7 Ways to Help Moms Around the World on Mother’s Day

Our Planet

May 7

On this special day, here are seven ways we can all be a part of the change by empowering moms in every corner of the world.

Working mother and baby chocolate Sao Tome — A mother extracting chocolate from the cocoa beans in Sao Tome and Principe. Photo by Michael Runkel.

Mother’s Day is celebrated in a prism of different ways around the world—

From showering moms with presents and breakfast in bed to white carnations symbolizing the sweetness (and endurance!) of motherhood, across the reaches North America to the prefectures of Japan, we all love Mom.

As travelers, we’ve seen time and time again the maternal care from mothers abroad, even extending to our own children. Our daughter was sung to sleep by Kuna women in the San Blas Islands, known for vigorously shaking a rattle and a pulsating lullaby to get babies to sleep (it worked). I’ve breastfed in solidarity with a group of Himba women in northern Namibia when it was too hot, and our baby being cuddled, sometimes against her will, by countless moms on countless planes, restaurants and communities far from home.

Moms around the world, we salute you. And we know when women thrive, we thrive, and our planet thrives.

So instead of a traditional gift this Mother’s Day, here is a list of some globally-focused ideas to help mothers all around the world. Mom will love you for it.

A Kuna Indian woman holding a traveler’s baby in San Blas Islands, Kuna Yala, Panama. Photo by Michael Runkel.

Support Girls’ Education Worldwide

This sits at the top of our list after a particularly difficult week for women globally. With the potential for the U.S. Supreme Court of overturning Roe v Wade to the Taliban mandating women to wear a face veil in public, what we’ve all worked for women’s equality seems to be dissolving all around us.

Project Drawdown, one of the leading resources for climate solutions, states that girls’ education is one of the most important factors in reducing global emissions. Educated girls realize higher wages and greater upward mobility, and are less likely to marry as children or against their will.

As travelers we have seen firsthand that women are the greatest contributors to our collective well being & transform our world for the better.

Support girls education by donating to Save the Children, Malala Fund or Care.org.

A mother and baby in Massawa, Eritrea. Photo by Samantha Runkel.

The traditional Ottoman architecture in Massawa, Eritrea.

Buy Mom’s gift from Local Purse

Born out of supporting the travel industry during Covid without physically traveling, virtual marketplace Local Purse aims to connect travelers with artisans across different countries and communities.

Women and mothers make up a huge percentage of makers, who lovingly make their crafts by hand. This platform combines an incredibly integrated shopping experience from abroad, where you can simultaneously support female makers. Why not gift your mom a textile created by Andean artisans in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Cusco, Peru? Or a traditional Berber rug after exploring the Marrakech medina with a local guide? We’re in.

A mother with her baby in Pele La Pass, Bhutan. Photo by Michael Runkel.

Support Mothers in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has displaced millions of women and children, and it continues. We’ve rounded up a host of ways families can come together to help mothers in Ukraine, from donating to UN Women, the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Right’s, the Ukrainian Women’s Fund and more.

Save the Children and World Vision are two other organizations featuring gift and donation guides. Their catalogs have variety of options including $45 for supplies for newborn babies, $50 hunger funds and $75 to help girls with education and health care.

Young women working at a tea plantation in Sreemagal, Bangladesh. Photo by Michael Runkel.

Take Action to Stop Child Marriage

Every two seconds a girl is married against her will, and girls who marry young are more likely to become young mothers, which according to UNICEF can cause devastating birth complications and spike maternal mortality rates.

Support a girl, help end child marriage and empower survivors through one of our favorite organizations Too Young To Wed which tracks and uplifts the voices of young girls forced into marriage.

Young women collecting water from a well in Niger. Photo by Michael Runkel.

Support Maternal Health

If you know an expecting mother or new mom, Every Mother Counts is an organization specializing in global maternal health. Started in 2010 by Christy Turlington Burns, the organization works to make pregnancy and childbirth safer in places in need of better maternal care.

We are longtime supporters of EMC. Donations received over Mother's Day weekend will be matched up to $100,000.

Mother with baby and water canister on head, Angola

Support Women Owned Businesses

Working moms are everyday heroes. While you’re showing love and gratitude to the mothers in your life, take time to let other companies know you value products made by women in power. Start by following hashtags like #womenownedbusiness and #womenowned, to connect with female founders and business owners online.

Smiling Working mother and baby chocolate Sao Tome — A mother extracting chocolate from the cocoa beans in Sao Tome and Principe. Photo by Michael Runkel.

Give the gift of (sustainable) travel to the moms in your life

Travel gives us all the ability to observe the world in endlessly transformative ways, and Mom is no exception. But you don’t need to wander far afield to appreciate travel. Gift a local experience, explore her hometown with a travelers’ eye, take a weekend road trip, visit the national parks in your region, practice slow travel together or an artisanal culinary experience. Plan an educational trip, get out into nature with a rewilding safari, or make it eco-friendly. Show the moms in your world that that others are trying to make the planet a better place, too.