All Children Deserve a Chance to Live a Healthy, Happy Life!
April 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This week, the first-ever World Immunization Week kicks off with Shot@Life! Shot@Life educates, connects and empowers Americans to champion vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries.
Some moms walk 15 miles to reach life-saving vaccines for their children. We’re asking you to spend 15 minutes or less each day during World Immunization Week to help spread the word about the Shot@Life campaign and the importance of global vaccines to give every child a shot at a healthy life. Click here to learn more about how you can help.
Be sure to join us for the Shot@Life Celebrate Childhood Twitter Party!!
On Thursday, April 26, the Shot@Life campaign will be celebrating its national launch at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, GA. Join the party on Twitter from 9am – 12pm ET via #vaccineswork.
Some wonderful Partners and Champions will be hosting each hour:
9-10 am ET: Learn about vaccines with @shotatlife, @unfoundation, & @amillionmoms
10-11 am ET: How do you get involved in Shot@Life? Champion hour hosted by @shotofprev
11-12 pm ET: Stories from the field hosted by @gatesfoundation
Invite your friends! Tweet this!
A Health post I visited in Guatemala where life saving vaccines are given to children.
A new trial has found that pneumococcal vaccine is effective in preventing severe pneumonia, the leading cause of death among children in developing countries. One in five children does not have access to vaccines that prevent deadly diseases, like measles, pneumonia or diarrhea. All of these diseases are easily preventable with immunizations. 2.5 million children, under the age of 5, die every year as the result of infectious diseases. Nintey-nine percent of those children live in developing countries around the world.
As mothers, we all have a common goal. We all want the same things for our children - we all want to protect and nurture our children. The urgency for vaccine development to prevent the spread of numerous infectious diseases in these developing countries can not be emphasized enough.
These vaccines cost very little and they can give children a shot at a healthier, happier life.
Giving Back as a Family
March 8, 2012 by 4 Comments
YES! I love Members Unite, our family is really excited to join this wonderful community. {Really Excited} We are always trying to find ways to give back as a family. We strive to teach our boys to give and have servants hearts. The boys were so excited after my trip to Guatemala with Save the Children, they still love looking at the pictures of the mothers and children we visited throughout the remote villages in Guatemala. A family mission trip is on our bucket list and we hope to check it off sooner than later.
In the mean time, Members Unite has filled a need and a longing we have had to give back globally.
Members Unite is a simple, interactive, fun way to fund amazing projects. They find the most interesting, impactful, meaningful projects and then let their members decide which projects get funded. This is possible because the projects are funded through member contributions. And the members ultimately control the outcome each month. We’re all in this together. One person giving $20 is a drop in the ocean. One thousand people giving $20 brings clean water to a village for a lifetime. Members Unite helps us all do more than we could do on our own. For as little as $5 a month, we are able to take an active role in deciding which projects get funding, and how much funding they get. And 100% of our monthly contribution will go toward the winning projects.
We let the boys read over the many projects currently listed on Members Unite. Talk about a great learning experience for them… they learn of the needs of people all over the world and the amazing projects being put together to meet those needs. The boys have agreed to put their money together {$1.25 each) to pay for the monthly gift and vote on their favorite project each month.
This month we are voting for a project for infants in Guatemala (no surprise there) If this project wins, Members Unite will provide 20 infants with milk for 500 days – over a year’s worth of sustenance.
I encourage you to check out this fun community of folks giving back for as little as $5 a month; the best part is seeing where your gift goes each month and how the recipient is being blessed by the gift they receive. Priceless!! There is an annual fee of $25 and then the monthly fee of $5 a month.
If you decide to join us on Members Unite, please let me know in the comments below! I’m going to do a contest and giveaway a $25 gift card to to one of my readers that joins Members Unite!
{The giveaway is not hosted by Members Unite or Clever Girls Collective. Solely hosted by Social Savvy Mom}
Baby Wearing Around the World
March 1, 2012 by 3 Comments
If you can not view this post, you can go to the Million Moms Challenge site to view in its entirety here. {Not affiliated with One Million Moms}
Children are our future and their future starts with the first 1000 days.
February 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
If you can not see the post below, please visit the original and read more about the importance of babies first 1000 days here.
The Power of Women-to-Women Relationships
January 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I have been blessed with the opportunity to continue working with Million Moms Challenge as a community leader. We would love to have you join us in the community to share, ask questions or maybe encourage another by answering a few questions.
Giving children a shot at healthier, happier lives.
December 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
I recently returned from a trip to Guatemala with Save the Children. We visited a health post in the Vipecbalam community in Nebaj, it was a temporary health clinic set up by the Ministry of Health and supported by Save the Children. Save the Children is working in these remote locations offering families healthcare and vaccinations from trained community health workers. Unfortunately, many more are not getting the care that Save the Children offers the communities we visited, there is still so much more work to be done. We need many more health workers protecting and saving lives….
Continue reading this post on the ABC News site Million Moms Challenge here.
Health Post
Please be sure to stop by my post on ABC and chime in, you could win an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and a donation in your name to Global Giving!
“Making Life: A Risky Proposition” — A Diane Sawyer “20/20” Special
December 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I recently took a trip to Guatemala with Save the Children via the ABC News campaign, Million Moms Challenge. I am putting together a number of posts from my trip and hope to share each day spent with the wonderful Guatemalan community leaders and people.
This Friday Diane Sawyer will air a 20/20 special as part of ABC News’ year-long global health series. ”Making Life: A Risky Proposition,” an eye-opening hour report on challenges faced by mothers in developing countries, as well as low-cost, low-tech solutions that can help save millions of lives, airs on a Diane Sawyer “20/20″ Special on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 (10:00 – 11:00 pm ET) on the ABC Television Network. Coverage from my trip might be shown on this ABC special.
“There is so much we can do together – so many simple ways for us all to link arms to help every mother and child have a chance to lead a healthy life,” said Diane Sawyer, who was shocked by the slow pace of medical progress in the many years she has reported on women in Afghanistan. We talk to people who are dedicated to saving women’s lives: midwives and doctors in the field; New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and Christy Turlington Burns, model turned activist after she herself experienced hemorrhaging in childbirth. We also follow a young pregnant obstetrician who has volunteered for maternal health programs around the world, for an American doctor’s perspective on the crisis in Sierra Leone. The special also includes a report by Deborah Roberts from Bangladesh, a country which has seen a dramatic improvement in health outcomes for pregnant women in part as a result of the introduction of cell phone technology.
The Million Moms Challenge , a partnership of ABC News and the United Nations Foundation, is a call to action to engage a million Americans with a million moms oversees around issues that impact pregnancy, childbirth and children’s health. You can like the Million Moms Challenge on Facebook or follow @AMillionMoms on Twitter and use the hash-tag #AmillionMoms. The Million Moms Challenge is part of ABC News’ year-long global health series, “Be the Change: Save a Life” sponsored in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Hispanics Open Up About Oral Care
November 19, 2011 by 3 Comments
Did you know that 67% of U.S. Hispanics rate their overall oral health as “excellent”or “good”…yet two-thirds experienced at least one oral health issue in the past year?
Unfortunately their are major gaps in oral health knowledge and access to care.
A recent national survey led by the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) and sponsored by Crest and Oral-B found that, when compared to the general population, many Hispanics in the U.S. are facing barriers to achieving better oral health. Specifically, the majority of U.S. Hispanics believe more information about good oral health habits, access to affordable oral health care, and more Hispanic and Spanish-speaking dentists and dental hygienists in their communities would help them in achieving better oral health.
Click on image below to view larger.
What many do not realize is that oral health and overall health may be connected. In fact, some studies suggest that poor oral health may be linked to other health complications, including stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
Lack of knowledge presents a key obstacle to achieving better oral health among Hispanics. Hispanics tend to have many misperceptions about oral health that are not shared by the majority of other Americans. There is a great need to reach the Hispanic community with English barriers and educate them about these recent findings.
A great way for us to turn the current statistics around is by educating our children about better oral health routines and habits.
Below is the daily routine our family of 6 stick to…
FLOSS!!! No matter how tired or late we get to bed… we must floss before bed every night!
Brush twice daily (after every meal is even better)
Mouthwash – to prevent the formation of plaque. It also reaches places you may have missed while brushing.
Lastly, be sure to visit your dentist every 6 months; regular cleaning’s x-rays and checkups performed by your dentist are the key to your continued health.
You can download the following reports to read more and learn the facts about Hispanics and oral care.
- Hispanics Open Up About Oral Care HDA Mini-report
- Hispanics Open Up About Oral HDA Consumer Brochure (bilingual)
- Survey Findings Fact Sheet (English)
You can visit www.crestcomplete.com/study for more information about the survey.
Disclosure: I wrote this post while participating in a compensated campaign with Procter & Gamble and Latina Mom Bloggers . However, all opinions expressed are my own.
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