Mary Church Terrell

The Awesome Woman of the Day is Mary Church Terrell, U.S. Civil Rights and Voting Rights Activist (September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954), daughter of former slaves, and one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. She became a teacher, fought for social and educational reform, and was the first president of the National Association of Colored Women.

For more information, see http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/terrell.html
http://www.biography.com/people/mary-church-terrell-9504299

Pushpa Basnet

Today Tuesday March 20, 2012 the WOD is Pushpa Basnet born 1984 Kathmandu, Nepal; Founder of the Early Childhood Development Center. As a 21 year old girl, Pushpa Basnet , gathered the courage to become a loving and caring mother to the innocent children living in jail with their parents who are serving time for their crimes. "It's not fair for (these) children to live in the prison because they haven't done anything wrong," "My mission is to make sure no child grows up behind prison walls."

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world -- according to UNICEF, 55% of the population lives below the international poverty line -- so it lacks the social safety net that exists in most Western nations. Space is extremely limited in the few children's homes affiliated with the government.

So when no local guardian is available, an arrested parent often must choose between bringing their children to jail with them or letting them live on the streets. Nepal's Department of Prison Management estimates 80 children live in the nation's prisons.

Basnet was just 21 when she discovered her calling, she said. While her family ran a successful business, she was studying social work in college. As part of her studies, she visited a women's prison and was appalled by the dire conditions. She also was shocked to discover children living behind bars.

One baby girl grabbed Basnet's shawl and gave her a big smile. "I felt she was calling me," Basnet said. "I went back home and told my parents about it. They told me it was a normal thing and that in a couple of days I'd forget it. But I couldn't forget."

Basnet decided to start a day care to get incarcerated children out from behind the prison walls. While her parents were against the idea at first -- she had no job or way to sustain it financially -- eventually they helped support her. But prison officials, government workers and even some of the imprisoned mothers she approached doubted that someone her age could handle such a project.

"When I started, nobody believed in me," Basnet said. "People thought I was crazy. They laughed at me."

But Basnet was undaunted. She got friends to donate money and she rented a building in Kathmandu to house her new organization, the Early Childhood Development Center. She furnished it largely by convincing her parents that they needed a new refrigerator or kitchen table; when her parents' replacement would arrive, she'd whisk the old one to her center.

Just two months after she first visited the prison, Basnet began to care for five children. She picked them up at the prison every weekday morning, brought them to her center and then returned them in the afternoon. Basnet's program was the first of its kind in Kathmandu; when she started, some of the children in her care had never been outside a prison.

Two years later Basnet established the Butterfly Home, a children's home where she herself has lived for the past five years. While she now has a few staff members who help her, Basnet is still very hands on.

"We do cooking, washing, shopping," she said. "It's amazing, I never get tired. (The children) give me the energy. ... The smiles of my children keep me motivated."

Coordinating all of this is no easy task. But at the Butterfly Home, the older kids help care for the younger ones and everyone pitches in with household chores. The atmosphere feels like an extremely large family, a feeling that's fostered by Basnet, who smothers the children with love. The children reciprocate by calling her "Mamu," which means "Mommy."

"I don't ever get a day off, but if I [didn't] have the children around me, it would be hard," she said. "When I'm with them, I'm happy."

All the children are at the Butterfly Home with the consent of the imprisoned parent. When Basnet hears about an imprisoned child, she'll visit the prison -- even in remote areas of the country -- and tell the parent what she can provide. If the parent agrees, Basnet brings the child back.

She is still eager, however, for the children to maintain relationships with their parents. During school holidays, she sends the younger children to the prisons to visit, and she brings them food, clothing and fresh water during their stay. Ultimately, Basnet wants the families to reunite outside prison, and 60 of her children have been able to do just that.

Parents like Kum Maya Tamang are grateful for Basnet's efforts. Tamang has spent the last seven years in a women's prison in Kathmandu. When she was convicted on drug charges, she had no other options for child care, so she brought her two daughters to jail with her. When she heard about Basnet's program, she decided to let them go live with her.

"If Pushpa wasn't around, (they) could have never gotten an education ... (they) would have probably had to live on the streets," she said. "I feel she treats (them) the way I would."

Tamang's oldest daughter, Laxmi, said she can't imagine life without Basnet.

"My life would have been dark without her," said Laxmi, 14. "I would've probably always had a sad life. But now I won't, because of Pushpa."

In 2009, Basnet started a program to teach the parents how to make handicrafts, which she sells to raise money for the children's care. Both mothers and fathers participate. It not only gives them skills that might help them support themselves when they're released, but it also helps them feel connected to their children.

"Often, they think that they're useless because they're in prison," Basnet said. "I want to make them feel that they are contributing back to us."

Making ends meet is always a struggle, though. The children help by making greeting cards that Basnet sells as part of her handicraft business. In the past, she has sold her own jewelry and possessions to keep the center going.

Her biggest concern is trying to find ways to do more to give the children a better future. She recently set up a bank account to save for their higher educations, and one day she hopes to buy or build a house so they'll always have a place to call home. Their happiness is always foremost in her thoughts.

"This is what I want to do with my life," she said. "It makes me feel (good) when I see that they are happy, but it makes me want to work harder. ... I want to fulfill all their dreams."

Basnet is now one of many in Nepal who have started groups to get children out of prison. Since 2005, she has assisted more than 100 children of incarcerated parents.

"I had a very fortunate life, with a good education," Basnet said. "I should give it to somebody else."

Margaret Ogg

♥ ♥ ♥ Today's Awesome Woman is Margaret Ogg (1863-1953) Margaret Ogg is best known for her extensive political, social and feminist activities. She was one of ten children born to a Presbyterian minister. She was a poet, writer and an accomplished musician, playing viola in the family quartet, as well as holding membership with the Musical Association.

She wrote under the pseudonym "Ann Dante" (Andante). Ogg loved wildflowers and as a result of outings to the Daffodil Farm at Sunnybank and many picnics to Mt Gravatt, St. John's Wood and Petrie, she wrote the poem titled "Out in the Bush". She was active in Brisbane literary circles and also sub-edited the Presbyterian Austral Star.

A staunch monarchist and anti-socialist, Ogg actively toured outback townships in Queensland promoting women's suffrage, and encouraging pioneer women to become involved in state and national affairs. As founder, co-founder and member of many Queensland women's organisations, she was consistently at the forefront of political and social campaigns to secure reforms for Queensland's women and children.

At various stages of her life she was the only woman executive-member of the National Political Council, organising secretary of the women's central committee of the Queensland Deaf and Dumb Mission, and co-founder of the Queensland Bush Club. Through persistently lobbying the State government, Ogg was instrumental in having the Criminal Code Amendment Act 1913 passed, as well as the Testators' Family Maintenance Act 1914 through which widows were entitled to a
proportion of the husband's estate.

Margaret Ogg was multitalented, intellectual, community minded and quick witted. Shortly before her death, in a letter dated 28 October 1946, Miss Ogg wrote:
"No woman can do more than her little bit - often falling far short of intention, but it has been my privilege to have as co-workers some of the finest women in Queensland, and the success and development which attended our efforts was, and is due to their loyalty and self-sacrifice, without which no sure foundation can be laid".

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ogg-margaret-ann-7887

Karyn Baylis

Today's Awesome Woman is Karyn Baylis - Chief Executive, Jawun - Indigenous Corporate Partnerships and Chair of the CARE Australia People Committee. She was formerly; Director, Organisational Renewal, Sing Tel Optus Pty Ltd; Group Executive, Sales and Marketing, Insurance Australia Group; Senior Vice President, The Americas – Qantas Airways Ltd; Director, NRMA Life Nominees Pty Ltd and NRMA Financial Management Limited. Those roles are so prestigious and rare to be assigned to a woman. She has taken her past experience in the corporate world and applied it to important causes, benefitting a wide range of minorities and the needy.

She has been a director of CARE since 2004. CARE Australia is an Australian charity and international humanitarian aid organisation fighting global poverty, with a special focus on empowering women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities.

Her work with Jawun Indigenous Corporate Partnerships is so important. Jawun looks to support Indigenous leadership to deliver their own strategies and vision, use corporate and philanthropic involvement to build the capabilities of Indigenous people and organisations, foster Indigenous economic and social development in a way that encourages people to take responsibility for their own lives, focus their efforts ‘in place’ with communities who are ready and willing to engage with them and by building a network where Indigenous, government, corporate and philanthropic ideas can be shared.

www.jawun.org.au