La Leche League Participates in the First National Breastfeeding Conference in Spain
Connie Little
Bilbao, Spain
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 36 No. 3, June-July 2000, p. 43
"Pack your bags! In
the International Division we don't hope for miracles, we count on them!"
That's what Carmen Vandenabeele,
Co-Director of the International Division, said to Monica Tesone when
she needed $1,100 for the plane ticket from Buenos Aires, Argentina
to Valencia, Spain. Of course, Carmen didn't have the money either,
but a spur of the moment fund raising drive, fueled by customary LLL
enthusiasm, resulted in nothing short of a miracle.
Monica Tesone, Area Professional
Liaison for Argentina, emailed me just three weeks before the First
National Breastfeeding Congress in Spain, which had been organized by
Spanish health professional societies and indirectly by the Spanish
Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Committee. Monica had submitted her
poster abstract to the Scientific Committee for the Congress and it
had been accepted. She had already secured a waiver for the conference
registration fee, but she needed the money for her travel expenses.
Well, this was an opportunity
I couldn't refuse! We in LLL Iberia (which includes Spain and Portugal)
had been frustrated because we hadn't been able to plan our own participation
in the Congress Poster Session, and Monica's acceptance was just what
we needed. I contacted my LLL support person, Carmen Vandenabeele, to
see what could be done to get Monica to Spain. Carmen said, "Great
minds think alike. I've just earmarked $200 for Monica's travel expenses."
Graziana de Bozzo of LLL Chile had already begun fund raising in Latin
America via enLLLace* and LLL Iberia pledged $200. My own Group in Bilbao
matched that.
In just one week, with appeals
through email, we had almost enough money for the ticket. Paulina Smith,
Executive Director of LLLI, responded immediately with the exact balance
needed to purchase the ticket Monica had reserved "just in case."
But the donations kept on
coming. A total of $1,900 was pledged from all over the world by Leaders,
Groups, Areas, the International Division, and LLLI. The extra funds
have been put aside to use for other urgent situations in the International
Division.
Once we knew that Monica
was coming to Spain, I began to think of attending the Congress myself.
Bettina Gerbeau, APL Iberia, and Gina Negro, an American Leader living
in Madrid, were already planning to attend.
I decided to join them, so
four LLL Leaders attended the Congress. It was an interesting meeting.
Monica is an active participant in LACMAT.* This fact, in addition to
Monica's outgoing and friendly personality, allowed us to meet many
interesting people involved in breastfeeding promotion both in and outside
Spain.
Monica's poster was titled
"Weaning after the First Year" and offered a weaning technique
based on ideas from THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING and MOTHERING YOUR
NURSING TODDLER. It was presented in a way that was attractive to health
professionals. Many people asked for copies of Monica's paper which
included arguments and a bibliography in favor of "prolonged"
breastfeeding, as it is called in Spain. This aspect of Monica's poster
was supported indirectly by one of the Congress speakers, Kathryn Dewey,
from the Department of Nutrition, University of California (who speaks
excellent Spanish, by the way). Dr. Dewey, responding to a question
about how long children should nurse, said that it was common in many
parts of the world for children to be nursing at age four. We were delighted
with this response because the idea of a child who walks and talks and
nurses is still pretty shocking here in Spain. It is always nice when
a renowned expert recognizes this aspect of breastfeeding.
We are very grateful to Monica
for the excellent information she shared with us and for making it possible
for LLL to participate actively in the Valencia Congress. An abstract
of her poster has been published in the Proceedings of the Congress.
We are also grateful to Leaders,
Groups, and Areas of Latin America and Europe who supported us so generously
in our efforts and also to Paulina Smith who gave us the final sum we
needed, the moment we needed it. We want to thank Carmen Vandenabeele
for transmitting her faith that together we could make it all happen.
Thanks to all of you, LLL
Iberia, a growing Area with plenty of growing pains, has received a
much needed boost to our self-esteem. Thank you for helping us grow
and for showing us that we matter to you. This is the LLL spirit we
need for the future!
*Editor's note: LACMAT is
the Spanish Language version of LACTNET, an email list for lactation
consultants and others who work in the field of lactation management;
enLLLace is the Spanish Language version of The Leader Connection (TLC),
an unofficial, private email list for Leaders.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:09 UTC 2007.
