Get to know your SAFE Domestic Interns: Ali Winters

It's Week Two of get to know your SAFE Domestic Interns! Introducing Ali Winters, our International Internship Director for SAFE!

"My name is Ali Winters and I am the International Internship Director for SAFE. After traveling this past summer to Uganda to work as a volunteer with SAFE, I decided I wanted to remain involved in SAFE’s mission and help to do more for women and children in the Iganga District.

As the International Internship Director, I oversee all aspects related to the international internship program, and work directly with the International Coordinators at each location to make this a positive experience. Together as a team, our goal is to recruit, select, train, and prepare a new group of volunteers and practicum students who will soon be helping to implement and evaluate SAFE’s life-saving programs for the communities in Uganda! Fortunately, we have a wonderful group of hard-working International Coordinators this year who are ensuring that everything runs smoothly. We also have selected a great group of committed interns to go to Uganda this summer, and I have no doubt they will be a successful in their endeavors there. I feel very lucky to be a part of these efforts!

Aside from my normal responsibilities, I recently worked with a few others on the SAFE team (Katherine Meese, Lauren Hoffman, Mukalu Mohamed “Medie”, and Dara Schmitt) to develop and enter an idea for producing and distributing our “Safe Mama Kits” in the Dell Social Innovation Challenge. Last week, we got some exciting news that among 1700 entries, our project was selected as one of 200 semi-finalists! If you have not seen this, please take a look: http://www.dellchallenge.org/projects/safe-mama-kits. Also, please vote for our project! It is very easy and every vote counts. This will help us achieve our goals of providing clean, safe deliveries for women and infants in Uganda!"

SAFE featured in USA TODAY!

This is an exciting day for Safe Mothers, Safe Babies, because we have been featured in USA Today under the “Investing in Women & Girls” campaign! 

The publication will reach over three million readers in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington DC! 

Check out the .pdf of the publication below:

http://doc.mediaplanet.com/all_projects/9605.pdf 

Light the Night Featured by Women Deliver

We are so excited to share that Women Deliver featured "Light the Night"--our joint project with WE CARE Solar lighting up rural health centers and hospitals all over Uganda (including partnerships with AMREF Uganda and the White Ribbon Alliance Uganda)--on their Facebook Page and blog! SAFE is honored to be counted among the many other incredible solutions that Women Deliver features on a regular basis. Woohoo! Check it out here: http://www.womendeliver.org/updates/entry/celebrate-solutions-solar-energy-for-safer-births/

Get to know your SAFE Domestic Interns!

It has been a fantastic experience working with a team of committed, hard-working individuals from across the country to help run the behind-the-scenes workings of Safe Mothers, Safe Babies here in the United States. Working independently on projects has always been one of my strengths, but now, in my role as SAFE’s Communications Manager, I have had to use this skill more than ever. Part of the reason for this is that the SAFE team is dispersed all over the country, and therefore most of our communication occurs via telephone and Skype calls. While rewarding in its inherent challenge, at times it is hard to stay updated about what my fellow SAFE interns are up to with their own work for SAFE.  

To strengthen the connection among SAFE’s domestic interns, Emily Belnap, Secretary of Safe Mothers, Safe Babies, has made the suggestion that the interns start blogging weekly about what we do domestically to contribute to SAFE's smooth workings in Uganda. Not only will this effort help to keep all of us at SAFE in the loop, but it will also provide an excellent means of communicating what we do to all of you, our supporters!

As Communications Manager, and therefore the person who mostly keeps this blog updated, I thought I’d go first!

As Communications Manager, I try to keep our Facebook group, Twitter account, blog, and website updated as much as possible. Often, Jacquie or Tina will notify me of exciting news for SAFE and I will post it on each of our social media platforms. Otherwise, I will investigate whether there is anything new and exciting in the works, and write something up. In addition, my major projects thus far have been creating newsletters to communicate to our supporters and followers all of our successes (there have been many in the past year!) as well as what SAFE’s current projects are . I ask Jacquie, Tina, and Kat many questions, and they provide me with useful information, so that I am able to gain a better understanding of the process by which we implement our projects and how we are working with communities to better the lives of countless mothers and babies in Uganda through participatory development.

Talking to people is definitely the best way for me to be kept in the loop, but it also helps to keep on top of all the SAFE emails I am cc’ed on, because they definitely contain a lot of valuable information.

So, essentially that is what I do! I also just finished creating a brief feature newsletter in celebration of International Women’s Day – check it out below!

Now, I’m excited to hear what all the other interns have been up to lately in their work for Safe Mothers, Safe Babies!

International Women's Day 2012

Happy International Women's Day from all of us at SAFE! With your continued support, SAFE works to help empower women and strengthen communities.

Check out our brief feature below:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/84495288/International-Women-s-Day-2012

Become a SAFE Domestic Intern!

Interested in working with a team of individuals from across the country? Want to learn more about maternal and neonatal health and community development in Uganda? Have the desire to contribute to a non-profit organization that affects real change in the lives of many?

Join Safe Mothers, Safe Babies as a Domestic Intern and do meaningful work here in the U.S. that has a huge impact on ensuring the success of SAFE's projects in Uganda.

Positions currently available:

Donor Relations Chair

The Donor Relations Chair is responsible for grant reporting and keeping in touch with SAFE’s donors. This includes follow-up after grant or donation dispersal as well as keeping an ongoing database of donors current. As more grants are implemented, the Donor Relations Chair can find a suitable candidate to fill the position of Grant Manager for specific grants, especially ones that require a great deal of accounting and oversight. This time commitment will depend on the time of year and number of grants SAFE is implementing.

Fundraising Chair

The fundraising chair is responsible for setting fundraising goals in consultation with SAFE
officers, and then planning and conducting fundraisers to meet said goals. The coordinator
recruits his or her team with whom to work, while also interacting with trip leaders and
international volunteers to conduct pre-departure fundraising activities. The chair reports to
the president via conference call biweekly, and sends written reports as requested, at least once
every two months and after the close of every fundraiser. A yearly fundraising plan outlining
the goals for the upcoming year should be created in coordination with the treasurer to ensure
SAFE’s fundraising meets the projected budget. The role of fundraising chair affords a great
deal of flexibility and creativity on the part of the Chairperson as they can mold the direction of
the organization’s fundraising efforts.

To obtain an application form, contact Emily Belnap at: 

emily.belnap@safemotherssafebabies.org

Check out our dosomething.org page!

Jacquie has done a beautiful, highly informational write up of the Light the Night project. Check out our dosomething.org page and 'like' it!

http://www.dosomething.org/project/light-night-using-solar-power-to-change-health-behavior-and-outcomes

VOTE for SAFE Mama Kits

Hello SAFE followers and supporters! 

Please VOTE for the SAFE Mama Kit project started by SAFE leaders Alison Winters, Lauren Hoffman, and Katherine Meese! Doing so will help SAFE continue its work helping promote clean and safe deliveries for mothers and babies. 

Please take 30 seconds out of your busy lives to VOTE NOW!!

http://www.dellchallenge.org/projects/safe-mama-kits