Have you done something special for a mom lately?

Wow, Mother’s Day is right around the corner.  In the United States, it will be celebrated on Sunday, but in Guatemala, they celebrate the day on May 10th.  And get this, it’s a national holiday.  Preparations are in full swing with school children dedicating time to handmade gifts and flower prices are soaring in the market.  Mothers are treasured on this day, something I find as a contradiction to how women are treated usually in society.

Two Kekchi women working on a beading project with a child looking on.

Having children in Guatemala is a very STRONG societal norm.  A man’s masculinity is in part judged on the number of children he has, and a woman’s sense of worth is based on the ability to provide said number of children.  The majority of women who participate in the Union Sinodica (Presbyterian Women of the Guatemalan Presbyterian Church) have children.  In fact, most women are invited into local women circles when they have children, regardless of age, and many times women who do not have children are not invited to participate, regardless of age.  It is common to hear that a woman has 3 or 4 children.  It is just as common to hear that a woman has 8 or 9 children.  She assumes immediately the role of caring for those children – making sure they have food, shelter, clothing and attend school.  She is their main caregiver and protector.  It is she who passes along culture and religion.  Men are mostly absent from this private sector working long hours in the fields, in the office, in Guatemala City, or in the United States.  Gender roles are strict and clear.  Once a woman marries or has a child in Guatemala, they give up their autonomy, their freedom, and often their own dreams.  So, celebrating motherhood seems contradictory to me.  I understand the love that comes with a child – caring for them, watching them grow and seeing the world differently through their eyes.  But, seeing the sacrifices and suffering of Guatemalan women, I wonder why they would want to celebrate this day with such fervor.  There is little to no recognition of Father’s Day.  It’s not a national holiday, and school children do not make gifts.

This is my conclusion: on this one day each year Guatemalan society as a whole takes time to recognize the sacrifice and suffering, and they give thanks.

me with my mother and father

Guatemalan culture is changing slowly.  Just as other cultures where we experience greater gender equality, the fight and struggle to get there will be long and hard.  I am grateful for the women who fought for what I am able to take advantage of and sometimes take for granted.  And I am also grateful to be in Guatemala to see the process unfolding before me.  It will be a journey full of risk and sacrifice, and I hope people of faith will be allies on this journey.  I hope faith communities can be safe spaces where women can find security, support, encouragement, and inspiration.  I hope these communities can celebrate what it is to be a woman (whether they are mothers or not).  Mother’s Day should be a day when we remember the sacrifices of all women who have struggled, fought for, and demanded a different world for the sake of the next generation.  So today I say, thank you, Mom, for all that you have done for me!  And I say, thank you to all the women who have taught me, supported me, inspired me, motivated me, and pushed me to be the full woman God has created me to be (sorry I don’t have enough space to list everyone).  Because we know we have many mothers – God’s family is full of them!

As we remember this very important day, I invite you to do something on behalf of millions of mothers worldwide.  Below are several suggestions about what we can do for our own mothers and /or for other mothers:

1. International Violence Against Women Act

The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), first introduced in the Congress in 2007, has yet to be passed. It passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in December 2010 and is to be reintroduced to Congress this year. It would, for the first time, make stopping violence against women and girls a priority in United States diplomacy and foreign aid. The legislation is designed to stop the brutal violence against girls and women that afflicts communities and countries across the globe—domestic violence, rape, acid burnings, so-called honor killings and other gross violations of human rights.

What you can do
Urge your legislators to cosponsor the International Violence Against Women Act when it is reintroduced.  The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness has a few easy ways for you to get involved.
Visit the Presbyterians Against Domestic Violence Network to learn more about what the network and local churches are doing.
For more on Presbyterian Women’s justice and peace efforts, contact Meagan Manas, PW’s justice and peace program specialist, 718/839-3782, meagan.manas@pcusa.org.

2.  Make something special for your mom this year.  Treat her to spa products that are healthy and environmentally friendly.  This will require some extra work on your part, but think of the love that is mixed in with each recipe.  The Healthy Spa toolkit from the Eco-Justice Program of the National Council of Churches even suggests holding a spa event.  What a great idea – a special girls day for those who are way too busy to take time for themselves.

3.  Take time to pray for the important “mothers” in your life.  Pray for the women who have touched you in some way and inspired you to be the person God desires you to be.  Reach out and remind them of the importance they have played in your life.  Let us give thanks for everything they have done and continue to do.

4.  Pray for the women and men that will take the difficult path to push for an alternative to the grave inequality in this country.  It is only through working together that change will come.  However, it will be the women of Guatemala who will carry the more difficult burden, risking personal safety and security, risking alienation and comfort, to demand this change.  It will be the tireless work of mothers who will raise their children, both girls and boys, to see, perceive, and live in the world differently.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS IN YOUR LIFE!