26 August 2011

Thoreau Center Brown Bag: Foot Soldiers of Change—The Battle Against Maternal Mortality in the Sierra Madre


Date: Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Time: 12:30-1:30pm

Location:
Pacific Room at Tides, Thoreau Center for Sustainability

1014 Torney Ave
San Francisco, CA

Presenters: Arlen Samen, Founder, One Heart World-Wide and Carlos Tapadera Concheño, One Heart World-Wide Country Coordinator

One Heart World-Wide is dedicated to saving the lives of women and children. Founded in 1998 by Arlene Samen, the organization works with disadvantaged communities to raise awareness and teach good birth practices. In the 10 years that the One Heart program was active in Tibet, the number of women who died in childbirth annually dropped from thirty-three to zero. One Heart recently relocated its corporate offices to San Francisco and manages close to $1 million in donations to support maternal-child health programs Mexico and Nepal.

About the presenters:

Arlene Samen has been a Nurse Practitioner in Maternal Child Health for 31 years. In 2004, she left behind her clinical practice to dedicate her life to serving pregnant women living in the most vulnerable conditions in the developing world. In 1997, she met His Holiness the Dalia Lama who asked her to go to Tibet to help the women and children who were dying in childbirth. Arlene spent the next ten years in Tibet working side by side with the local government to bring a safe motherhood project to women who were poor, uneducated, and living in the most remote region on the roof of the world. She brought the "Network of Safety" model to women who face death in order to give life. In 2009, One Heart World-Wide took its life saving model to remote villages in Nepal and to the bottom of the Copper Canyon in Mexico. She has received many awards, including being an "Unsung Herero of Compassion," a CNN Hero and a Rainer Arnhold Fellow with the Mulago Foundation.


Carlos Tapadera Concheño is One Heart World-Wide's in Country Coordinator. He comes to the United States for the first time to share his experiences working with his community. He trains his fellow Tarahumara in the Copper Canyon to raise awareness, teach good practices, train local health care providers and distribute Clean-and-Safe Birth Kits.

Please RSVP to Bruce DeMartini if attending

Brown Bag events are free informal mid-day learning sessions hosted at Tides. Friends, neighbors and colleagues are welcome. Visitors, please sign in at the front desk.