This is my first Mother’s Day without my mother, who passed away a few months ago. She died just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday, having lived a long, happy and productive life. She was the matriarch of a large family of eight children, 18 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

No one is ever prepared or ready to lose their mother – even if she is in her 90s. But I feel so blessed that she was such a big part of my life for so long. She taught me many things – from the everyday (how to fold a queen-size sheet by myself) to the useful (how to make a good apple pie) to the very important (how to manage family finances and live within your means). But most of all she taught me what it means to be a mother – how to care for a baby, instill confidence in children and give youth the wings to fly when they are ready – all the time watching over them and helping out whenever they need it.

My first child was born when I was living and working in Somalia. My mother, 65 years old at the time, came to Africa to be with me for the birth. Although she had flown many times before, it didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous about going to a place she knew little about. She was. She described getting to JFK airport, checking in her over-packed bags filled with baby gifts and then going to the ladies room and throwing up. She said she felt better afterwards. Years later she told me she came to Somalia because if something unexpected happened during the birth, she didn’t want me to be so far away from family. That’s what mothers do. Regardless of their own fears, they love and care for their child in whatever ways they can.

What about children who grow up without a mother?

Because of my work at ChildFund, I think about this issue all the time. Every day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. The new baby and any older children at home are deprived of the mother they need to nurture them.

In the last 20 years, great strides have been made as maternal mortality rates worldwide dropped by almost 50 percent, reports WHO. But we still have a long way to go to help the remaining half of mothers whose lives are at risk simply because of their economic position.

If motherless children are lucky, they are raised by a loving grandmother. Certainly that happens in countries where AIDS has claimed many parents. Grandmothers often step in to fill that vital role. Other times, widowed fathers marry again, as it is not common, in my experience in developing countries, for men to raise children alone. In the worst-case scenario, we encounter “child-headed households” – children raising children. These children live in poverty that is hard for many to imagine.

Although we cannot ever replace the role of a mother, ChildFund’s programs can be a great help in ensuring children have good health, go to school and have the skills they need to face adulthood. But a unique part of ChildFund’s approach – matching an individual sponsor with an individual child – can bring an added benefit to a motherless child. Sponsorship reassures children that someone is watching over them from afar and is concerned for their well-being.

Isn’t that’s what their mothers would have wanted? I know my mother would have.

Happy Mother’s Day! At ChildFund, we couldn’t do our work without moms.

The phone call came in the middle of the night. My mother had fallen and broken her hip. Tragic as this was, the situation was even more complicated.

Where was I? I was in Ethiopia for work.

Where was my mother? My 75-year-old mother was at my home in Georgia taking care of my two young children while both my husband and I were traveling for work.

Like many other working women I know, our mothers have helped us manage our careers by helping us with our own children. Many women would not be in the workforce, or would not be able to manage the heavy travel demands many jobs require, if it were not for our own mothers being willing to pitch in.

Mother’s Day on Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to thank these moms who keep on giving.

In developing countries like the ones where ChildFund works, it’s really the norm that moms–when they move on to being grandmothers–become an integral part of an extended family. Three or four generations often live together, and grandmothers play an active role in helping rear the youngest generation.

A gathering of grandmothers in Senegal. Photo:Catherine Karnow

In Senegal, ChildFund even has a special project reaching out to grandmothers,who assist and mentor younger women in their communities. Because grandmothers play a huge role in the decisions made about the well-being of children in their village, ChildFund has worked to engage these matriarchs, providing health and nutrition information and opening up discussions that ultimately benefit children.

What happened to my own mom? She recovered from that broken hip and my sisters came to stay with her until I came home. Two months ago, at the age of 91, she fell and, again, broke a hip. Unfortunately, her recovery this time is a lot less certain. But moms can be tough and when I saw her recently, she was again up and walking – unsteady, certainly – but still walking.