Networking Matters

Please look at this very interesting story from the New York Times. It highlights a networking venture in Bangalore, India with potential for duplication in other cities. The project exists to help those in extreme poverty find jobs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/technology/30poor.html?ex=1351483200&en=8de272ec33a79e28&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

http://babajob.com/

I am curious about the name, babajob. In many places Baba means father. At the maternal health conference I attended two weeks ago, employment was listed as one of the greatest needs for women in regards to increasing their chances of survival during pregnancy. I have no statistic to back that up at the moment, but I'm sure that is what I heard. The idea is that women with jobs have more control over their own lives. As we know, money is power and, in this case, health. A quick glance at the website includes the profiles of women too.

This is a fascinating concept.
S

Birth Control

How do we begin a dialogue with Baptists, from around the world, about supporting family planning practices including the use of birth control?

How do we begin culturally considerate conversations about the use of birth control in conservative Baptist contexts?

In thinking about a maternal health initiative among Baptists throughout the world I know this is an issue that will have to be discussed. I'm anticipating the controversy and trying to consider ways to begin a productive dialogue.

Obviously I need to dialogue with Baptist women, and men, from the conservative areas in question. I wanted to start with a few of my friends first.

Any thoughts you might have will be greatly appreciated,
S

Susan Jones Where Are You?

Friday nights in Prague mean visiting with friends in prostitution on tourist filled streets. Last night I was the only one who showed up to go visiting and I know better than to break my own rule and go alone. So, I went exploring instead.

Susan where are you? I found a new Mexican Restaurant and the salty palacinky place Ivana introduced me to. You would love it because there is a place in the back where we could sit on the floor around little tables and there are rugs and pillows. I saw a domestic disturbance, several actually, and a strange van filled with questionable characters. The weather was the perfect mix of fall and Prague and the only thing missing was you.

I ended the evening at the secret coffee shop where artsy locals hang out. You know the one with the hidden door down the narrow cobblestone passageway? With a latte and Carole Fontaine article in hand I was in business.

Did I tell you they've covered up Jan Hus? He's completely hidden and it changes the whole atmosphere of the plaza. I miss Jan Hus.
S

Looking for Solutions

Does anyone think these two things might possibly be related? What are we going to do about the latter?

"Do you know that each of you women is an Eve? The sentence of God - on this sex of yours - lives in this age; the guilt must necessarily live, too. You are the gate of Hell, you are the temptress of the forbidden tree; you are the first deserter of the divine law." Tertullian

and



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07congo.html?ex=1349496000&en=e0e53bcfe8de2647&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

New Tunes

On Tuesday, LeAnn Gunter Johns helped in getting Melissa Etheridge's new song, "Message to Myself", stuck in my head. It was so stuck that I decided to purchase it on iTunes. I bought two additional songs from Ms. Etheridge's new album, The Awakening. Now I have three songs stuck in my head:
Message to Myself
God is in the People
and
What Happens Tomorrow

If one has to have a song or three stuck in her head, these are highly recommended.
S

trying to make sense . . .

"When people ask me what I do, I often freeze because I don't know how to explain my unconventional life in a way that makes sense - or even sound like I'm doing anything, despite how busy I always feel."
Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism, pg. 204
Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards

On Tuesday I leave for Prague. I'm looking forward to some concentrated time to research and write.

How do you explain who you are and what you do? I think the two are separate yet often related.

If you happen to be in the area of Marion, AL this week stop by Judson College to hear Dr. Rosemary Fisk speak in chapel. Her timely sermon will be on her multiple trips to Burma.
S