Gina Lopez by artist @youngme

This month we lost an incredible force in the humanitarian world – Gina Lopez . Gina was an advocate for the environment and for the people. We feel a deep sense of loss but we are also inspired by the causes that Gina championed. Her fighting spirit will continue to motivate us to be fearless in our efforts to make a better world.

“You have to be always committed to the truth, especially when you get to a position of power. I have found that as long as I’m aligned, as long as I’m doing things which are true, even if I make mistakes, miracles happen every day” – Gina Lopez

One of her core projects was the cleanup of rivers in the Phillipines. In 2018, Mama earth partnered with Lanai Tabura and Beverly Desuasido and started #pride4PH (Pride for Philippines). #Pride4PH is a movement, created to bring the forces of celebrity, government, corporations and organizations together to do the work that needs to be done to save the environment in the Philippines.

“I’ll never forget our first pride4philippines Skype meeting with Gina, her energy and light shined through the screen. She instantly inspired me and I said to myself ‘I want to be just like Gina Lopez’. When I finally met her in person I was overwhelmed with her vibrance and passion for helping others. She was truly a saint and I’m honored to have met her. Her energy vibrates in us and will continue to inspire the work I am doing with @4mamaearth and @pride4philippines” – Jaime Kailani

Mama Earth is currently facing an unimaginable crisis. The climate, the way we treat our environment and the people on this little blue dot are all linked. Gina Lopez understood the intersection of environment, poverty and policy. “I became increasingly aware that it was more than just cleaning the water of a river,” she said back in 2010, “It was connected to our history, to our identity. Cleaning the river is really more about reconnecting to the essence of what we are. We are essentially a river people, taga-ilog, and for a river people to live in filth goes against our very soul.” – Gina Lopez

Communities who honour and respect the treatment and sustainability of our natural environment have been doing their best to preserve their habitats. However, the industrial revolution, colonialism and conquest, even with all the intentions of ‘progress’, had a detrimental effect to our home. The fight for the environment is not just about turning off lights and picking up plastic, it is about turning to those who have knowledge of the right practices that will sustain our environments and learning from them. Once called savages and uncivilized for living in mud huts and moving nomadically across lands, aboriginal and indigenous tribes had actually managed to live more sustainably with minimal consumerism and waste creation. Their medicines and mindsets were not profit driven but preservation and purpose driven. Let’s preserve our planet by listening to the guardians who have been trying to protect it all along. Let’s continue the legacy of true environmental activists like Gina Lopez.

Protect our planet, protect it’s original people and their habitats.

“Area Development is nurturing, developing and protecting the strengths and potential of the area with a non-negotiable commitment to the people living there. It is a strategy based on the higher values of life. Love and Integrity. The vision is communities living in harmony, with material needs met – but aligned with the higher values of life. Heaven on Earth. It is the world we want our children to have.” – Gina Lopez

On these principals, Gina Lopez founded the non-profit Investments in Loving Organizations for Village Economies (I.L.O.V.E.) – converging organizational forces and resources in order to enable poor and vulnerable communities to economically sustain themselves, maintain ecological integrity, uplift their social conditions, and govern themselves effectively and justly. The project is still in need of completion.

We vow to carry on. Committed to the truth and to be aligned with the legacy of Gina Lopez.

“The Greatest Thing Is the Possibility of Making a Difference” – Gina Lopez

Find out more about Gina Lopez and #pride4PH here

by Shivani Karan & Jaime Kailani

Mama Earth is continuing on a journey with Right of passage films to tell powerful stories about humanity and culture.

Right of passage is about the movement of people and their right to carry who they are with them wherever they go. In a time where the world is faced with mass human migration as a result of environmental, political and other forces, I AM FROM THE SUN reinforces the common threads between us all and the unity we must show towards all humans, regardless of their origins.

In 2018, MAMA EARTH initiative Project OM started providing art therapy to teenage girls taken from their families at the US Mexico border. This is one of the poems and illustrations written by a young border detainee. Lead by Project OM‘s Ivory Tifa, the participants created art and poetry about their heritage.

I AM FROM THE SUN

Directed and produced by Shivani Karan.

We dedicate this to all the children from the sun.

https://iamfromthesun.com/

“Margy’s Unique Gift” is a touching reminder that our differences are what make us special, and that we should never be ashamed of who we are. It is a story that will inspire readers of all ages to embrace their uniqueness, celebrate their differences and to have the courage to be true to themselves, no matter what others may say.

Written by: Jaime Kailani Bayot

Illustrated by: Marley Van Peebles

Reader Stage: This book is for reading ages 5 to 10.

For young readers who are interested in learning new expressive words, a glossary is included.

Buy the book: ‘Margy’s Unique Gift’ here

https://ilovebyjaime.com/products/margy-s-unique-gift-childrens-book

After the successful launch of Unity through beats, Mama Earth has continued to support culture centred projects. This year, MAMA is taking a bold stand. We are embarking on a journey with Right of passage films to tell impactful stories about women and culture.

This journey is about the influence and empowering values of culture and how women in our lives, past and present, uphold aspects of culture from generation to generation.

Why is this important? Think of it as the tragedy of losing an animal to extinction; knowledge and influence dies with the species and in turn a domino effect of loss is felt across the earth’s ecosystem. Generations have gone by without the knowledge of past cultural practices because of their omittance from modern education systems. Having knowledge about our ancient practices could aid us in our present lives when it comes to women’s health and well being. MAMA is taking a stand to raise an awareness about the importance of preserving ties to ancient sciences and cultural practices because learning about our own human history and culture is crucial to the existence of our own species.

Women face menstruation, child birth, menopause, and blood pressure issues that are largely influenced by diet, lifestyle and societal pressures. Today, most women are turning to remedies that have only been developed and tested within the last century. These ‘solutions’ often end with results that are worse than the original diagnosis. Why do women rush for a cure without first understanding the condition completely? There needs to be more allowance for open dialogue around these conditions. For instance, there are taboos around discussing hormonal processes that cause women to assume that it is an illness that they must medicate. Society also shames and adds pressure on women to deal with what they face in silence or to look as though they are immune to the effects of age and maturing bodies.

In non-western cultures, menopause is a time of new respect and freedom for women. In places like, India, Mexico and Japan, reports and studies have shown that the symptoms of menopause are significantly less adverse than in western societies. Practices that date back to ancient times, such as living on plant based diets and no dairy consumption are shown to support women’s maturation process better. Unfortunately, women who have moved to western society or are generations removed from these cultures have lost this knowledge or do not know of its existence.

The symptoms of hormonal changes should not be seen as signs of mental illness or social taboos. Instead, we should look back to our mothers and their mothers, till we can really understand what this time in our lives means. MAMA wants to support the reclamation of mother’s knowledge from generation to generation and reintroduce knowledge of these practices to help women who have lost ties to their roots.

In today’s society, if we had more value for this view then we could help women to find safer journeys through the different stages of their lives and get the true meaning and value from the rest of society.

In a world where women are often placed in roles that don’t value their true power, women start believing that they are burdens as they age.

We believe that women need to take their place as the protagonists in their own stories, become the centre of their own healing and reconnect to the source of who they are and where they come from.

MAMA will be investigating cultural practices from women around the world and what it means for their health and well being. We invite you to become a part of the story by contacting us with your passed down knowledge and cultural practices so we can add them to a virtual ‘Mama’s book of knowledge’.

This year, the first story that we would like to share is based on the impact of a woman’s connection to her grandmother through an ancient practice in her culture that turns into a journey of discovery. Here is a sneak peek….

In September 2017, MAMA EARTH partnered with online store J’AIME, IN A PERFECT WORLD FOUNDATIONand artist Marley Van Peebles to raise funds for hurricane Irma victims. Through donations from our tote bag drive and IAPW’s founder Manuela Testaloni’s birthday campaign, we were able to send off 150+ care packages along with other supplies.

Gathered in a beautiful space donated by CREATIVENGINE, Manuela organized an amazing packing day that was magical and full of smiles and excitement. We had an assembly line of friends and families filling packages full of basic necessities like toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, soap, deodorant, wipes, snacks and art supplies.

MAMA EARTH and IN A PERFECT WORLD share a few synergies, one of them is to create opportunities for people to experience giving back. We love that IAPW is focused on creating opportunities for young ones to be active do-good-er’s and Junior ambassadors. Seeds were definitely planted that day and it was heart warming to witness the little ones so proud and eager to help.

Sadly, as you know, there have been a number of natural disasters around the world. Communities in Florida, Sierra Leone, India, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Dominica are in need of our help. This has inspired us to create a limited series of art tote by various artist including Roland Lefox and Marley Van Peebles. Donations from this tote sale will help to provide some much needed support to these communities around the world.

We still have 50 Texas totes in stock, all additional Texas tote sales will be donated to an organization called Circle of Health International, an organization dedicated to providing quality reproductive, maternal and newborn care in times of crisis. Supporting women in their pursuit of health and security.

We are grateful for your continued support, we couldn’t do this without you.

Like the saying goes…”It takes a village”. Together we can make a difference and help show our children what it means to work towards living ‘in a perfect world’.

2017 marks mama earth’s 10th Anniversary. We are in awe of how fast the time has flown by, and of all of the beautiful people we have gotten to work within these past years. Mama earth has dedicated itself to using the power of music, art and nature to make a change for the better and to being a platform that helps to bring light to various initiatives. From our very first event held in 2007 for Shine on Sierra Leone to the present with Operation Smile.

We have had the honor of working with change makers, artists and innovators like Eugene Cooke

with whom we planted a vegetable garden at VS-65 in Skid Row, Los Angeles. Eugene founded Grow Where You Are, which inspires people to grow quality food in beautiful systems that support the ecology, encourage the economy and improve human health. We are happy and thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Eugene Cooke, and we wish him all the best as he moves forward.

We will forever be grateful to Andrea Miller who served as our Creative Director. Andrea helped to build mama earth’s vision and platform. She produced beautiful projects like One Peace, Grow Where You Are, Big World Fun, and Common Culture. Her vision, hard work and dedication have helped bring mama earth to where it is today. Although mama earth will miss Andrea, we are excited about her new adventure, Go As If,

a production company that brings a decade of experience in developing content, producing media and all-ages events in partnership with an extended network of creative professionals and diverse venues. Andrea is amazing at all she does, we wish her much success as she embarks on this new chapter.

Moving into 2017, we are excited about mama earth’s new projects. In December, we launched Project Sleepy Tight. With the help of mama earth donors, we were able to distribute over 100 Love packages throughout Los Angeles. Packages consisted of an inflatable bed, a warm blanket, clothing items, water and snacks. Moving forward, mama earth will distribute these Love packages quarterly with our next distribution in April.

January marked the start of our collaboration with Operation Smile, providing the Coloring Mandalas project to children receiving life changing surgery for cleft lip and palette.

The Coloring Mandalas project has been presented by mama earth at Loma Linda Children’s hospital and is curated by our amazing and creative, Valerie Zaks. Studies have proven that art can be therapeutic – relieving tension, anxiety, fear and worry, as well as calming the nerves of children and their families while they await surgery. We are honored to be part of Operation Smile’s missions around the world.

If you have had a chance to look around our website, you may have noticed another new project, From Seed to Harvest, curated and headed by our long time supporter and now mama earth member, Lisa Vitello. From Seed to Harvest’s goal is to foster community through neighborhood farming ventures. The initial schema encompasses the planting of gardens throughout food desert neighborhoods followed by the development of appropriate social enterprise businesses that will benefit the community. We are pleased to be working with Lisa, who has been developing this initiative for a few years now. We hope to provide the platform and support it needs to reach the masses.

We look forward to what’s in store for 2017, and the years to come. We thank you all for your continued support of mama earth.

Love and Light to you always,

Jaime Kailani

Founder/ Executive Director

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotions for all. Like many, in me lives a great amount of fear, anger, resentment and pessimism. Ironically, there is an equal amount of optimism, hope and love. I have made a conscious choice to focus on these 3 powerful things. We have seen the result of acting in fear, anger and resentment and it only creates a vicious cycle of the same unwanted result. The unity I have seen in the past week has been moving. The will of our brothers and sisters coming together to stand up for our rights have been astounding. But we need to remember to be the example we want to see. We are teaching our children.

With that in mind, I would like to express how hopeful I am for what lies ahead. During the past week (and months) we have had the opportunity for real dialogue with our families, friends and neighbors. We have seen many differences of opinion and we have shared honest thoughts and beliefs. While there is often disagreement, the dialogue is critical in shaping who we will continue to become as people and as a nation. It must continue in a safe and respectful manner.

How can we do this? It is important that we unplug, plant our feet into the earth and connect to our planet and ourselves within. With today’s Supermoon, It couldn’t be a better time to start.

With that being said, I would like to introduce you to Chrissy Bayot, a Reiki master and the newest member of the Mama Earth Advisory Board. She too has given a lot of thought to recent events in our nation and I’ve asked her to share ideas on how we may ground ourselves and move toward healing and unity.

love, Jaime Kailani – founder

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Aloha,

I’d like to express my gratefulness for the opportunity to work with an organization as important as Mama Earth. This passionate team has done incredible work over the years and I’m excited to be a part of its future.

As a Reiki Master I do a significant amount of healing work using the energy that intertwines us all to bring healing and balance. I’ve seen firsthand how we are deeply connected regardless of time and distance. It’s critical that we acknowledge and take advantage of this connectedness in order to actively move ourselves to a place of healing and to peace.

Blessed to live in the magical island state of Hawaii, I like to illustrate our connectedness by visualizing the waters of the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Imagine humanity as a school of fish swimming through this vast blue ocean. The fish do not see or feel the water in which they are immersed, but they would cease to live without it. And the water, in a very literal way, connects each and every one of them. A ripple in the water will reverberate through the school, impacting each of the fish.

In the same way, humanity exists within a sea of energy that connects us all, and the current ripples are causing many to feel off-balance. We can do some simple exercises that will support us in regaining our balance while focusing on the highest good. It’s love and love alone that can take us beyond this place of fear and move us into a realm of calm, respectful acceptance of one another.

Each one of us as an individual can become an active participant in bringing about our own self-healing while contributing to the healing or our world. Here is one simple exercise I like to use personally because it is both simple and powerful.

Click below for a brief guided meditation on Self-Healing for Peace in Ourselves and for Peace in our World.

Meditation for Grounding and Healing

(Special thanks to Kiana Luna for the beautiful background music)

Love and light,

Chrissy Bayot

On June 16th 2025, Our founder, Jaime Kailani and her nephews Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm had the honor of visiting some of the children at the Kapiolani Hospital. Together they brought story-telling and music.
Jaime read Margy's Unique gift to the children and each child got to leave with their very own Margy Stuffy and Book.

Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm performed an intimate show for the children singing songs like " You are my Sunshine" Bringing smiles to the children's faces.

Since 2013, MAMA EARTH has presented an annual pop-up art exhibit that showcases outstanding work by emerging and established artists.

The 12.12.18 ONE PEACE Festival in Los Angeles was our most expansive to date featuring ART + MUSIC + FILM.

A holiday One Peace Pop Up

On December 12 2022, Mama Earth held a Holiday pop-up art show featuring artist Marley Van Peebles at HVWs Gallery.

The 2019 festival was held in Honolulu.

Since 2013, MAMA EARTH has presented an annual pop-up art exhibit that showcases outstanding work by emerging and established artists. The 2018 ONE PEACE Festival in Los Angeles was our most expansive to date featuring ART + MUSIC + FILM.

The next ONE PEACE Festival will be in 2026.

We visited Shriners Hospital Honolulu with Margy!

As a part of the Mama Earth initiative Project Om, Margy’s on her way to shine her light to children in hospital’s and homes in Hawaii, Los Angeles and around the world.

Jaime Kailani Bayot, who read to the keiki and donated 250 copies of her children’s book Margy’s Unique Gift — a touching story about her son’s experience with vitiligo, illustrated by her son, Marley Van Peebles.
Read more about Kailani’s visit to Shriners Hospital Honolulu.

For every book and toy Margy bought, we will donate one book and toy to a child in need.

Founded by artist Tiara Bella "TT" Keikichella is a festival that provides a platform for children to share their talents in the performing arts. The August 2019 Keikichella concert featuring Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm at Honolulu Night Market raised funds for children at Shriners Hospital.

Follow @keikichella

In August of 2021 Our founder Jaime Kailani was invited to do a TFC talk. She chose to speak about the importance of discovering your gifts, nurturing them and ultimately sharing them. She spoke of her experiences in discovering this and her how it created her path as an Entrepreneur and Mama Earth.

MAMA EARTH provided Mandala coloring packets to children in the Philippines with Operation smile.