Love beyond borders: Mother’s Day around the world

Mother’s Day in Canada is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It’s a special time in Canada and around the world where families gather to celebrate the women who raise, guide and inspire us.

Whether it is a busy brunch at a local restaurant or a quiet day spent together at home, Canadians use this day to show their love and gratitude. While the ways we celebrate may look different from one house to the next, the spirit of honouring motherhood is something we share with people all over the world.

In this article, we are travelling across the globe to explore how ancient traditions evolved to the modern celebrations we celebrate today. You’ll learn how Mother’s Day is celebrated around the world, and be introduced to five incredible moms from Peru, Nepal, Ethiopia, Uganda and Thailand. These women live in countries supported by World Vision Canada, and their stories of strength and sacrifice show the true heart of motherhood.

From community volunteers to hardworking farmers, these moms are changing their families’ lives and proving that a mother’s love knows no borders.

Ancient origins of Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day wasn’t officially recognized in Canada until 1914, but people have been celebrating moms for thousands of years. This tradition actually has its origins in several ancient cultures:

• Egypt: Ancient Egyptians looked up to the goddess Isis as the mother of all pharaohs. She represented the perfect mother and wife who protected nature and used magic. Every year the Egyptians held a huge festival to honour her and celebrate her maternal spirit.
• Greece: The Greeks celebrated Rhea who was the mother of Zeus and many other gods. Every spring they held rituals to show their love and respect by waking up at dawn to offer her fresh flowers, honey cakes and special drinks.
• Rome: Romans honoured a goddess named Cybele during a multi-day celebration called the Festival of Hilaria. This event happened around the March equinox. During the festival they showed deep devotion to Cybele and called her the Magna Mater or “Great Mother.”

While these ancient festivals were rooted in religion and mythology, they laid the foundation for how we honour women today. Over time, these traditions shifted from worshipping goddesses to celebrating real-life heroes in our own homes. As the holiday spread across the globe, every culture added its own unique flavour and customs.

By looking at how different nations celebrate today, we can see how the ancient respect for the “Great Mother” has turned into a worldwide day of love and appreciation.

Mother’s Day around the world

Today, Mother’s Day is mostly a secular holiday rather than a religious one. It is a time for people to celebrate all the important women who support them including moms, wives, grandmothers, aunts, friends and mentors. Here is a look at how Mother’s Day traditions around the world honour these special women.

Canada

In Canada, Mother’s Day is the busiest day for many restaurants. Families love to get together over a big meal to celebrate the special moms in their lives. Based on the latest data from OpenTable, the number of people dining out on this holiday jumped 26 per cent in 2025. This year, experts predict that 37 per cent of Canadians will keep that tradition going.

Other Canadian Mother’s Day traditions include:

• Wearing carnations: People often wear different coloured flowers to honour their moms. Wearing a pink or red carnation signifies that your mom is still living. A white carnation is worn to remember a mother who has passed away.
• Giving gifts: There are many great ways to find local and eco-friendly presents for every type of mom. You can check out our Mother’s Day gift guide to find the perfect match!
• Performing acts of service: If you feel like Mother’s Day has become too much about shopping, try doing something helpful instead. You can show your appreciation by doing spring cleaning around the house or volunteering at your mom’s favourite charity.

Many different cultures across Canada have their own special ways to celebrate. For example, Franco-Canadians often celebrate La Fête des Mères in late May or early June depending on the church calendar.

In many Indigenous cultures, motherhood is seen as a sacred connection to Mother Earth. It is often viewed as a shared role where aunts, grandmothers and Elders work together to raise and protect the next generation. While many families celebrate with modern gifts and meals, they also honour women as the “givers of life” through traditional songs, community feasts and ceremonies that celebrate the resilience of Indigenous women.

All these different traditions from people across the country make this important day much more interesting and diverse.

Peru

In Peru, we honour moms like Antonia for the strength and wisdom they share with their families. Antonia is a dedicated community volunteer who spends her time teaching others what she’s learned about healthy relationships, children’s rights and positive parenting through World Vision programs. By being a great example, she has helped her 16-year-old daughter Milagros find her own voice.

Through her mother’s encouragement, Milagros gained the confidence to become a competitive runner. She has won many races in her town and works hard every day to train for the Bolivarian Games while keeping up with her schoolwork. Even though the whole community is proud of her, Milagros knows her biggest fan is her mom.

This spirit of love and support is at the heart of Peruvian Mother’s Day, which is called Día de la Madre. Celebrated on the second Sunday in May, this holiday is so important that the festivities often last an entire week. Families get together for large lunches, dinners and trips to celebrate the women in their lives. Families get together for large lunches, dinners and trips to celebrate the women in their lives.

Peruvians also have a very unique way of honouring mothers who have passed away. Families visit cemeteries to clean and decorate the graves of their mothers, grandmothers and sisters. They bring flowers, balloons and even food and drinks to the gravesite to spend time remembering their loved ones in a positive way.

Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, we lift up mothers like Fikirte, who show incredible strength by working hard to provide a better life for their children. Fikirte is a mother who refused to let poverty stop her family from succeeding. Against the odds, she started a small business baking injera (a popular flatbread in Ethiopia) on a traditional clay stove that demanded an excessive amount of firewood each month and filled the air with choking fumes.

“Almost everything I made went straight back out to buy firewood,” Fikirte recalled. “It was backbreaking work, but I had to keep going, somehow, to provide for my children.”

Through her determination and the support of World Vision programs, Fikirte received a modern stove and 200 kilograms of teff, a grain native to Ethiopia, to revitalize her business.

The stove is easy to use, efficient and safe—no more harmful fumes filling her kitchen. Customers appreciate the delicious food and her income increased dramatically, allowing her to not only provide for her children’s daily needs but to also put away savings for the future.

Her hard work is a great example for her children, showing them that they can reach their goals if they stay focused and keep dreaming.

This same spirit of enduring love is found in the Ethiopian tradition of Antrosht. This is a three-day festival that happens in the fall once the rainy season ends. It is a time for families to travel from all over the country to gather at home. Unlike other holidays, the children take charge by bringing all the ingredients for a massive feast. Boys usually bring meat like lamb or bull, while girls bring vegetables, cheese, butter and spices.

As the traditional meal called “hash” is being prepared, moms get to relax and enjoy the company of family and loved ones. Once the meal is finished, the celebration continues with singing and dancing. A unique ritual during this time involves mothers and daughters rubbing butter on each other’s faces as a sign of love and a fresh start for the new season. These three days of food, music and family show just how much mothers are respected in Ethiopian culture.

Nepal

In Nepal, we recognize mothers like Amrita, whose perseverance has changed her family’s future. After her husband passed away, Amrita worked hard as a single mother to provide for her two children.

Through a goat-rearing program implemented by World Vision, she turned a small grant into a successful farm. Today she is an independent farmer who can afford to send her daughter to school and her son to engineering college. Amrita even joined a local “Mother’s Group” to support other women in her community.

This deep respect for mothers is at the heart of the Nepali holiday Aama ko Mukh Herne Din, which means “looking at mother’s face.” This special day follows the lunar calendar and usually happens in April or May on the darkest night of the month.

Children show their love by giving their mothers new clothes, sweets and fruit. In a beautiful show of respect, children often bow down and touch their mother’s feet to receive a blessing. Families also spend hours cooking traditional meals like dal bhat and sel roti to share together.

For those whose mothers have passed away, the day is spent in remembrance. Many people travel to a sacred pond called Matatirha Kunda to make offerings of rice, milk and flowers. This ritual is a way to bridge the gap between the living and the spirit world. Whether through a family feast or a quiet prayer at a temple, the traditions of Nepal show that a mother’s love and hard work are never forgotten.

Uganda

In Uganda, mothers like Gloria, who overcame immense hardship through strength and resilience, are the heartbeat of their community. In 2020, Gloria faced a terrifying experience when she had to give birth on a dirty clinic floor and clean herself up with swamp water. Despite the risks to her health, Gloria left the clinic to protect her newborn daughter. Unfortunately, Gloria’s birth experience isn’t unusual for women in the community.

Four years later, Gloria returned to a transformed health centre with clean running water and modern care. “This was more than I had ever prayed for,” said Gloria. “My heart is full of gratitude, and I feel safe with my baby.”

She gave birth to a healthy daughter named Stella, which means “don’t worry.” Gloria’s journey is a powerful reminder of how Ugandan mothers constantly strive for a better and healthier future for their children.

This deep respect for motherhood is part of the foundation of Ugandan culture. In Uganda, a mother is often seen as a caregiver for her entire community, not just her own family.

She is the person who passes down traditions, teaches children how to be respectful and keeps the family heritage alive. While children show their love every day by helping with chores and supporting their elders, Mother’s Day has become a popular time to give extra thanks.

Today, many Ugandan families celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May. It has become a special moment for families to get together, share meaningful gifts and enjoy large outings.

While the holiday is becoming more modern with social media posts and formal parties, the core message remains the same. It is a day to honour the “Great Mothers” who guide the next generation and shape the values of the country.

Thailand

In Thailand, we see how a mother’s sacrifice can fuel the biggest dreams. Dr. Yim grew up in a family that struggled with poverty, watching her mother work tirelessly starting at 2 a.m. every single day to support them. This hard work gave Dr. Yim the chance to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.

Now a trained doctor, she shows her thanks by giving back to her community. As a doctor at a local hospital, she provides the best care possible to her patients, turning her mother’s years of sacrifice into a life of service for others.

Thai Mother’s Day, or Wan Mae, is celebrated on August 12 to honour the birthday of Queen Sirikit, who is seen as the mother of the nation. The day is filled with blue decorations and portraits of the Queen Mother. In the morning, families start the day by giving offerings to Buddhist monks to earn merit and good fortune. Schools also hold special ceremonies where children bow at their mothers’ feet as a sign of deep respect.

The most famous symbol of this day is the white jasmine flower. These flowers represent the purity of a mother’s unconditional love because of their white colour and sweet scent. Children across the country give jasmine garlands to their mothers and grandmothers to say, “Suk san wan mae,” or Happy Mother’s Day. From the royal celebrations in Bangkok to small family gatherings, the holiday is a time to pause and honour the women who give everything for their children.

Give back to moms on Mother’s Day

Celebrating motherhood is about more than just a single day. It’s about supporting the strength and dreams of women everywhere. If you want to give a gift that truly makes a difference, World Vision Canada offers many ways to give back.

• You can choose gifts that help empower moms to start their own businesses with tools like sewing machines or farm equipment.
• There are also gifts for new mothers that provide life-saving vitamins and delivery kits to ensure a safe birth for both mom and baby.
• For mothers who want to gain new skills while raising their children, you can support programs that build resilience and provide paid childcare.

The best part is that many of these gifts are matched by government grants, meaning your donation can multiply up to six times in value.

This Mother’s Day, you can honour the special woman in your life by helping another mother across the world build a brighter future for her family.