Saving Mothers Research Team at Columbia (SMRT) General Body Meeting this Friday, January 29th, at 7:30 pm EAST RAMP LOUNGE in LERNER

CURRENTLY RECRUITING COMMITTEE BOARD MEMBERS

According to the World Health Organization, a woman dies every minute from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. Ninety-nine percent of maternal and infant deaths occur in the developing world; because the formal health care system is not an option due to money and lack of transport, eighty percent of births are performed at home without the aid of health care professionals. Saving Mothers was founded in 2005 by Columbia University post- baccalaureate student, Nichole Young-Lin. In 2006, it won the UC Berkeley Chancellor's Big Ideas Competition, and received nonprofit 510(c)(3) status in January 2009. A group of Columbia University undergraduate students recently formed the Columbia University Chapter of Saving Mothers. This new SGB student organization aims to increase awareness of issues such as maternal and infant mortality through a number of student-run projects. Through the birthing kit initiative, students will be able to assemble and distribute birthing kits to promote safe, hygienic deliveries. Through the research network, students will have the opportunity to conduct research on women's health and the status of women worldwide. Saving Mothers hopes to spread awareness in the Columbia University community and take action to prevent maternal deaths worldwide.

For more information on Saving Mothers, please visit our website, *www.savingmothers.org*. If you have any questions or are interested in joining our chapter, please email Co-Presidents Christine Yeh and Jennifer Hou at *smrtcolumbia@gmail.com*.

Over $1400 Raised!! Thank you everyone! :)

Hey all,

Just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out last night. Thanks to your support, we were able to raise over $1400--all of which will be donated to Doctors Without Borders and Haiti Earthquake Relief this upcoming week.

In return for Crocodile Lounge's amazing hospitality--really, they were so accommodating and generous to help us host this fundraiser--if you had a good time, please leave a kind review for them on Yelp!

Thanks again!

Forum on Global Health and Human Rights presents: One Water movie screening + Director Q&A

6:30pm, Hammer Health Sciences Building Room 401 ***Dinner will be provided. Please RSVP (so we have enough food) to: fwc2109@columbia.edu***

Please join us to watch the documentary One Water and meet with the director for a Q&A. Directed by Professor Sanjeev Chatterjee, One Water has received numerous awards and was screened at the 2004 and 2005 U.N. conferences. Onewaterthemovie.org

Film Description:

Water is essential to existence. Our bodies require it, as do our souls. It is the stuff of life and death, of sweat and tears, of need and wonder. Water bubbles through our imaginations, splashes through our forms of play and winds through the tributaries of human spirituality. Yet, as precious as we know water is, we have treated it as if it were infinite and cheap, which has led to an international crisis of epic proportions.

Filmed in 15 countries in both hemispheres, One Water highlights a world where water is exquisitely abundant in some places and dangerously lacking in others. It celebrates all the myriad ways water has touched human lives around the globe and leaves audiences with a fundamental question: is water a human right or a commodity? Through a starkly emotional journey, spectators are invited to bear witness and encouraged to recognize this major global crisis as their very own, watching scenes from all over the world reveal how water is inspiring innovation, compassion and hope.

An earlier short version of the film won two awards at the Broadcast Education Association and has been screened at a special United Nations conferences in 2004 and 2005 as well as a special jury award at the World Water Forum in Mexico City in 2006. One Water is the recipient of the Best Environmental Feature award from the Artivist Film Festival, 2008, Best Documentary Cinambiente 2008, Turin, Italy and Best Documentary at the Foyle Film Festival 2008, Derry, Ireland. An international television version of the film was completed in 2009 for which Chatterjee wrote a new script narrated by actor Martin Sheen.

Biography:

Professor Sanjeev Chatterjee is producer, co-director and writer of One Water. He has taught classes in studio and field production, media and society, writing and documentary production at the University of Miami. In 2007, Chatterjee was honored with the Images and Voices of Hope World Summit Award of Appreciation for his documentary work. He has been on the faculty of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, 2008 and 2009.

Prof. Chatterjee's earlier documentary work explores issues of identity among people in the Indian diaspora. In 1999-2000, Professor Chatterjee was commissioned by the National Geographic Channel to produce television reports about environment and culture in India. Professor Chatterjee has also served on the advisory board for the Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy since its inception in 2003. Professor Chatterjee is also serves on the advisory boards of CINE, School of Convergence (New Delhi) and the Coral Gables Cinematheque.

Professor Chatterjee earned his M.A, in English Literature from Delhi University and his M.F.A. in Television Production from Brooklyn College. He lives in Miami with his wife Sumita, who is a historian, and their children Abhivav and Uma.

Drink Specials for Haiti Earthquake Relief

Hey everyone,

As you're all aware by now, just days ago Haiti was struck by a devastating 7.0 earthquake.

Come out to Crocodile Lounge next Saturday night (January 23rd) to show your support. A voluntary $10 at the door gets you a bracelet for the following drink specials all night:

$3 Yuenglings
$4 Blue Moons
$1 off all well drinks

All proceeds will be donated to Doctors Without Borders on behalf of Columbia's postbac student body groups: Social Justice Medicine & the Postbac Premedical Association. Bring your friends!

The Forum on Global Health and Human Rights Presents: WaterAid.

Come hear Dr. David Winder, acting CEO of WaterAid, discuss this organization's role in providing access to safe water worldwide.

When: Wednesday, January 13th. 6:30pm.

Where: Hammer 301.

Dinner provided by IHO & PHR.
RSVP to pl2148@columbia.edu

"WaterAid works in 17 countries providing water, sanitation and hygiene education to some of the world's poorest people."