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Soroptimist International of Salt Lake -
Making a Difference for Women
Making a
Difference for Women Award
During the Annual
Fundraiser at the Sheraton City Centre on
Saturday, March 1, 2008, SI-SLC honored the
winner of the Making A Difference for Women
Award:
Arlene M. Samen of One HEART.
Arlene Samen has dedicated her life to serving
women and children. Because of Arlene’s
commitment to helping others, thousands of
Tibetan women and children are living longer and
healthier lives, and the entire Tibetan health
care system is beginning to change for the
better as a result of her hard work and
dedication.
Arlene began her career over 30 years ago as a
nurse in the newborn intensive care unit at
Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital in Las Vegas.
For the next 25 years, Arlene worked in
emergency rooms and Indian reservations, while
participating in yearly surgical volunteer trips
to 15 developing countries like Honduras,
Philippines, Madagascar, and Nepal.
In 1997 on a trip to India, Arlene met the Dalai
Lama who requested that she find a way to help
the rural women and children inside Tibet. As a
result, Arlene made a commitment to find a way
to help save the lives of Tibetan women and
their newborns during the birthing process. In
Tibet, 65-90% of women give birth at home where
there is no skilled community or village birth
attendant, resulting in one in ten babies dying
during the first month of life and a maternal
mortality rate of 943 deaths per 100,000
deliveries, compared to about 14 deaths per
100,000 deliveries in the U.S.
With the help of
friends, Arlene founded One HEART (Health,
Education, and Research in Tibet) whose mission
is to improve Tibetan maternal and child health
and survival through collaborative and
culturally sensitive programs such as the
Skilled Birth Attendant Program, the Physician
Training Program, and the Pregnancy and Village
Outreach Tibet Program. One HEART has offices in
Salt Lake City, Utah, and Lhasa, Tibet.
This year, SI-SLC is honored to celebrate Arlene
Samen’s commitment in improving not only the
lives of women and children in Tibet, a
population with very little or no other
resources, but for also making a positive
difference to the families in Tibet and the
country as a whole.
Dr. Mike Draper of the OB-Gynecology department
of the University of Utah Hospital received the
award on Arlene’s behalf as she was traveling in
Tibet at the time it was presented.
Making a Difference for Women Awards
Committee
SIA Salt Lake
Wendy
MacDonald, 801-944-2396,
Click here for a
Nomination Form
Mail to:
Soroptimist International
of Salt Lake
P.O. Box 571021, Salt Lake City, UT
84157-1021 |
