The sound of a popping balloon recurred once a minute for half an hour on Sept. 22, startling many students around the Petch Fountain. The noise was part of Oxfam UVic’s Maternal Mortality Awareness event. Each popped balloon represented the one woman a minute who dies of preventable pregnancy-related disorders.

“It’s a little startling,” said Emily Groundwater, the leader of Oxfam UVic.

The event took place at midday near the entrance to the Macpherson Library, where club volunteers distributed information on Oxfam and the causes of maternal mortality. Passersby were encouraged to pop a balloon themselves and to sign the club’s petition demanding the Canadian government devote 0.7 per cent of gross national income to aiding public services in undeveloped nations. Part of this aid would assist in providing the vital medical care mothers around the world lack.

According to Oxfam’s most recent statistics, each year 500,000 women die due to pregnancy-related conditions; most of the women live in the impoverished nations of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Among the leading causes of maternal death are hemorrhage, infection and obstructed labour. Such conditions kill more women of childbearing age in developing countries than any other cause, despite the fact that over 90 per cent of these deaths are preventable. Children left motherless are at three times more likely to die before the age of five.

This is the first year that UVic has had an active branch of Oxfam. Groundwater noted that many universities across Canada, including UBC and Queens, already have large groups, most of whom staged the balloon popping demonstration at the same time as the UVic group.

Oxfam addresses many issues within the scope of human rights advocacy, several of which will be showcased in upcoming UVic events such as World Food Day on Oct. 17 and World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. The organization also supports human rights initiatives in developed nations, notably the We Can campaign which operates in Canada and abroad to end violence against women.

“Oxfam covers all spectrums,” said Groundwater, “so it’s a great place to go if you’re interested in the issues.”

Groundwater said Oxfam operates on the ideology of helping people help themselves.

“We’re not really a charitable organization,” she said. “We’re about creating positive and lasting change and that change needs to be sustainable.”

For more information on Oxfam UVic visit the Oxam UVic Facebook group.