How high school registration reminded me I’m a lucky mom #Blogust

Shannan Younger — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 02:36:12 +0000

Today, my baby girl started high school. The first day of school is always right around her birthday, and those two events occurring in tandem make it impossible to ignore the passage of time. They also underscore the excitement that comes with a new year, be it of life or of school.

High school seems like a big milestone, and I decided I wanted to find a throwback to an earlier milestone. I found this picture from her first day of kindergarten, the same week that she turned five.

The contrast between then and now, 9 years later, is striking. (Not just in terms of wardrobe, though I do think she’s still rebelling against the Catholic school dress code. That’s a subject for another post.) She’s not only taller than the lock on the door, she’s taller than I am.

I’ve always said that I’m lucky to be her mama.

I am also lucky to live in a nation where being a mother means that you expect to see your child reach age five and go to kindergarten, in part because we have easy access to vaccines.

Filling out the requisite paperwork for high school registration, including medical forms and proof of vaccination, reminded me of how lucky we are. Vaccinating is a matter of a trip to the doctor or even the Walgreens just down the street.

I thought of the mothers who walk for hours or even days to get their children immunized as I completed those forms. My thoughts turned to the mothers who have lost their sweet babies to vaccine-preventable diseases. I shuddered remembering that a child dies every 20 seconds from a vaccine-preventable disease.

As a Shot@Life Champion, I want to do something to change that.

Blogust happens during the month of August and bloggers from across the country share throwback baby photos of themselves or their children at important milestones with #Blogust, just like this post.

This year marks the fifth year of Blogust helping kids around the world reach their fifth birthday thanks to the power of global vaccines, so sharing a photo of my girl at age five seems appropriate. See what other bloggers shared on the Blogust website here.

For every social media like, comment or share (up to 30,000), MAM will make a donation to help provide a lifesaving vaccine to a child. Funds generated by Blogust will directly support Shot@Life’s implementing partners, UNICEF and WHO, so that they can deliver measles vaccines to the countries with the most need.

Please help other moms around the world be able to see their babies reach age five. You can do so by commenting on this post. Or you can share it on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest using #Blogust.

Thank you!

Prior Post: Fun facts about elephants for World Elephant Day

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This World Immunization Week, let’s give all kids a shot at life

Shannan Younger — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 19:27:10 +0000

One thing that parents have in common is a desire to protect their children. We all dream of seeing our kids grow up safe and healthy. That dream does not become a reality for many, however, because around the world, a child dies every 20 seconds from a vaccine-preventable disease.

That statistic shocked me when I first learned it. Perhaps it shouldn’t have. I remember when my daughter received her first round of vaccinations as an infant. “I’ve seen every single one of these diseases and they are awful. You do not want your child to ever have to face them,” my pediatrician reassured me.

I’m lucky. I live in the United States and the doctor’s office is a short drive away. In some part of the world, mothers walk 25 miles in one day to get their kids vaccines that will protect them from those deadly diseases. In Haiti, for example, which is less than 2,000 miles away from Chicago, parents must go to tremendous effort to secure vaccines for their kids.

Still other parents have no access to those immunizations at all. “when I talk to a mother in Chicago about access to vaccines and I talk to a mom in Mozambique, I get completely different answers,” says Devi Thomas, director of Shot@Life, a campaign by the United Nations Foundation to educate, connect, and empower individuals to champion global vaccines. “These children are no different from the children in our own lives and they lack the access to basic health services that our children have.”

One in five children around the world lacks access to immunizations they need to stay healthy. Lack of access is one of the big reasons approximately 1.5 million children in developing countries die each year from diseases like measles, polio, and pneumonia, diseases that are all easily preventable. If you’re wondering about the impact of vaccines, check out these graphics by the Wall Street Journal.

Immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective means to help children grow into healthy adults. We have made enormous progress, but there is more work to be. World Immunization Week, which is held during the last week of April, is a campaign by World Health Organization that aims to raise awareness on the critical importance of full immunization throughout life.

If you’re wondering if this impacts those of us in the U.S., it does. Remember that diseases don’t need a passport to travel. The recent measles outbreak illustrates that these diseases can have a big impact in the U.S., and that such an outbreak can be costly. Immune compromised children in our area, such as those who have undergone treatment for cancer or organ transplants, are particularly susceptible to these diseases.

If you find it unacceptable that more than 300 kids in the world die each day from measles and think that eradicating polio in the two nations where it remains would be a great thing, there are things you can do. Tell your lawmakers that you care about funding for global vaccines, which makes up less than one percent of the U.S. federal budget.

Shot@Life has a website that makes it easy to send a letter or email to your representatives in Congress here. You can also become a Shot@Life Champion who advocates for global vaccines to their policymakers and within their communities. You can register to be a Champion here.

In addition, every dollar donated helps send a vaccine, so a $20 donation protects 20 kids. Let’s give all kids a shot at life. Donations can be made to Shot@Life here.

Prior Post: Lyric Opera’s The King and I is a great Mother’s Day treat

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