By Jerrica Benton
Tanya Kim’s trip to Zambia in November 2008 marked the first time she’d ever left the continent. It was a brave move for the eTalk Daily entertainment reporter, whose usual day-to-day tasks involve interviewing a wide scope of celebrity personalities, to then face a “different dose of reality.”
In early October, 2008, CARE Canada approached Tanya to be an ambassador for their “I Am Powerful” campaign, an initiative that focuses primarily on women and young girls in poverty stricken parts of the globe. The organization’s website, care.ca says women are “one of the greatest and most untapped resources in the developing world.” They are the glue that keep families functioning and are “the pillars of their community,” says Tanya, which was why she was “more than thrilled” to be a part of the campaign.
Though women are valuable and important, they are at greater risk of violence, especially in the developing world. “According to the World Bank, violence rivals cancer as a cause of morbidity and mortality for women of childbearing age, and at least one in three females on earth has been physically or sexually abused,” reports the CARE Canada website.
Tanya chose to visit Zambia because she knows children are our future, and the country has a large population of kids, many of them not in school or infected with HIV/AIDS. “The statistics are appalling—1 in 10 children barely make it past the age of five,” says Tanya. “My heart was drawn towards Zambia.”
The four-day trip was jam-packed with activities, including visits to four villages. Tanya also met with women who are using aid and skills from CARE Canada to benefit their communities. “I left this whole trip feeling hopeful because we gave the people the tools they needed to be sufficient and that’s what they want. They’re so proud to show their accomplishments. They had smiles on their faces.”
Tanya visited a group home where she met with orphans and played a game of net ball (modified basketball) and checked out a school where one working toilet meant a world of difference to the community. She was especially inspired after meeting a “living testament” to the CARE Campaign. A woman who was once bedridden and near death who had turned her life around and was managing her own garden and livestock.
Other highlights of the trip
Statistics:
- Women and girls make up 70 per cent of the poorest people in the world today.
- Of 876 million illiterate adults in the developing world, two-thirds are women.
- 77 million children are not in primary school; 60 per cent are girls.
- Women produce half of the world’s food, but own only 1 per cent of its farmland.
- Young women, who carry the double burden of dire poverty and gender discrimination, now account for 76 per cent of African youth living with HIV/AIDS.
