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

	© UNICEF 99-0825/LeMoyne
	VIETNAM: Two small children look back, seated behind a woman on a bicycle, as they return from school.

For the final 12 days of 2008, UNICEF celebrity Ambassadors and Supporters are posting daily blog entries about the impact UNICEF Inspired Gifts are having on children around the world. Island recording artist Jon McLaughlin is a big UNICEF Supporter and recently performed to a standing ovation at the 5th annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball in New York City.

A simple mode of transportation can really get you far, and I'm not just talking about distance. It could easily help save and improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable children.

A bicycle is something we might take for granted here in the U.S., but in many parts of the world, and in hard to reach places where aid is often most needed, it can be a lifesaving mechanism. An emergency aid worker can deliver medicine and other time-critical supplies by simply navigating through impassible trails and roads much more quickly than on foot.

Bicycles also provide safety and make education possible. Distance is oftentimes a major obstacle to girls' attendance at school. And, instead of walking on foot for hours, bicycles help kids travel long distances from home to school. In many ways, bicycles can make dreams come true!

So please consider giving a bicycle as a UNICEF Inspired Gift. One costs only $34.06, and it's so easy to do. Just click here.

I am Jon McLaughlin and I believe in zero.

25,000 young children die every day from preventable causes—things like dehydration, poor sanitation and lack of safe, drinkable water. UNICEF believes that number should be zero.