Counting Roots ~ Quantifying Our Ancestry!

Thanks to Paul Hsieh from GeekPress for spotting answer to...

"How many unique ancestors do you have?"

Profitable Migration ~ Studying Remittance Capital

Michael Clemens at the Center for Global Development says It’s Time to Learn More about How Poor Families Use Migration...

"Remittances are huge -- about triple the size of foreign aid flows. That’s a big opportunity for development. But much of the research on remittances focuses on why they are primarily spent on consumption, and how governments and NGOs can get people to invest remittances. [...] Remittances are not a windfall like lottery winnings. For many low-income families, they are a return on investment. Migration is one of many financial tools they juggle to smooth income and consumption. Migration often involves a family member moving to access a different labor market, and that household is investing in an asset, bearing up-front costs for uncertain future benefits. Remittances therefore are part of the family’s [ROI]"

Fantastically important to study more! See further research.

Generations ~ Germain's Portraits of Families!

Thanks to John Farrier at Neatorama for spotting Julian Germain's Generations series of photographs showing recursive {child + parent} family portraits!

Ward's First Year ~ From Premie to 1yo Homeboy!

As wonderful illustration of Dr Koven's thesis In Practice, we have the lovely mini-documentary of Ward's First Year spotted by MissC... Says proud filmmaker-father, Benjamin Scot Miller...

"I want to thank all the doctors, nurses, and staff all over the world that make it their life's mission to help babies get better! It's because of you that my son ever stood a chance to make it home!"

Extra goodness and photos at HuffPo.

Team Donner ~ Family Adopts Five Kids Together

DM spots Team Donner, a family adopting five kids all at once!

Maternal Health ~ Mothers' Day Millennium Goal

Beyond honoring your own mom today on Mother's Day, let's also remember Millennium Development Goal #5 -- Improving Maternal Health -- and do what we can for the millions of mothers who lack the essentials. As Nicholas Kristof writes in his NYTimes OpEd Beyond Flowers for Mom, let us...

"...commemorate motherhood by saving the lives of mothers halfway around the world -- such as in this impoverished nook of Somaliland in the horn of Africa [where] an extraordinary Somali woman, Edna Adan, runs a maternity hospital here to make childbirth safer. We in journalism often focus on villains, but Edna is one of my heroes. She’s a tireless 73-year-old whose passion is to save her countrywomen’s lives, get them access to family planning and end female genital mutilation. [...] In a column a year ago, I suggested that we move the apostrophe so as to celebrate not so much Mother’s Day -- honoring a single mother -- but Mothers’ Day, to help save mothers’ lives around the world as well."

Hear, hear! And let's salute social entrepreneurs like Zubaida Bai whose AYZH business creates and distributes the JANMA Clean Birth Kit which allows rural Indian midwives to deliver babies under the most hygienic conditions possible. Just this past week at the Muddy I met with entrepreneurs making affordable endoscopy tools for fixing fistulas. And our MIT Sloan Global Health students recently presented their work on effective health care operations. Our D-Lab students similarly just yesterday. All of these and more are tangible examples of development action. For the sake of mothers and their children everywhere, let's accelerate our efforts and achieve the Goal before this decade is done.

Chinese Mothers ~ Superior Parenting Practices?

Thanks to Grant Ho for spotting this WSJournal essay by Amy Chua on Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior. Chua is a Yale Law Professor and author of "Day of Empire" and "World on Fire" and, most recently, a memoir "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" wherein she writes...

"A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it. [...] Despite our squeamishness about cultural stereotypes, there are tons of studies out there showing marked and quantifiable differences between Chinese and Westerners when it comes to parenting. [...] What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence. [...] Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away."

Definitely read the whole thing, plus see related video...