Hunger Blog

The Hunger Blog is an open dialogue that highlights how microfinance, when combined with lifeskills and health services, empowers women to improve their incomes, safeguard their childrens’ health and achieve lasting food security.

Joanne Leslie's Bio and Posts

Joanne Leslie is a Deacon in the Episcopal Church, a Trustee of Freedom From Hunger, and serves on the boards of several Los Angeles community organizations. In the Spring of this year, she was selected to be part of the 103 member Anglican/Episcopal delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which she reports was a very inspiring experience. In 2005, Dr. Leslie retired from the Community Health Sciences Department at the UCLA School of Public Health, where she taught courses in nutrition and women's health. Dr. Leslie’s research has focused primarily on household factors related to hunger and malnutrition. She worked for many years on nutrition and health issues in francophone West Africa. Dr. Leslie has served as a staff member or consultant for several development organizations including: the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, the International Center for Research on Women, and the Pacific Institute for Women’s Health.

“Mejor”

I am a Freedom from Hunger Trustee. I recently traveled with staff to Peru to meet the women Freedom from Hunger is serving through its partner, FINCA Peru. What amazed me most was the determination of the women to provide something “mejor” (as the women said in Spanish), or “better,” for themselves and for their children. I met a woman, Herlinda Hinahosa Lizarraga, who was using her loan toward a “chupetera,” which was a machine to freeze water into ice. This was important to her business helping her husband sell fish. Women like Herlinda are the reason I support the powerful work of Freedom from Hunger. I am interested in your comments about the Peru stories you have heard today.

--Joanne Leslie | 09-28-07 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Categories: Everyday Advocates