children, she turned the children over to an orphanage for two years. "This was especially painful for me," she shares, "but I had run out of options."

Since coming into contact with the counseling and reintegration program that was supported by Dining for Women, the tables have turned for Mouey. After spending some time at Lotus Outreach's safe shelter, Mouey received $20 in start-up support along with a $120 small business grant and now runs a highly successful vegetable grocery business near Poipet city. Her business allows her to earn about $50 per day -- over 20 times the per capita income in Cambodia -- and she has since been able to resume caring for her children.

"I did have a small vegetable stall earlier but it was not enough to live on. The grant allowed me to offer five times as much variety and volume," Mouey shares. "Now I can afford pretty much whatever the children need to be well nourished." Mouey's 16 year-old daughter, Srey Mom, pipes in as well: "Previously I didn't have the money I needed to pay for school tuition or buy food and medicine, and now we do."

Because divorce carries such an onerous social stigma in Cambodian society, Mouey opted to try again when her husband came skulking back -- to her vastly improved financial situation. This time, however, he did not dare to abuse her physically any longer. "I control the money in the family now," Mouey says proudly. "Though he is verbally aggressive, he no longer hits me." Recognizing the cultural factors working against sufferers of domestic violence in Cambodia, Lotus Outreach hopes to implement men's anger management courses in the near future to give women who do return to abusive marriages the very best chance at a safe, healthy life.
With a $39,000 grant this year from Dining for Women, Lotus Outreach will help dozens of families like Mouey's get back on their feet through shelter assistance, start-up financial support, vocational training and small business grants.

Mouey now holds the purse strings -- and the power -- in her home.
Copyright Lotus Outreach