Recent Posts
Inspiration June 25, 2018
Liya Kebede, the woman that did and still does.
Maternal health in Africa can be life-threatening and scary, and one person took on the issue by spearheading a non-profit organization.
Liya Kebede, the supermodel turned advocate, created a foundation in Africa that continues to help with awareness and education about the health of women throughout their pregnancy.
Poor maternal health can lead to the death of the mother and even the child, and Kebede wanted to make a difference.
The clothing designer and actress used her public platform to make a difference in the world of maternal health. Born and raised in Ethiopia, she’s remained close to her roots.
As a child, a film director suggested she’d get into modeling. After finishing her schooling in Ethiopia, Kebede followed her goals. She moved to Paris to pursue her modeling career. A successful career, indeed.
Kebede was the first person of color to model for the makeup brand, Estée Lauder. She’s modeled for a variety of brands including Gap, Victoria’s Secret and Tommy Hilfiger. She’s also the first black model to land the cover of Vogue in over 10 years. In 2010, TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People named Kebede. She’s also named one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year. Kebede has two kids, Raee and Suhul Kebede.
Maternal health is an issue close to Kebede’ s heart. She founded the Lemlem foundation because she recognized the difficulty to grow up in areas that have a high poverty rate and low healthcare benefits. According to lemlem.com, 162,000 of the women in Africa die from complications during pregnancy and delivery every year.
The Lemlem foundation is an avid supporter of Amref Health Africa, the largest health organization in Africa. Her foundation also supports Stand Up for African Mothers Campaign, which focuses on maternal health by trying to reduce maternal deaths in Africa.
The Foundation prioritized a maternal health education and upgrading maternity clinics because there’s limited access in Ethiopia. The foundation supports the “International Leadership Academy of Ethiopia’s peer-to-peer maternal health awareness campaign.” The campaign tries to make sure girls in high school have knowledge about maternal health and also teaches them how to care for pregnant women in their own communities.
Lemlem foundation partnered with the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA) and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine helped the maternity clinics in Ethiopia. Together, they raised funds to train health staff and well-equip the two main hospitals in Ethiopia. Their hard work resulted in over 10,000 births without any complications in the hospitals she helped equip. More women in Ethiopia are starting to solicit pre and postnatal care after seeing the high rates of births without any complications.
Inspired by traditional weavers in her home country, Kebede created a clothing line. Now, those employed women currently designing for the line are an attempt to break the cycle of poverty in Ethiopia. She’s’s making sure all their artisans excel in the business. The name of the company reflects that idea. Lemlem means to flourish or bloom in Ethiopia’s native language, Amharic. Both her clothing brand and foundation share the same name, Lemlem.
According to her website, “lemlem is committed to elevating artisanship and expanding production and jobs across Africa.” Every handwoven clothing item is made of a natural cotton native to Ethiopia.
When she created the brand, sustainability was important. Women are the base and core of the Lemlem foundation and the brand. In an interview she did with Forbes, she stated that their workers get paid regular salary. Also, five percent of their sales go toward supporting the Lemlem foundation. Along with their online store, Lemlem is also sold at big retail companies like Barneys and Net-A-Porter.
Kebede has made a difference in her home country when it comes to maternal health. She’s helped women in Ethiopia by providing resources and relevant education related to maternal health.
