No Parents Left Behind: Everyone Can Be a Life-Saving Hero!!I am excited...

No Parents Left Behind: Everyone Can Be a Life-Saving Hero!!

I am excited...: Everyone Can Be a Life-Saving Hero!! I am excited and humbled for the opportunity to participate again in the   Shot@Life annual Blog...

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.

The Power of One

Happy Anniversary Shot@Life!!!  I can hardly believe that it was 3 years ago in January that I attended the first Shot@Life Summit in Washington DC where the campaign was inaugurated.  Later on April 26, 2012 the campaign did their National Launch from Atlanta, Georgia.

January 2012 Shot@Life Champions

 We grew from 45  champions in 2012 to  600+ champions now in  50 states. We had raised  over $3.5 million,enough  for 15.8 million vaccines  and we keep growing  each day.


April is a very important month for children!  We celebrate Children’s Day on April 30, and we celebrate World Immunization Week this April 24 – 30.  During this week organizations around the world will raise their voices to educate, promote and increase the rate of immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases.  As a nurse from a developing country, I still remember walking into small rural towns & 

seeing children with distended abdomens who were suffering from measles, diarrhea and other preventable childhood diseases.  I witnessed, firsthand, the pain and sorrow of many mothers when their children were suffering.  I remember their stoic faces of other mothers holding back tears while cradling a dead child in their arms.  The sad part is that all those childhood diseases could have been prevented with one simple vaccine.

I have always believed in the power of ONE.  One (1) is a powerful number and without ONE you will not reach 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, etc.   Every worthy project, program or cause started because ONE person believed in change, or because ONE person had the courage to follow his or her dream and passion.  For example, on April 12^th, 60 years ago in 1955, Jonas Salk’s inactivated polio vaccine was proven safe and effective in protecting children from the poliovirus.  Every ONE of you can be ONE of these real change agents!  You are that ONE person who can make a change and save many children’s lives!  You have the power!  You are the ONE to love; you are the ONE to be excited; and you are the ONE to believe in and share this cause with many others.

ONE single vaccine makes a difference between life and death in many cases.  ONE single person donating $20.00 will vaccinate a child for life against polio, measles, pneumonia and diarrhea.  In contrast, treatment costs for ONE child who falls ill from ONE of those diseases can easily $100 to $1000, or more.

I love the Shot@Life Campaign!  This campaign encompasses everything ONE person needs to make a difference in the life of ONE child.  Globally, polio has been reduced 99% and Africa has not seen a new case of polio since July 2014.  However, as long as a single child remains infected, all children are at risk.  While polio is a distant memory for many of us here in the U.S., it remains a threat to the childhood of so many children living in developing countries.

Vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, diarrhea and pneumonia are real and kill many children every year.  For example, for less than ONE (1) US dollar [$1.00], ONE (1) child can be safely and effectively vaccinated against measles.  Shot@Life means providing children around the world with the opportunity to receive the needed vaccines that will give them, truly, a “shot at life”.

You are the ONE that can make a difference this week by pledging your support for global health and educating yourself about our campaign, or donating at www.shotatlife.org.  Shot@Life is a national movement to educate, connect and empower Americans to become champion for vaccines.  It is continuing to strengthen the call to action for this global cause.  Together, we can help save a child’s life every 20 seconds by expanding access to these needed vaccines.  For children in developing countries, a vaccine gives them a chance at many of life’s “firsts”— first smiles, first birthdays, first steps and more.  [BB1]http://www.cdc.gov/features/measles/#adv2vax #va

We are holding a Champion Training this Wednesday night, April 29, from 8-9:30 p.m.. Please join us! Click this link to sign up. #vaccines work @Shot@Life #nurseswhovaccinate.

Letters to the Editor - BALedger.com: Community

Letters to the Editor - BALedger.com: Community It is important to realize that these diseases are real and are killing many children around the globe.  also many mothers walk 10 to 15 miles to the nearest clinic to get their children immunize.

Letter to the editor: Felisa Hilbert: A need to vaccinate children - Tulsa World: Letters To The Editor

Letter to the editor: Felisa Hilbert: A need to vaccinate children - Tulsa World: Letters To The Editor

No Parents Left Behind: Polio a disease that still Kill children in Afghan...

No Parents Left Behind: Polio a disease that still Kill children in Afghan...:   The Ebola outbreak in West African countries is a great reminder of why we need to invest in prevention before we have an epidemic.     ...

Polio a disease that still Kill children in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria

 The Ebola outbreak in West African countries is a great reminder of why we need to invest in prevention before we have an epidemic.   

As we commemorate World Polio Day today it is important to note how close we are to eliminating many of the World’s most deadly and debilitating diseases with vaccines that cost just a few dollars. 

                    

 Vaccines make a difference. Polio, a disease that once claimed the lives of millions around the world—and paralyzed nearly 1,000 children a day—has now dropped 99 percent in the number of cases worldwide over the last twenty years thanks to a coordinated global vaccination effort with agencies like WHO, UNICEF, CDC, Rotary International, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations.

India, one of the countries where polio remains a serious threat, in January celebrated a significant milestone: two years without any new reported cases of polio. The remaining three countries where polio transmission has never been stopped—Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan-- continue to make tremendous progress in getting us to a polio-free world.   For Example Nigeria reported only 6 cases of polio in 2014 compared to 48 cases in 2013.  However, the disease has recently reemerged in areas that had been polio free for years.  Angola, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have experienced a recent resurgence in polio transmissions.

I was seven years old when I learned about polio.  I was surprised, confused and didn’t understand why my classmate had braces on her legs.  I still remember the sadness I saw on this girl eyes when the children were playing outside.  Until then I never saw anyone with polio or knew what it was.  So with sadness I went home and asked why the little child had braces.   I remember learning about children being paralyzed by polio and how many die from the disease.  It was scary topic for a 7 years old and from that day I never complained about getting my routine vaccination shots and decided that I will be a doctor or nurse to help others.

                    

Vaccines don’t just prevent illness; they give children like me the chance to grow up healthy, attend school, and become productive members of society. 

They are a best-buy in global health, with a low cost and a long-term payoff that extends far beyond the health of an individual child.

Please join me and became a Champion for childhood immunizations by visiting Shot@Life.org, learn about the value of vaccines or make a donation in this linkhttp://www.globalproblems-globalsolutions.org/site/TR?fr_id=1080&pg=entry---Just $5.00 will protect a child from polio and measles for his lifetime—the individual acts add up to make a big difference.