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One Woman, Strong Women, UN International Women's Day, Violence Against Women Act, Women's History Month

International Women’s Day-Unity through Song

Mona Alvarado Frazier


“There is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon


The quote illustrates the theme of International Women’s Day: Time for action, time to end violence against women.

 Yesterday President Obama signed The Violence Against Women Act. The expanded version of the Act is an important milestone in recognizing the rights of women, whomever they are, to be protected and guarded against domestic violence and sexual assault. This human rights violation affects up to seven women out of ten. The stats are higher in some countries.

Part of the UN campaign is to spread a message of solidarity and unity with others, through song and music. Here’s their inspiring song:
One Woman
Titled “One Woman,” the song is sung by 25 international artists who sing about the solidarity that exists among women and how through that solidarity women can overcome the violence that still threatens too many in this world.

One Woman
In Kigali, she wakes up,
She makes a choice,
In Hanoi, Natal, Ramallah.
In Tangier, she takes a breath,
Lifts up her voice,
In Lahore, La Paz, Kampala.
Though she’s half a world away
Something in me wants to say …
We are One Woman,
You cry and I hear you.
We are One Woman,
You hurt, and I hurt, too.
We are One Woman,
Your hopes are mine.
We shall shine.
In Juarez she speaks the truth,
She reaches out,
Then teaches others how to.
In Jaipur, she gives her name,
She lives without shame
In Manila, Salta, Embu.
Though we’re different as can be,
We’re connected, she with me
We are One Woman,
Your courage keeps me strong.
We are One Woman,
You sing, I sing along.
We are One Woman,
Your dreams are mine.
And we shall shine.
We shall shine.
And one man, he hears her voice.
And one man, he fights her fight.
Day by day, he lets go the old ways,
One Woman at a time.
Though she’s half a world away,
Something in me wants to say.
We are One Woman,
Your victories lift us all.
We are One Woman,
You rise and I stand tall.
We are One Woman,
Your world is mine
And we shall shine.
Shine, shine, shine.
We shall shine
Shine, shine, shine.
We shall shine.
Shine, shine, shine.
What else can you do? 
Join the conversation and follow @UN_Women and the hashtag #1woman on Twitter. 
You can also donate a tweet through Thunderclap, which will be released on 8 March. Click on the link, scroll to the photo like the orange one above and click. That’s it. You can download the song if you’d like too.
Take an interesting quiz here.  Every point you score counts towards the Say NO action counter. 

Share the song through your social media networks. Share your thoughts.


Health, Home remedies for cold, Latino culture, Mexican traditions

Latino Home Remedies for a Cold

Mona Alvarado Frazier
Do not disturb-flickr.com
Do not disturb-flickr.com

That could be me in that photo. I have on my flannel cheetah pajamas underneath. For. the. third. day. I’ll probably stay in them tomorrow too.

For the past three days, I’ve battled a sore throat and aching eardrums with an arsenal of homemade recipes. Now I have a full blown cold, red nose, and I’m out of steam.

Yup, I took the Mexican traditional Yerba Buena (Spearmint) leaves from my little garden pot, boiled the leaves, sip sip, took more cups of this with additional vitamin C and echinacea. 

My throat rebelled and got tighter, so tight that I  almost choked trying to swallow the tea.Maybe I used the wrong herb.

Another Mexican remedy is honey, mixed with lemon and hot water. It felt good–for about one minute.  

Figured I’d buy a stronger tea with a blend of eight types of herbs, including ginger and licorice, called Throat Coat by Yogi Teas. Worked better, for a short 10 minutes. I even tried the yoga pose they suggest, for better breathing, on the box. 

Yoga pose for colds-Throat Coat Tea by Yogi
Yoga pose for colds-Throat Coat Tea by Yogi

And then the ears rebelled and reminded me who’s who every time I swallowed. I refused to try the Mexican remedy my boyfriend suggested: a rolled up newspaper, the tip of the paper cone in my ear while he lights a match and blows the air into the cone, something like that.

As soon as he said “light a match,” I stopped listening. 

“Ok, well try tequila with lemon and honey.” I didn’t have Tequila in the house, so I couldn’t take a shot. But, I do believe in 7Up, my childhood remedy for most things that ail you. 

The next day, the throat eased up a bit. Then my nose started dripping like a broken down faucet, so fast I couldn’t get to a tissue fast enough and yep, down my lip my mocos dripped. I know yuk. 

For the congestion, I found my trusty indigo jar of Vicks vapor rub. 

Now that stuff does make you feel better, but you go around stinking like burned eucalyptus leaves. And you can’t put it on your red sore nose, it stings. I know that for a fact now. 

So today, feeling worse off, I sent my kid to the store for pharmaceuticals, tissue, more 7Up, and soup. After three texts, he got the right stuff. I swear kids can do 1001 things with an iPhone but can’t remember four ingredients to battle a cold.

But, he came through and I can breath now, and I change tissues every five minutes instead of one. 

I really wish I could say that homemade is better, but not in my case. Now I’m going back to bed. I’m sure rest, hydration, and menthol rub will get me better. At least I hope so.