#Moms4MDGs MDG #4 With Shot@Life:Reduce Child Mortality

#Moms4MDGs MDG #4 With Shot@Life:Reduce Child Mortality

The next twitter party will take place today Tuesday, November 12th
from 1-2pm EST, and later in the day,
another one at 9-10pm EST to accommodate time zones on MDG4!
The hashtag is #Moms4MDGs,
and we encourage all moms around the world to join in the discussion!
This month’s topic is child survival!

Moms4MDGs-Button
There are many bright spots in my life for which I am very thankful and writing for World Moms Blog is definitely a highlight. The lovely Jennifer being a close friend is another. World Moms Blog, a group of writers spread across the globe – are near and dear to me and thanks to Jenn, I was asked to be a Champion for Shot@Life which brought another group of ladies into my life that have blessed me beyond measure.
Hang on a second … here we go … an impromptu gathering on the streets of NYC!

 Social Good Summit NYC I would go anywhere in the world with these ladies!


Social Good Summit NYC
I would go anywhere in the world with these ladies!

And just what can all this goodness get together and do?
We can use our voices for change, we can use our voices for good, and together we can make a difference. Thanks to shot@life I step out of my comfort zone from time to time, earlier this year I interviewed a radio personality – on air. Yes – LIVE! For their Get a Shot/Give a shot campaign with Walgreens. Then at the Social Good Summit – I spoke on stage, well, I possibly shook more than I spoke … baby steps indeed compared to the hugeness of acts of others, but I am feeling my way, trying to make a mark in the world, and hoping to teach my children that we have a responsibility to those less fortunate along the way.

November 12th is World Pneumonia Day, I have had pneumonia twice in the last year and a half. It was not pretty. I was told that the lungs are our grief organ, so perhaps while I wanted everyone to believe on the outside that I was doing just fine, my body called my bluff. But here in the US, I had breathing treatments, steroids, medical attention and the option to have the vaccine the minute my body was ready for it. Elsewhere in the world, under different circumstances – my future may have hung in the balance.
Did you know that …

Pneumonia is the #1 killer of children under age 5 worldwide. 99% of all childhood deaths from pneumonia occur in the developing world.

Pneumonia is solvable Pneumonia is one of the most solvable problems in global health. We have the safe, effective and affordable tools necessary to help prevent children from contracting pneumonia and to treat those suffering with this illness. We can win the fight To advance progress, we must continue to scale up interventions that we know will save children’s lives, including continued access to vaccines, proper antibiotic treatment, improved sanitation, as well as the promotion of practices such as breastfeeding, frequent hand washing, care seeking, and the use of clean cookstoves to reduce indoor air pollution.
shot@life and The UN Foundation have opened my eyes to the plight of so many worldwide. I hope that you can join us and use your voice … there are children the world over counting on you.

Mark your calendars … make a difference!

World Moms Blog

P.S. Never been to a twitter party before?  Go to www.tweetchat.com and put in the hashtag: “#Moms4MDGs during the party times. From there you can retweet and tweet and the hashtag will automatically be added to your tweets. And, from there you can also view all of the party tweets!

This is an original post to World Moms Blog by contributor Nicole M. whose writing can also be found at SistersFromAnotherMister

Sisters From Another Mister

Sisters From Another Mister ... A blog born from the love of 'sisters' around the world who come together to lift eachother up no matter where they are on their life journey. Meet Nicole, a transplanted British born, South African raised, and American made Mom of two girls living on the sunny shores of South Florida, USA. A writer of stories, an avid picture taker and a keeper of shiny memories. Sharing the travels of a home school journey that takes place around the globe - because 'the world truly is our classroom'. Throw in infertility, adoption, separation, impending divorce (it has its own Doom and Gloom category on the blog) and a much needed added side of European humor is what keeps it all together on the days when it could quite clearly simply fall apart! This segues nicely into Finding a Mister for a Sister for continued amusement. When not obsessing over the perils of dating as an old person, saving the world thro organisations such as being an ambassador for shot@life, supporting GirlUP, The UN Foundation, ONE.org and being a member of the Global Team of 200 for social good keeps life in the balance. Be sure to visit, because 'even tho we may not have been sisters at the start, we are sisters from the heart.' http://www.sistersfromanothermister.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SistersFromAnotherMister https://twitter.com/thesistershood http://pinterest.com/thesistershood/ Global Team of 200 #socialgoodmoms Champion for Shot@Life and The United Nations Foundation

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SOCIAL GOOD: Tragedy, Hope and Raw Determination!

SOCIAL GOOD: Tragedy, Hope and Raw Determination!

Have you ever been to the movies and seen a trailer for a film that you previously had no interest in seeing and then suddenly thought to yourself “That is a film I CANNOT MISS”?

That was the idea behind GAVI’s most recent production. It’s a three-minute film by a talented young American film maker called Ryan Youngblood that I stumbled across in Kigali one day and I think he and producer Doune Porter more than fulfilled their brief.

On April 26, during WHO’s first-ever World Immunization Week, Ghana will introduce not just one but two new vaccines into its immunisation programme. (more…)

World Moms Blog

World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children. World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.

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SOCIAL GOOD: Inside the Shot@Life Campaign, Part 2

SOCIAL GOOD: Inside the Shot@Life Campaign, Part 2

(l to r) WMB editors Jennifer Burden, Nicole Melancon and Kyla P’an interviewing Shot@Life Executive Director, Peg Willingham

On January 29th, three members of the World Moms Blog editorial team—Nicole Melancon, Kyla P’an and WMB Founder, Jennifer Burden—traveled to Washington, DC to attend a summit focusing on the Shot@Life campaign, hosted by the United Nations Foundation. The following is excerpts from an interview we conducted with the campaign’s Executive Director, Peg Willingham, about Shot@Life, the UN Foundation’s new global vaccination initiative:

World Moms Blog: Peg, can you share some background with us about the UN Foundation and how the Shot@Life campaign evolved?

Peg Willingham: Sure, The UN Foundation was established in 1998, when the founder of CNN (Cable News Network), Ted Turner, who has a deep interest in foreign affairs,wanted a way to support the work of the United Nations. He made a US$1 billion grant, establishing the Foundation to serve as a (more…)

Kyla P'an (Portugal)

Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go

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SOCIAL GOOD: World Pneumonia Day

SOCIAL GOOD: World Pneumonia Day

Why write about World Pneumonia Day?  I mean, pneumonia is curable, right?  What’s the big deal?

Yes, pneumonia is often curable here, in the United States, but did you know that around the world a child dies from pneumonia every 20 seconds?

EVERY TWENTY SECONDS.

Dies. Dead. Stops living.

Did you know that pneumonia is the world’s biggest curable health problem?

Are we doing enough????

I was invited by the Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia to take a conference call this past Thursday that included Dr. Richard Besser from ABC News, Dr. Orin Levine of the International Vaccine Access Center of Johns Hopkins University and 6 fellow bloggers. We listened and discussed the global problem of pneumonia, one of the leading causes of death in children under 5 years old.

During the call I found my eyes tearing up at parts, (more…)

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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SOCIAL GOOD: A Global Vaccination Epiphany

SOCIAL GOOD: A Global Vaccination Epiphany

It’s near the end of the pediatrician’s visit.  Time for the vaccinations.  Ugh. My heart sinks.  “It’s just a pinch!” I say with a fake smile on my face.  “You will be just fine.”

My daughter begins to climb under the examination table and repeat out loud, “I don’t want a shot! I don’t want a shot!”  Tears begin to pour out, anxiety levels rise in the room, including my own.

“Why do I have to have one, Mommy?”  “It prevents you from getting a really bad disease that can make you really sick”, I say. She can’t really comprehend the enormity of that statement at 4 years old.  She continues to protest, from under the table.

The doctor and nurse softly try to get her out.  Finally, they just pick her up and sit her back on the table. I sit right next to her, holding her. My heart is in my stomach. (more…)

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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