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

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF has launched the Tap Project, a nationwide campaign that helps UNICEF provide safe water for children around the world, while celebrating the clean and accessible drinking water available in the United States.

With our volunteers’ help, communities in the U.S. will become more aware of the water crisis around the world and understand how they can help.

All of our registered Tap Project Volunteers are invited to a day of information, interaction and collaboration. A Tap Project Volunteer Training Day is coming to the following cities near you!

• Saturday, February 9th, Atlanta Regional Training at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University
• Saturday, February 9th, Denver Regional Training at St. Mary's Academy
• Saturday, February 23rd, San Francisco Regional Training at University of California, San Francisco

Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn from Tap Project city coordinators, national UNICEF staff, issues experts, and invited guests.

To sign up as a volunteer and to attend a Regional Training Day, register at the Tap Project site.

Almost every year Mozambique is hit by floods during the rainy season, and thousands of families must often leave their homes. This year, 50,000 people have so far been displaced. The government of Mozambique is working on relocating people to safer areas permanently, but until then, UNICEF and many other agencies are on the ground helping out.

With your support, we're able to supply safe drinking water and proper sanitation, distribute mosquito nets to prevent malaria, set up temporary schools, and make sure that children are protected during this difficult time. Here are some pictures from the Baue resettlement centre in Mutarrara, Tete Province.

© UNICEF/Thierry Delvigne-Jean
A UNICEF communication specialist speaks with Rita Mello, 10, and her mother to help identify the needs of the people in the resettlement center. Rita and her mother are waiting to be registered in order to receive a plot of land and basic material to build a shelter.

© UNICEF/Thierry Delvigne-Jean
A boy named Tcholo, 10, stands in front of his shelter. Tcholo and his family were relocated to Baue in early January after their house and plot of land along the Zambezi River were flooded by the rising water.

© UNICEF/Thierry Delvigne-Jean
Several thousands people have been displaced to Baue Resettlement Centre over the past few weeks from low-lying areas along the Zambezi River. The center was set up as a permanent resettlement area. However, since January 2008, the number of people in the centre has doubled due to the current flooding.

© UNICEF/Thierry Delvigne-Jean
A young girl holding a plate waits for her family to be registered.

Kristi Burnham is the Director of Volunteer and Community Partnerships at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

We blogged about it last week, but it bears repeating:

A national competition is now open to young people (ages 13 - 17) interested in participating in the Junior 8 (J8) Summit, a youth event convened this year in Hokkiado, Japan and linked to the annual Group of 8 (G8) Summit. The J8 Summit enables young people the unique opportunity to become involved in the topics that concern G8 countries and the broader global community.

The deadline for entries is March 1, so visit the J8 site for more information, rules of competition and a contest application!

Jenna Bush, former UNICEF intern and author of Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, based on her work with UNICEF, is visiting UNICEF programs in Peru and blogging from the field. This is her third entry.

Today started early; at six in the morning we were up preparing for a visit to the provinces of Chincha and Pisco, two areas that faced serious damage after an earthquake affected the region on August 15th. Although the sun had just risen above the grey water of the Pacific, our two-hour drive South to Chincha was filled with energy and anticipation. The earthquake, a magnitude of 7.9, caused tremendous devastation to the regions of Chincha, Pisco, and Ica: 519 people were killed, 430,000 people were affected. The earthquake resulted in massive destruction of houses, health centers, schools and, communication infrastructure. And UNICEF Peru was there the day after the tragedy, assisting in disaster relief and providing comfort to the families affected; we were anxious to see their work first hand.

The damage around Chincha was startling. Although, the earthquake occurred almost five months ago the area was still reduce to rubble. A row of camping tents covered debris and I could imagine the community of houses that were once there. Our first stop was at a Ludoteca, or a Play Center. UNICEF assisted with the emotional relief of the children affected by the earthquake by establishing 30 recreational centers in the area. They knew that with the devastation of the community’s homes and schools, the kids had nowhere to play; and they would need time to recover and heal with their friends in a safe environment.

As we walked the path to the play center, the laughter of children combined with the noise from drums and flutes and spilled out onto the sidewalk.

“Ven! Come in,” the kids called. As we entered the small one room house, the walls painted an optimistic yellow, the floor covered with games, books, and toys the kids swarmed around us, kissed us on the cheeks and pulled us into different corners of the room.

I ended up with some elementary-school-aged girls who were adorned with plastic pink and silver capes.

“Nosotros estamos reinas. We are queens,” they giggled.

During our time at the play center, I met a 12-year-old girl named Anita. Anita told me that she lives only five minutes from the center and walks here every morning and afternoon. She recalled, with a look of jaded fear that during the earthquake she was in her house with an older cousin and a wall collapsed between them. She was frightened, isolated in a small space for nearly three hours. When some family members finally rescued her, she was devastated to see that her house was ruined.

“I was really sad and scared before, but I like having somewhere to come and play. I like coming here and sharing stories with my friends, playing ball, and forgetting about my problems.” Anita said. She told me later that she now lives in a tent with her family.

Our next stop was at the San Martin primaria school. The elementary school was completely destroyed by the earthquake; the 1,500 students deprived of a safe place of learning. UNICEF in partnership with other relief organizations immediately started building temporary bamboo classrooms called esteras and put up tents to serve as classrooms. UNICEF Peru not only assisted with the rebuilding of this school, but also helped rebuild 304 temporary classrooms, making it possible for 34,000 kids to return to finish the school year.

I walked around the courtyard lined with tents and esteras posing as classrooms, imagining the school that was once there. I entered one tent that housed a third grade class. The kids all stood when I walked in, calling in unison, “Buenos dias, good morning.” They were studying multiplication and when I started quizzing them on problems from the times table they called out the answers proudly and joyfully. Leaving the school, I was filled with the notion that these kids, these third graders, are so very similar to my third grade students in the U.S.

Our last stop in Chincha was at a module for integrated protection, an early-childhood development program that keeps infants and toddlers nourished while also providing parenting classes to their mothers. UNICEF established 54 similar modules to feed the young children of these poor regions twice daily, preventing malnutrition in the area.

The tent was full of thirty babies, toddlers, and their mothers. Some of the mothers were in the corner holding their babies while, nurses, trained by UNICEF, taught parenting classes. The kids were spooning a nutrient-enriched porridge into their small mouths.

A nine-year-old girl walked directly towards me; holding her three-year-old sister’s hand.

“I want to tell you my story,” she said as she pulled up a chair for me. “This is my baby sister. I bring her here twice daily. After the earthquake, my family didn’t have any money so my sister started getting skinny; I was worried. I had heard about this center and asked my mom if I could bring her here. At first, my mom said no, but finally she agreed to let me bring her. Now she is happy because my sister has gotten so big, so healthy.”

I’m struck by the maturity of this young girl. She too is just a child, but because of the earthquake she has been forced to grow up too fast.

“You are so brave,” I told her. “And so smart. What do you want to be when you grow up,” I ask?

“A woman who provides porridge to the children” she replies, smiling.

In the afternoon, we were off to Pisco. Driving past the traditional town square we saw shattered windows, abandoned stores and a boat that was catapulted from the ocean a mile away in the middle of the street, creating an eerie ghost-town-like feel. You could tell that Pisco was once a charming fishing village but now the streets were lined with tents and temporary bamboo houses, much of the village had been destroyed.

We spent the afternoon at the Parque Zonal shelter, a type of refugee camp for the residents of Pisco who had lost their homes. The camp took over what must have been a beautiful park, benches still sat among bushes of tropical flowers. Now, however, the park is a makeshift community center. UNICEF assisted the people of the camp by providing both a recreation center and a module for the children. One of the teachers told me later, “It was a gift when UNICEF built the play tent. The kids were scared from the earthquake and since they were out of school many became bored and turned violent. Now, with a place to play many are healing and there is far less violence in the camp.”

When we arrived at the play center, the kids of the community were playing games, cards, and building block castles as the sun began to slip towards the horizon. Two boys began playing bongo drums as we lined up, an eager audience. A young boy and girl enticed by the rhythm of the drums start stomping their feet, and shaking their small hips to the music. They present us with a fluid traditional Peruvian dance.

I’m overcome with emotion. It’s so amazing to me that these kids--kids who have been affected by something so traumatic, many of whom have lost family members, their homes, and schools--are so resilient. These kids are overcome with worries, but they have continued studying, smiling, laughing and playing.

On this beautiful summer day in Peru these kids have continued to survive, continued to live. They have continued to dance.

Jenna Bush, former UNICEF intern and author of Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, based on her work with UNICEF, is visiting UNICEF programs in Peru and blogging from the field. This is her second entry.

We woke to the sun breaking through the clouds of the Andes and flew to Lima for a day visiting urban programs. As we drove through the crowded city, passing large buses and motor taxis, mothers and children I was struck by the stark difference between the isolated, slow life in the communities outside of Cusco and the congested city life.

After a thirty minute drive through traffic, we arrived at our destination: the Tahuantinsuyo Bajo Health Center.

Dr. Cornejo immediately leads us down a narrow hall and takes us into a small examining room. He then introduces us to Ines, a pregnant mother of three. A nurse is speaking with Ines about the HIV/AIDS rapid test.

Dr. Cornejo explains, “This clinic has one of the most integrated programs in preventing the transmission from mother-to-child and we have given more HIV rapid tests than any clinic in Peru.”

UNICEF Peru has provided much of the research and assistance in creating this program. In this clinic, and eleven others in the area, the plan is this: a patient receives information about HIV, including the rapid test, the health of their baby and then ultimately it is their choice if they will take the test. After a patient knows the results there is a staff of guidance counselors that will help them accept the news.

Ines has decided that she will take the test, not only for herself, but for her unborn child.

UNICEF Peru has supported Tahuantinsuyo Bajo Center and many other clinics in Peru by providing rapid HIV tests for patients just like Ines. Ines is already seven months pregnant and therefore cannot wait for the results from Elisa, the traditional HIV testing measure; she must know immediately. Her test results from the rapid test will be ready in fifteen minutes.

We say goodbye to Ines and she tells us she is comforted that she will know her results so soon. We continue to walk down the hall and enter a mother and baby waiting room. Five mothers lay in twin beds cradling and breastfeeding their newborns. They smile when we enter and beam with maternal pride when we take pictures of them with their babies.

Dr. Cornejo tells us that this room is provided as a comfort for new mothers, but is also, a place of learning. Nurses provide counseling, early child parenting classes and teach the mothers the importance of breastfeeding and lifelong nutrition.

Our visit is almost over, but Dr. Cornejo wants us to view the hospital counseling program in action. UNICEF Peru has provided the training and support for many of the nurses. We enter a room where a young girl, only fourteen-years-old, sits across from a nurse who is explaining diagrams from a large flip book.

The girl looks up when we enter and smiles gently. Her mother who is seated next to her mumbles a greeting, her eyes worried.

The young girl, who has just finished her first year of escuela secundaria, or high school, is four months pregnant. But it seems to me, that despite the challenges her baby will bring she is full of hope.

The nurse gives her the information she needs to keep her newborn baby healthy and information about HIV/AIDS prevention. Then she tells us that 20% of the patients in the hospital are teenagers.

We ask the girl if she plans to finish high school. Her mother shakes her head in doubt but the girl replies, “ Yes, por supuesto, of course.”

I ask, “Promise?” “Promise,” she says as she shakes my hand in confirmation.

Is there a young person in your life who wants to change the world? If so, you might want to let them know about the J8 essay contest. It's a contest to find a group of four students aged 13-17 to represent the U.S. at this year’s J8 (Junior 8) summit. The summit, a youth version of the G8, takes place in July in Japan, and is a forum for young people to discuss today’s global issues, like HIV/AIDS and climate change.

In addition to the usual eight delegations from the G8 countries, there will be seven delegates from developing countries. And one representative from each team will go on to meet with members of the G8 summit. This is truly an opportunity for young people to have their voice and unique perspectives heard! For all the info, visit the J8 Summit site.

Jenna Bush is visiting UNICEF programs in Peru and blogging from the field. This is her first entry.

The low clouds hung over the mountains as we drove from the center of Cusco up the rolling hills to the rural village of Huancarcani. The two and a half-hour drive through winding cliffs to the elevated community which sits at 3,800 feet keeps the villagers isolated from the city life below. The village’s economy is the fifth poorest of the 1,831 municipalities in Peru. We have come for a full day in the village: first a meeting with local political figures, then to tour an innovative health center, and finally a visit to a children’s defense center.

We arrived at the traditional square to meet with the Association of Child Friendly Municipalities. With the decentralization of Peru more power and financial resources have come into the hands of municipalities around the country and UNICEF Peru has been there to help with the transition. UNICEF’s goal is to help these small local governments access and manage the funds supplied by the government with a result-based focus on human rights. They help these municipalities with their budgets and encourage them to spend in a way that will strengthen public health and education.

Three of these municipalities—Caicay, Colquepata, and Huancarcani—have come together to create the first ever Association of Child Friendly Municipalities. With UNICEF assistance, their philosophy is that by creating municipalities that focus on the welfare of children all people in their villages will profit.

In the meeting, Jose Patricio Mendoza, the mayor of Huancarani told me, “We hope to use funds for the government to help the kids of our village. Here in Huancarcani only 40% of all of the people are literate. There are no real professionals and none of our children have gone on to university. Many of our kids must walk 3-4 hours to get to school and this is not acceptable.”

UNICEF Peru supports this collaboration of municipalities and hopes that the association is a model for other municipalities to follow. They have strengthened their voices by joining together and are advocating for more funds from the government to help provide nutrition, education, health, and safety for their children.

And UNICEF Peru is helping them use the existing funds efficiently because as Jose Mendoza said, “All children no matter where they live deserve a good education and a chance for a successful future.”

After the meeting came to a close, and we were embraced with the traditional wraps and hats of the villages, we were escorted down the street to visit another UNICEF supported program, the Health Center of Huancarani. This innovative heath center has been supported by UNICEF Peru since the beginning. The health center is a place where pregnant indigenous women, many of whom live in remote villages miles away, can come and give birth in a way embraced by their culture.

Ten years ago, the health center was empty because the indigenous women of the community chose to give birth from their homes. The language barrier and the fact that the hospital promoted horizontal birth, a practice foreign to the women’s culture kept them away and in turn the maternal and child mortality rates were high.

The health center worked with women from the community and changed their policy to support the traditions of the indigenous women and advocated for vertical birth and other practices. On our visit, the health center was full of expecting mothers and mothers and toddlers returning for check ups.

We met with Yeri, a mother who was expecting her third child to come any day and we watched as a traditional doctor preformed the ancient birthing practices. We also spoke with the doctors about how now—since, many women use the clinic—the doctors are able to perform rapid HIV/AIDS test to prevent the spread of HIV from mother to child.

After her check up, Yeri lead us up a hill to the maternal waiting house, another UNICEF supported project. Yeri has been boarding in the house for the last week and will stay there until several weeks after she gives birth. Many of the patients including Yeri live hours from the clinic and by the time they are ready to give birth they are too far to make it in time.

Yeri boards here, adjacent to the clinic and receives check-ups daily so, that when her baby is ready she is close to the center and faces no threat of delivering at home, endangering herself and her child. Yeri smiled at me and squeezed my hand as we left. She seemed ready to give birth and at peace in the small home.

The last stop in Huracani was at a Communal Defense Center. We walked into the small wood room and were greeted by Ana and her daughter Xenia. Xenia immediately grabbed my hand and sat close to me on the wooden bench where she colored in her small note pad.

Her mother, Ana, lead the meeting and explained to us that the defense center is a place that works for child and women’s rights and the decrease of physical and sexual violence.

Ana told us how she and the other volunteers work traveling from home to home explaining to families their rights, conducting classes for children and parents, and documenting and protecting those who have faced abuse. Ana said, “There is a lot of sexual and physical violence in this community. Before the health center was created in 2002, I was overcome with despair for the children of the community. But women and children are learning their rights.” Right then Xenia’s small body leans in closer to me and it’s easy to see the inspiration for her mother’s tireless efforts.

As we are leaving, Ana hugs me and thanks UNICEF for their dedication in saving children’s lives. Before I go, I feel a tug on my shirt and Xenia, who is beaming, hands me a drawing of a little girl smiling.

Have you thought about Togo lately? Probably not. And the people from UNICEF who work there would like to remedy that.

We recently had the UNICEF country director of Togo, Una McCauley, visit our office to let us know what is happening in this tiny West African nation. We thought you, too, might like to find out more about this country that is so rarely in the news.

	Children in Togo wait in line for medical treatment

Because of a military dictatorship that was enforced in the late ‘80s, this once prosperous nation has been undergoing a 20-year-long humanitarian crisis. Children, as is often the case, are especially affected. In the northern part of Togo, a stunning 94 percent of children live in poverty. Malnourishment, unsafe water, child trafficking, and lack of schooling are just some of the issues these children face.

But with a new government in place, things are finally looking up. UNICEF, along with other organizations, is able to build schools, vaccinate the country’s children, and get children the help they need. But the biggest challenge right now is to help children who are suffering from severe malnutrition.

In some parts of Togo almost a third of all children are malnourished. 95,000 children need help right now in order to survive. We're distributing therapeutic milk and food, and are training care providers to treat malnourished children. But we do need your help: It is only through our donors' support that we can do our work. If you'd like to help, go to our donations by program page. Here you can choose how you would like your donation to be used: to help nourish children, to build schools in Africa, or to support any of our other programs. The children of the world, and Togo, thank you.

In December, UNICEF Ambassador Clay Aiken visited children affected by the recent flooding in Mexico and made an appeal for $100,000 to support UNICEF programs.

Well, you did it again! I asked you to join me in supporting UNICEF programs in Mexico this holiday season and you exceeded my expectations. More than $100,000 before the end of the year--AMAZING! Thank you all so much.

As my friends at UNICEF mentioned, we are working hard to put together my holiday album from my trip with my mom and Brett in Mexico. We had a great time and met so many of the wonderful people your donations are going to help. Can't wait to share some of my favorite pictures with all of you!

Stay tuned--we'll get it out to you as soon as possible. Until then... I'm off to rehearsals.

As you settle into the new year and recover from the hectic end of the last, it's a great time to take stock. Not just of goals and resolutions for 2008 but of what we have accumulated. Everyone has a crazy aunt or uncle who gets them ties for your business casual job or sweaters that may have fit in the eighth grade.

There is nothing wrong with those ties and sweaters; in fact, there are plenty of people who would wear them! So here's an idea: list them on eBay in the coming weeks. There you can use the eBay Giving Works tool to donate the auction proceeds to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Giving Works enables you to clean out your closets, ridding yourself of unwanted items – while helping the children of the world. (Don’t worry – eBay refunds your fees when using Giving Works.)

Turn your unwanted gifts into a gift for the world's kids!

Congratulations to everyone who participated in UNICEF Ambassador Clay Aiken's holiday challenge--once again you have amazed us and surpassed our goal of raising $100,000 to help the children of Mexico. Thank you so much for sharing the true spirit of the holiday season with children who need it the most.

We're putting together Clay's Mexico Holiday Photo Album now -- in the meantime, here is one photograph we wanted to share with you to start off the New Year -- faces of two of the people your generous gifts are going to help.

From all of us here at UNICEF, a great big thank you and best wishes to you and your loved ones for the happiest of new years!

After four days of violence, as roads begin opening in Kenya and transport becomes possible, UNICEF is working with the Kenya Red Cross to send essential supplies to affected children.

	An infant is weighed as part of a routine medical examination

Good news for kids everywhere: The plight of the world’s children is making headlines. In Yahoo’s listing of the year’s most notable stories, its 2007 Year in Review, children’s issues were prominently featured. Out of Yahoo's ten "Inspirations” stories, three dealt with issues of childhood survival and well-being. UNICEF is proud to play a role in all of these inspiring stories.

Most importantly, this was the first time that the number of children under five who die each year fell below 10 million. According to Yahoo, vaccination drives, breastfeeding, and mosquito nets--all part of UNICEF's work--have contributed to the drop in child mortality, from 13 million deaths a year in 1990 to 9.7 million deaths last year. The expectation is that childhood deaths will keep dropping as UN member nations work together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals they set in 2000. One goal is to cut infant mortality rates by two thirds by 2015.

It's great news for children that the world is taking such interest in their issues. We are honored that we could help bring about some of these positive changes, and we thank you for your support.

If you want to see all of the “Inspiration” stories, go to Yahoo’s 2007 Year in Review.

Recently a three-day event was held at the United Nations that was just for children.

Five years ago, the UN General Assembly held its first Special Session on Children, in which it outlined what needed to be done to make the world a better place for children. Now it was time to revisit those goals and see if things had improved. And while progress has been made, all the member nations who met in these special sessions agreed that there was still much to do to help children live and thrive--with overcoming poverty being the most vital step towards childhood survival. You can read the whole five-year review and see video and photos here.

Since theses sessions were all about children, kids were front and center for the three-day event. The Assembly’s closing speaker was 15-year-old Millicent Atieno Orondo from Kenya (pictured), who called on all nations to make saving the lives of children their priority. This was only the second time in the UN’s history that children have directly addressed the General Assembly.

In addition, 20 children participated in the UN General Assembly as delegates from their country, and 90 children were part of the United Nation’s Youth Forum. At the Forum, these kids laid out which issues they wanted the UN to address during the Special Session. It was an exciting time for all the participants, as children from all over the world had their voices heard, loud and clear.

To read more about these landmark sessions, visit UNICEF’s Progress for Children page.