Everyone Can Be a Life-Saving Hero!!

I am excited and humbled for the opportunity to participate again in the Shot@Life annual Blogust blog relay.  As I write this blog I feel such gratitude for this relay!.  I have loved this campaign since its beginning in 2012 when I became a champion.  Since then I have loved advocating, creating awareness and fundraising for Shot@Life.  Like I have said before, this cause has resonated with me and it should resonate with anyone who cares about human lives - especially children’s lives.  This is very personal for me, because I witnessed, firsthand, the pain and sorrow of mothers when their children were suffering from easily curable illnesses.  I remember some mothers holding back their tears while cradling their dead child in their arms.  Many times I felt so powerless to ease the pain in these mothers’ eyes, or to prevent a child’s death because we lacked the most basic of medical care.  It was so heartbreaking when we didn’t have enough medicine and vaccines to administer, or when mothers came too late for us to do anything to save their children.

 This quote has been an inspiration to me from my younger years until the present.  When someone says what can I do? I am only one; I said one is powerful and everything starts with one person wanting to make a change and help. I remember that every time I questioned the disparities I saw in my society and the extreme poverty in the remote villages and farms, my father would tell me: “You can change this and make a difference.”  It sounded crazy at the time - what little could I do to make a difference in people’s lives?  But I believed in his words and studied hard in school.  He died suddenly at the age of 38.  I was eight years old and learned very fast that, yes; every one of us can make a difference and do something to make the lives of others better. I learned the one person can change things and give hope.  One hug, one smile or one act of kindness can make a difference in someone else’s life.

http://noparentsleftbehind.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-power-of-one.html

I was born in Mexico and went to nursing school there.  One of my favorite things to do while in school, and afterward, was to participate in many vaccine campaigns.  As a young nurse going to rural areas with containers full of precious vaccines was an incredible feeling, the whole experience was full of excitement!  Children would run and hide from us not wanting the needles; and their determined mothers would chase them down, and then line them up on the concrete school basket ball courts or soccer fields where we would set up.  Many other mothers came from neighboring communities having walked many miles, riding horses, donkeys or using a canoe to get there.  Over and over I would hear the mothers say “You need to get your shots so you will not get sick and die like your brother…sister, cousin or friend”.  These mothers knew how important the vaccines were for their children.  They knew that one (1) shot was the difference between life and death for them, and did everything they could to make sure they got vaccinated.  As they would gather and line up, I also saw many children with distended abdomens where insufficient nutrition was evident.  They looked anemic and some were hungry; others were suffering from diarrhea, pneumonia, tetanus and many other illnesses.  I promise myself that I will do everything in my power to help and make a difference in others children lives."A Shot@Life From Mexico to the World"(a young nurse's story)

Today I am challenging you to use your power as one person who saves the life of one child.  Do you know that every 20 seconds one child dies in some poor country for lack of a vaccine for an easily-preventable disease?  Be a hero and save some lives by donating a vaccine to a child in need every time.  YOU comment, share, like and repost this blog entry to any of your social media channels with the hashtag #blogust.  Every single one of those actions (comments, share, like & repost) translates to one vaccine donated to a child around the world by Project Perpetual, Shot@Life and The UN Foundation.

1. Children in Fort Portal, Uganda (Fall 2012)

                                                      

2. Children inTetxiquila,Veracruz, Mexico  (Summer 2015)

Remember, you can be a hero and give children like these a shot to a healthy life. Every comment, like and share =  1 vaccine! and you can do all three actions in just 5 minutes! 

This month, during Shot@Life’s Blogust 2015—a month-long blog relay - some of North America's most beloved online writers, photo and video bloggers and Shot@Life Champions will come together and share inspirational quotes for their children.