Yay, boobies!

Now that we’ve got your attention, we’d like to direct you to this week’s Seven Questions with Jill Youse, the founder and executive director of the International Breast Milk Project.

Last year, the 29-year-old Youse had a freezer full of excess breast milk from nursing her newborn daughter. She thought it would be a waste to pour it down the drain. And so she did a little research, and found that if every baby in the world were exclusively breastfed for the first two months of life, 1.3 million lives would be saved every year. She looked into donating her milk to an orphan clinic in Durban, South Africa, rounded up some donations from companies that helped her with the shipping and the processing, and now, nine months later, there are hundreds of women around the U.S. who want to donate, too. And it won’t cost them a thing. Take a look at the interview here, and learn how you can help.    

A side note: Youse has only ever left the U.S. once in her entire life, and it was for a two-week trip more than a decade ago. So, she’s never been to Africa, and has never visited the orphans who’ve benefited from her hard work.  As she said during the interview, “I’ve heard that there are 2-for-1 specials on airfares to Africa through February, but I’m not sure if I can make it.” So if there’s anyone out there who wants to help (Angelina, I’m talking to you!), give us a holler at passportblog@ceip.org.