From supermodel to super advocate - Christy Turlington

A career shift from supermodel to super-advocate is indeed a unique transition, and for Christy Turlington Burns, it is also a deeply personal one. In 2005, after suffering complications after the birth of her daughter, she embarked on a mission to understand the global epidemic of maternal mortality. She went back to school to study public health at Columbia University, and began working with organizations such as CARE as Advocate for Maternal Health, and in 2008 began work on her first directorial effort — a documentary called No Woman, No Cry. In it, Turlington Burns travels around the world to share the stories of pregnant woman at risk. Turlington Burns spoke to Postmedia News Service from her home in New York about how she got involved and how the film came to be.

Q: How does one transform from a supermodel to an expert on maternal health?

A: When I evolved and became a mom and learned that the (medical) complication I had was linked to the leading cause of maternal mortality in the world, that made me want to dig deeper. I had the opportunity to travel with the aid organization CARE a couple of years after I had my first child, and was pregnant with my second. We travelled to El Salvador, where my mother was from, and being in that country with poor women living in rural areas while pregnant, that was the ’a-ha’ moment. Had I had the experience I had with my daughter Grace in that community, I would have died. I thought I could help other women make that connection, to bring it closer to them.

Q: You travelled to Bangladesh, Guatemala and Tanzania. Why these locations?

A: In Bangladesh, we wanted to show an urban story. It was in the slums of Dhaka, and through a community health worker we met Monica, our main mom. Her story turned out in a way that helped us communicate the cultural limitations in her area, which are the biggest mysteries of all working on these issues.

I chose Tanzania because it’s on the top eleven of the highest burdened countries in maternal mortality but ... the president has been incredibly vocal and taken a leadership position. It’s a sub-Saharan African country where there are high rates, but political will, and we wanted to find out what is the big gap. And that is the human resource gap -that women live in rural areas and are way too far from the care that they should have access to in an emergency.

In Guatemala, the physician we focused on is an obstetrician who worked for Planned Parenthood. She was eight months pregnant herself when we filmed with her. I wanted to pick a country that had a large indigenous population, and that has grappled with some of the ideology that is so present in Latin America that is a barrier to care for so many women.

bfrenette@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/From+supermodel+super+advocate/4882862/story.html#ixzz1OPbtrXoc

How to keep your patio furniture looking its best

Sun, rain, precision-bombing birds: outdoor furniture takes a beating. Here's our guide to keeping it looking good and out of the landfill.

Quality

Start with good products. That $89 wicker chair looks great in the big-box store, but guess what happens when moisture and pollution and the human body get at it?

Better to save up for something like the Bimini wicker line. Manufactured by Toronto-based Actiwin and available at Ottawa's The Fireplace Center & Patio Shop, it's made of weatherproof resin wicker, has a welded aluminum frame and is UV-resistant. At $300 a chair, it's not cheap, but it will last.

Wood

Prefinished wooden patio furniture usually spells disaster, says Zvi Gross, owner of Mostly Danish Furniture on Wellington Street. Varnish, for example, lifts when moisture gets underneath it, leaving a rough, flaky surface.

Some manufacturers, he adds, use stains and finishes to disguise lower grade woods that are less durable. Gross sells unfinished teak patio furniture and recommends either treating it with Semco sealer or leaving it to age naturally to a rich silver-grey.

Sealed or not, clean outdoor wooden furniture with warm soapy water and a brush twice a year, rinsing it lightly afterward.

If the furniture is near a pool, rinse it weekly: chlorine plays havoc with finishes.

Keep wooden legs off grass -moisture will make short work of the wood -and refinish surface scratches right away to prevent moisture penetration.

Aluminum

Aluminum won't rust, but the powder coating on aluminum lawn furniture breaks down from suntan lotion, perspiration and air pollution. An occasional sponging with warm, soapy water followed by a rinse keeps it looking new.

An occasional light coat of liquid car wax heightens the coating's gloss and makes it easier to remove stains.

Plastic and recycled furniture

The ubiquitous white plastic lawn chair can be spiffed up with a household cleaner that's safe for plastic. Use an old toothbrush for crevices. Ditto for higher-end garden furniture, like Adirondack chairs, loungers and picnic tables made from recycled plastic by C.R. Plastic Products of Stratford, Ont. Available in bright yellow, fuchsia and other eye-candy colours at Apple Saddlery on Innes Road and elsewhere, the Adirondack chairs run $280 to $340.

The company suggests an occasional coat of Armor All for UV protection and says a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is great for eliminating streaks and dirt.