Ego Management

This week has been full of awkward talks. These conversations start with "Professor, do you remember how I said I'd be out of town for the midterm? Well, that's next week. So I'll see you after spring break. I'll be a whole new person then, but I'll be sure to re-introduce myself, in case you forgot who I was. I'll bring you some autographs of Lady Gaga or the cast of How I Met Your Mother. Or a foam Statue of Liberty or a T-shirt or something. Also, if you insist, I'll make up that midterm I'm missing. You know, if you have any extras lying around and if I don't have anything better to do. Okay, thanks!"

And as formal and serious as these conversations are, there's just no way to say "I'm going to present my research to the United Nations" in a way that sounds humble. In fact, I've been saying it in front of the mirror just to practice. On a scale of one to Donald Trump, I'd have to say it's still pretty self-congratulatory. "Professor, I am presenting to the UNITED NATIONS the research I've conducted. It's a huge deal, but no need to mention it in front of our 200 person class. Truly. It's going to be fantastic, and I'm a rock star, but let's not get carried away."

New York cliches aside, I am deeply humbled by this opportunity. As Abby would say, it's truly a blessing. Getting to do the research was one thing, getting to go to the UN was another - but the most powerful thing this fellowship has given me is an eye to the future. WomenNC accepted us for what we could contribute, during this time and after our fellowships commence. Moreover, this has been such a dynamic group of women. We're a powerful sisterhood, ladies, and what we do this week is just the start.

The final day is approaching

Being with WomenNC has been a wonderful journey. I learned a lot from my research topic, Agriculture and local farmers. It is such a fascinating topic that i am using it as a base for my thesis in Economics. The Feb 16th event was amazing. A lot of people were able to attend and truly enjoyed our presentation. All of us did a wonderful job. Now we are preparing for the journey ahead which is the United Nations. I am almost done with packing for this trip. However, i have a lot of school work that i am trying to make up for the one week i will be missing. Just wanted to say it is going to be worth it.

Mar

48 Hours to go!

It's pretty surreal that we're only 48 hours out from NYC. I can't believe that we're starting (well, Anuja is already done!) to pack our business slacks, scarves and travel-sized toiletries. Despite an exam, quiz, and lab due tomorrow, I'm dreaming about where I'll be in two days with some incredible WomenNC Fellows. The NGO list was released a few days ago (http://www.ngocsw.org/files/CSW-56-Schedule-Final.pdf) and we're currently scheduling our days full of panels, forums and conversation circles. I get so excited reading over this list, knowing that I am SO unaware of how much CSW 56 will change my life. Stay tuned to this blog over the next few days as Anuja, Becca, Hannah, Mar and I visit the United Nations and attend the Commission on the Status of Women! We only have an inkling of how lives are about to get rocked, but I can assure you that you all will be the first to know!

Cheers,

Abby

MTV Supports Ending Humant Trafficking

MTV has a campaign called MTV EXIT (End Exploitation And Trafficking) in which they are trying to raise awareness and funds to end human trafficking around the world.

To learn more about this campaign and listen to songs and music videos that were developed to raise awareness for this cause go to:
http://www.mtvexit.org/?lang=en_us

Some Lessons You Learn the Hard Way (Or, Sometimes Google Gets it Wrong)

This is Anuja Acharya, and for my research with WomenNC, I am partnering with Lillian's List. Lillian's List is an NC organization that supports Democratic, pro-choice women running for public office in NC. It's basically an NC version of EMILY's List.

A few weeks ago, I set up an interview with Carol Teal, the director of Lillian's List, to discuss the past, present and future work of the organization. Just before leaving my house, I Googled "Lillian's List" and found directions to the office: 304 East Jones Street. Great. I grabbed my laptop and hit the road.

I pulled onto East Jones Street exactly 7 minutes before I was due to meet Ms. Teal. Congratulating myself on my impeccable timing, I knocked on the door of the building labeled "304".

Only to informed by an exasperated looking clerk that a) that I was in the wrong office because b) Lillian's List had moved to a new office over a YEAR ago.

And like that, self-congratulation became self-contained crisis.

I had (thank goodness) had the sense to program Ms. Teal's number into my phone, so I explained to her my situation and got the actual address for the office. Then, I got in my car and drove like a madwoman.

I was only about 15 minutes late to meet Ms. Teal. I was lucky that she was a tremendously understanding woman, and I made sure to finish my interview with her within the time frame I had promised. Lillian's List is a fantastic organization that does great work, and I couldn't have been more pleased that I had selected to partner with them.

But here's a word to the wise: sometimes, Google gets it wrong. Who could imagine?

Hello! My name is Abby and I'm one of the 2012 WomenNC CSW Fellows. A little about myself: I'm a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill studying Biology with minors in Chemistry and Entrepreneurship. I'm a morning bird and I love to wake up early and run, only to return and cuddle up with cup of black coffee before the day starts. However, when I'm not running around campus I'm also a beekeeper! Going into hives with thousands of angry worker bees (fun fact: all worker bees are female) gives me a bit of a thrill.

Anyways, I wanted to share a little bit about my experience so far with WomenNC, because I could talk about beekeeping all day. My topic for the Commission on the Status of Women focuses on community health systems for rural North Carolina women. Specifically, I'm working with two organizations: the HOPE Projects (Health, Opportunity, Partnership, Empowerment) and the North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program. My research has consisted of a lot of literature searches and interviews over break (at various coffee shops, of course!) and picked up a lot of momentum in the first two weeks of 2012. This past week in particular has been pretty incredible--I've felt so much support from my incredible mentors in WomenNC throughout the last few months, but this is the first week that I've began to tell my professors just why I'm missing a week of school in February. I've been able to share with four women, four strangers to me as of Monday, about my research and my anticipation for the Commission on the Status of Women. Back to back to back to back I had overwhelmingly insightful and joyful conversations with my professors, who were elated about this chance and excited to support me. Even my Plant Biology professor was offering me insight on resources in the School of Public Health that she knew of! While I've felt a strong community within WomenNC for preparing us for our research, it was truly wonderful to see that community to extend to my academics at Carolina

I want to share a cool resource given to me by Ms. Jo Anne Earp and Ms. Alexis Moore of the North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program. After a recent interview to learn more about NC-BCSP, I was given a beaded necklace with six different sizes of wooden bead

s on it. The necklace is beautiful, but what really moved me was it's practicality: each bead represents the size of a breast lump that could be recognized by different screening processes. T he necklace is worn by community health workers who specifically focus on raising awareness on breast cancer screening. The littlest bead is smaller than a pea and represents the size of a lump that might be found by getting mammograms every 1-2 years. The bea

ds gradually increase in size until the largest bead, which is as big as a walnut, serves as a visual representation of a lump that could be found by a women who rarely examines her own breasts. This brilliant visual representation is a great example of a tool for lay health workers to explain the importance of mammograms in approachable terms.

These next few weeks will absolutely be busy with research, compounded by classes and homework starting up. However, I'm excited nonetheless to continue this incredible experience as I near the end of my paper and began to prepare a presentation for the CSW! On February 16th, WomenNC will be hosting a fantastic dinner at the NC State Faculty Club to introduce the WomenNC CSW Fellows. Please sign up and come join us! You can register at http://www.womennc.org/Home.html. I hope to see you there!

-Abby Bouchon

My first time blogging

After finishing my final exams, i commenced my research on rural women and agriculture. I want to look at fruits and vegetables sold in grocery stores and supermarkets. Is it the local farmers that provide the fruits and vegetables? or is it big companies? and how much of it is imported?

With these questions in mind i began searching about the number of women farmers in the United States. According to the USDA 2007 Census of Agriculture, "more than 30 percent of U.S farm operators are women." This census is done every five years. The 2002 Census had women operators at 22%. I am happy that the percentage has increased. I spent a day just wandering through the USDA website. I ended up on International Agricultural Trade among the U.S, Canada and Mexico. I learned that the United States exports and imports a lot in the agriculture sector. The U.S value of agricultural exports are around $93 billion and its imports around $73billion. The agriculture sector is a growing sector as the population of the world increases and as more middle classes are rising in the Emerging markets, such as, China, India, Brazil, South Korea, South Africa, Russia and more.

I went to the farmers market with my friend Hazel about two weeks ago. I talked to a few women there. Some work on the family farm and others sell the produce for the farmers. The prices for the fruits and vegetables were very good. I bought a lot and was very happy. I pitied the years i purchased fruits and vegetables at Food Lion, Wal-mart and Grand Asia. The fruits and vegetables i got from the farmers market did not go bad after 3 to 4 days. I knew for years that F&V at the grocery stores are sprayed with preservatives when they are taken from the farm, transported through planes, trucks or trains, and displayed nicely in stores. By the time we buy that lettuce, orange or banana, it is 1-2 weeks old, but looks perfect and fresh. Ever since i went to that farmers market i have changed and made a promise to myself to buy locally grown as much as i can. I am in Michigan for the break. My friend and I drove about 1 hour to buy F&V that is locally grown in Michigan. It has been a week and it has not rotten.

As a solution to the problems faced by local farmers, I asked Meg Phipps to give me names of organizations. I ended up choosing the Produce Box. It was founded by a woman named Courtney Tellefsen.

Their mission is "We deliver locally grown farm-fresh produce and products to your door every week during our North Carolina growing season. We are committed to working with North Carolina farmers only (the main reason we started the program) and don't ship in products from other states or countries. Join us and become part of our "community of families" who enjoy delicious fruits and vegetables, eat healthier each week and support our farm neighbors"

I have copy pasted this from their website. http://theproducebox.com/

1. Get as much farm-fresh, field grown produce as possible into the local food system.

2. Make it easy, convenient and affordable.

3. Help local farmers reduce waste by having them “pick to order”.

4. Use more than one farm to provide the most variety and best quality fruits and vegetables the area has to offer.

5. Keep operating costs REALLY LOW by using neighborhood coordinators and deliverers and pass those savings on to the members.

I contacted Courtney and asked her permission to use her organization as an example. We will talk on skype in a few weeks and meet in person after i return to North Carolina. So far it is going well. One area i need more info is about farmers and rural women farmers in NC. I have started looking at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.