Recently, I had the privilege of joining a delegation from the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in Houston, Texas, for a meeting with Kiwanis International regarding our proposal on maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) elimination for Kiwanis’ next Worldwide Service Project (WSP).

We met with senior members of Kiwanis leadership and were excited to share our vision for what a Kiwanis-UNICEF partnership could look like. After weeks of hard work, the meeting could not have been better. Free flowing discussions were encouraging and enlightening about how the program could evolve. It was exactly the kind of collaborative dialogue that we envisioned when we originally responded to the Kiwanis RFP and we look forward to continued dialogue so that Kiwanis’ experience and expertise will enrich the program design.

Our idea of a successful Kiwanis International and UNICEF collaboration is to design a program that would capitalize on the strengths of both organizations and finally eliminate MNT from those countries still suffering.

This is part of Kiwanis’ upcoming WSP that, like they did 15 years ago with the campaign to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders worldwide, will save and protect millions of lives and change the world. Right now, UNICEF is one of three organizations that might be fortunate enough to partner with Kiwanis and we are doing our best to create a program that will not only help children around the world but also provide hands on service, advocacy and fundraising opportunities to the Kiwanis Family.

U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern visited Haiti last week. These are her notes from the field.

I woke up with the sun again and checked my watch

U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern visited Haiti last week. These are her notes from the field.

Pitching our tents the first night in Port-au-Prince was not nearly as difficult as I feared it would be. They go up a whole lot easier today than they did when I last went camping 25 years ago! After a quick dinner we turned in, and believe it or not, despite the heat and mosquitoes, I was out cold with just one shot of Nyquil!

Our first stop the next morning was an orphanage. The children we met were amazing. Their school building completely collapsed, they’re living in tents, food is in short supply, and yet they’re still kids. I taught them to play “duck, duck, goose” and “Simon Sez”and they taught me a game as well. This was all accomplished through gestures and smiles as they spoke little to no English and I know perhaps six words in creole. We played for over an hour and then using an interpreter, I took some time to talk to a few, one one one. Their stories of the day the earthquake struck were heart-wrenching.

They spoke of fear – one girl said she thought she was flying when the shifting earth lifted her up. They told me they held onto one another and watched their school crumble in front of all of them. Then they prayed.

If you saw these little children and pictured them huddled together, praying for their survival … I know you would shed the same tears I did. I asked how life is now. They miss school – they’re hungry for it to start again, even if it is held under a tree instead of in a building. They thanked me for the food and water and other supplies UNICEF is providing them.

© U.S. Fund for UNICEF 2010

Tap Campaign Volunteers in Atlanta attending a regional training.

When I asked if they had a message for the children in New York, one little girl said that she had heard life in NYC was tough and so she will pray for our children. Another told me to tell our children to stay in school - that you really do not know how good it is until it is gone.

Flying in first you see the beautiful rock mountains and for a minute you are a bit awed by them. But then the tent cities come into view, literally lining the runways one after another. And the helicopters! Eight to 10 taking off and landing right next to us as we taxi in.

David Cook’s song “this is the time in my life” is playing as we land, and as the Haitians look out the windows longingly, all of us have tears in our eyes. Most of the passengers are Haitians — coming to look for family or to find what is left of the life they left behind here. The rest appear to be volunteers — USAid, CompassionCare, all sorts of people.

We see the cracks in the building as we pull up to the gate. Everyone is friendly and there seems to be a camaraderie amongst the volunteers as we wait to clear passport control. But the airport is complete chaos. Luggage is being unloaded everywhere in the main hall and you just have to follow the crowd until you find yours.

After almost an hour we find our boxes, our two huge duffels, our two suitcases – packed to the brim with tents, sleeping bags, water, food, unicef shirts, etc. Our clothes are in the knapsacks on our backs that we carried onto the plane.

Outside the airport is a crowd of hundreds: some waiting for friends and family, many asking to carry our bags in exchange for money, and others just asking for money. We find our UNICEF colleagues and our jeep and are immediately surrounded by teens clinging to the vehicle with their hands out. For quite sometime it is impossible to drive — the crowd is thick, the road is jammed, and the scene gives new meaning to the word gridlock. Only the scooters are moving as they weave between us all.

Along the road we pass lots where houses once stood and where now there is rubble or half a house and a tent, sometimes two.

	U.S. Fund for UNICEF President, Caryl Stern

U.S. Fund for UNICEF President, Caryl Stern originally wrote this blog post for The Huffington Post on January 20, 2010. Please consider making a donation today to support UNICEF’s lifesaving work for children in Haiti.

This has been, without a doubt, one of the saddest yet most rewarding weeks of my life.

News from UNICEF staff on the ground in Haiti is simply heartbreaking. In crammed hospital tents

Kids love to be like grown-ups. And for many adults, part of being a grown-up is contributing to a worthy cause. Believe it or not, Halloween can be a child’s first experience with altruism and can present the perfect opportunity to honor our national spirit of service.

When boys and girls across the nation dress up next week as princesses, witches, and ghosts and go door-to-door, they will have the chance to gain something far more profound than candy. By asking not only for sweets

It’s a very exciting day for us here at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. As you may have seen in this morning’s New York Times, UNICEF has announced that the number of children under the age of five dying each day from preventable causes has dropped to 24,000. Only three years ago, 25,5000 children were dying each day. Just imagine

I’m packing my bags and heading to L.A. for the 2009 Milken Institute Global Conference.

The global financial downturn is sure to be a major theme of the discussions and debates

It’s now six weeks since the government of Sudan suspended 16 humanitarian organizations that had been providing essential aid for scores of vulnerable people in Darfur and other parts of the country. The crisis in Sudan may have fallen out of the headlines, but that does not mean the situation has improved. In fact, it is getting worse

What if you knew a child whose life was in danger?

And what if you knew you had the power to save that child?

Of course, you would do whatever you could.

Read more TAGS: bednets, child mortality, child protection, children, children in conflict, education, immunization, malaria, maternal health, measles, pediatric AIDS, sanitation, Water Comment (0) Tweet Page 4 of 5Previous12345Next Facebook Twitter YouTube Flickr © 2013 United States Fund for UNICEF. All rights reserved. 1.800.FOR.KIDS 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038 Privacy Policy FAQ Jobs Site Map