Kim Mack — May 7, 2021

Mothers have shouldered an impossibly heavy load over the past year. Full-time workers, care providers, homeschool teachers, frontline workers. We’ve seen women hustle, dig deep, and give back. In the midst of a pandemic, women have often been the ones to keep families functioning, and to sacrifice their careers. 

We are proud to stand with a community of mothers around the world. And whether you have children or not, it’s not hard to see the mother in all women. The fierce warrior. The nurturing protector. The determined entrepreneur. The tender friend. The resilient and strong endurer.

In Mexico, moms at the border quarantine inside shelters for long stretches of time. Not only can they not leave to work and earn for their family; they are responsible for entertaining their kids in crowded living spaces where there is little to do. There is no break from parenting to go outside for a walk, to meet a girlfriend. They are far from home, sharing a roof with strangers for who knows how long—and still every day, they do the hard work of mothering and helping their children cope with uncertainty.

In Venezuela, families have been locked down for months. Many were already living hand-to-mouth, with zero savings. For them, being forced to stay home has literally meant no food. Mothers have told us of the resourceful ways they have tried to cope, often foregoing food themselves in order to feed their kids. 

You are proclaiming over and over, we are mothers. We are women. We are sisters. And we rise, together.

For moms literally on the road, walking to another country hoping to escape violence back home, there is the daily threat of violence until they find a safe place to land. Moms who advocate for their families, who protect, who move mountains to make sure their kids have opportunity and safety.

In Syria, a collapsing economy is squeezing families already pressed hard by war. It’s getting harder and harder for moms to feed their families. And so many are doing it alone—their husbands are among the disappeared, imprisoned, or dead. Many don’t even know if their spouses are alive or dead. They step into each day, showing up for their kids when they are not even sure if they are widowed, or how they will continue providing for their family. 

In Lebanon, moms are still trying to pick up the literal pieces of their lives after the Beirut blast last year, even as they watch their economy crumble with shocking speed. Their homes may still be missing windows or doors. And as the value of local currency falls, the cost of essentials keeps rising.

Moms in southern Iraq wonder how they can protect their families from the violence of local militias. They tend to their sons, knowing so many of these precious boys will grow up to join armed groups, simply because there is no other way to earn a living. They will watch violence continue to hold their lives captive.

And around the world, moms are navigating work and online school. They’re learning (or unlearning) the legacy of racism, navigating difficult conversations with kids over their morning coffee, in the car line, late at night, around the clock. They’re holding their own exhaustion and fear and grief and worry at bay so they can be steady and present for their kids.

This is the heritage of mothers who sacrifice and show up, these brave women who every day stare down violence, poverty, and loss and choose hope. They choose the more beautiful world for their children and they pursue it wholeheartedly, relentlessly.

When you become part of this community of peacemakers, you are standing with moms around the world. You are delivering monthly food packs to moms in Venezuela, so they don’t have to worry about how their children will eat tomorrow. You’re providing medical care to moms in Syria, in areas devastated by war and without any hospitals. You’re showing up in refugee camps in Iraq, partnering with moms as they become business owners and income earners for their families. You’re in Mexico, providing hygiene kits and baby supplies to moms in shelters. You’re showing up with the food and medicine moms need to care for their kids. With jobs so moms have agency and freedom in their own lives.

You are proclaiming over and over, we are mothers. We are women. We are sisters. And we rise, together.