Fieldnotes: Blogging on UNICEF's child survival work in the field

Hi from Jessica! Today, our last day in Chiriqui, Panama, we set out to visit a UNICEF-assisted health center. On the way, we had a special opportunity to visit the home of Omyra, a member of the indigenous Ngobe community, and a mother of three beautfiul children.

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Jessica Dolan of the Chicago office makes some new friends.

Omyra is just nineteen years old, has been married for five years, and is eight months pregnant with her fourth child. She has big dreams for all her children: she wants them to go far in school and get education, which means providing them with the health care they need to get the best start in life. So she regularly journeys thirty minutes on foot up a steep, rocky, and muddy mountain road to the nearest health center. Riding along the road in our SUVs was tough, so I can only imagine how hard it must be to make this walk, and how dedicated Omyra is to ensuring her children's health.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Two of Omyra´s children in their home.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Two women pump clean water near the community center's food preparation area.

At the the health center we visited, Omyra, and others like her, recieve immunizations, prenatal care and nutritional support free of charge. These services are crucial to ensuring that children in this area reach their full potential. Malnutrition is an especially big problem for the Ngobe community, where more than 70 percent of children do not have enough healthy food to eat.

Luckily for Omyra and her children, the trip to the health center, while difficult, is not too far and they are able to go regularly to get the care and support they need. But for the majority of women and children in Latin America´s indigenous communities, a trip to the nearest health center can mean a three or four day journey. UNICEF is working with the Panamanian Ministry of Health to change this, ensuring that all mothers and children can get access to these life altering services.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF

We are flying back to Panama City tonight. We have learned so much from our time in the field and we are all so grateful to have had this experience. The faces of people I have met, both the community members and the UNICEF field staff, and the thought of their dedication and passion, will stay with me for the rest of my life.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Kimberlea Tracey of the New England office receives a handmade gift from a young boy at the community center.