Quantcast IMOW - Happy Birthday Sandra
Stories
[close]
Themes
What Defines Your Generation of Women?
[close]
Love
Relationships in changing times. See the Stories>>

Money
Working women talk finances. See the Stories>>

Culture and Conflict
Are we destined to disagree? See the Stories>>

The Future
Envisioning the next 30 years. See the Stories>>

Highlights
Highlighted stories in film, art, music and more. See the Stories>>

War & Dialogue
Speaking from war. Advocating peace. See the Stories>>

Young Men
Our generation: young men speak out. See the Stories>>

Motherhood
Women get candid about pregnancy, parenting and choice. See the Stories>>

Image and Identity
Appearances aren't everything, or are they? See the Stories>>

Online Film Festival
31 films from women directors around the world. See the Stories>>

A Generation Defined
Who are young women today? See the Stories>>

Best of Contest
You came, you saw, you voted. Here are the winners. See the Stories>>
Conversations
[close]
What Defines Your Generation of Women?
selected theme



HOME  |   EXPLORE OTHER THEMES     |   STORIES     |  CONVERSATION    |  EVENTS  |  TAKE ACTION  |  ABOUT
Search:  
  GO  
REGISTER  |  LOGIN Change Language»    Invite a friend »
STORY OPTIONS
READ STORY IN
PRINT
SAVE TO YOUR SAVED STORIES
SEND THIS STORY TO A FRIEND
ADD YOUR STORY
TAKE ACTION
• Saving the Lives of Mothers
 Learn more about misoprostol, a low-cost, highly effective drug that helps prevent mothers dying from post-partum hemorrhage (a leading cause of death).
• Educate yourself!
 Want to help in the fight against maternal and infant mortality? Arm yourself with the facts! Visit for research updates, books and news articles. The better informed you are, the better you can teach others.
STATISTICS:
•According to a United Nations Report published in 1997, out-of-marriage births have increased more than 50 per cent in the last 20 years in developed countries.
•According to UNICEF’s 2007 Human Development Report, an estimated 14 million adolescents between 15 and 19 give birth each year.
Happy Birthday Sandra
Gregory John Smith
BrazilGALLERYCONVERSATION
EDITOR'S NOTE
Other images of Sandra and her children can be seen here
My adopted daughter and former street kid, Sandra, enjoying the role of the mother whom she never thought she could be.

This photo was taken on her nineteenth birthday, only a few hours before the birth of her second son, Gregory Jnr. Her first born son, Patrick, seems quite content with her expected birthday present.

*******

"Life After the Streets"

The small black & white image is of my adopted daughter Sandra surrounded by other street kids, sitting on a bench on the famous Praça da Sé (the Cathedral Plaza) in the centre of São Paulo, Brazil.

Back in 1993 this was a popular hang-out for the city's many street children and also where I started my preliminary work recuperating the first street children through my organization's Hummingbird Project. Sandra was one of those kids at the time. The Plaza has since been redesigned and "cleansed" of the problem by continuous police actions against the street children.

In the picture Sandra was miserable, angry and tired of waiting for her sister, who did not run back to the streets with her from our recuperation centre. Kids would often run back to the streets during the first months of recuperation, addicted as they all were to drugs and streetlife. Accustomed to being together on the streets, Sandra hated having to spend time alone without her sister, but the wait lasted for six months when she was eventually allowed to come back to the centre, never to run away again. Since then she has grown up together with her two brothers and sister in my own foster home and is now a married mother with three children.

Early motherhood has deep roots in Brazilian society, especially in underprivileged communities. We are talking about a country where 32.000 girls under the age of 14 give birth each year. Drastic numbers and ones that help contribute towards a constant stream of kids lost to the streets.

The second small image Sandra & Patrick is of Sandra ten years later, together with her first-born son, Patrick, who is now 4 years old.

Luckily for Sandra, her husband has a fixed job and can support the family, but the situation is delicate for many young mothers in poorer Brazilian communities, where sudden loss of jobs, husbands or income can play havoc on family life, with little or no social support system for mothers and their children.

Sandra had never expected to become a mother after her years on the streets and after her first-born decided she would not have any more kids. Unfortunately contraceptive practices offered by a failing health system have left her with two more children to fend for. At the age of 20 she is already talking about operating against further pregnancies.

FLAG THIS STORY FOR REVIEW
Mother's Day Photo Contest
Conversations
(9 comments)
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Lisa Nessan
United States
Latest Comment
Thanks Anshuman for engaging us in some of these questions. I too hope that others will share stories.
ADDED STORIES (0)
Add
RELATED ITEMS (9)

 
Leigh Taylor
United States

GO TO STORY »
Lisa Nessan
United States
In the tiny Palestinian village Qawawis in the South Hebron...
GO TO STORY »
Parc Cruz
Philippines, the

Taken in the moutain regions of Mt. Pinatubo,...
GO TO STORY »

Zilia Korpas
Australia

GO TO STORY »
©2008 International Museum of Women / Privacy Policy and Disclaimer / Translated by 101translations / Change Language
The content in this exhibit does not necessarily represent the opinions of the International Museum of Women, or its partners or sponsors.