Tag Archives for "health"

Jan20

More from UNICEF’s Tamar Hahn in Haiti

Tamar Hahn sent this post in to Fieldnotes from Haiti.

One week has gone by since an earthquake turned what was already a desperately poor part of the world into a full fledged humanitarian emergency and the race against time to bring relief to the people of Haiti continues.

Supplies continue to arrive daily by land and by air and distribution of clean water, food, hygiene kits and other life-saving provisions has greatly improved. Still, every day continues to bring new challenges. Hundreds if not thousands are leaving Port au Prince, their belongings tied up in bundles or squeezed into suitcases which they carry on their heads as they make their way to the countryside.


UNICEF Communication Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean Tamar Hahn, on the grounds of the residence of the Prime Minister where thousands are temporarily encamped. Ms. Hahn is presently the lead UNICEF spokesperson in Haiti.

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Dec23

Tsunami: five years later

Nishi Kumar is an intern at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and has been blogging regularly for Fieldnotes.

In December of 2004 I watched in horror as images of tsunami-devastated communities dominated the world news. I was a junior in high school in Georgia, but I felt as if the immense scale of the tragedy halfway around the globe had affected me personally. The tsunami, triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, killed nearly 230,000 people

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Nov23

Protecting the next generation from HIV/AIDS in Zambia

Elizabeth Merola recently visited UNICEF programs in Zambia. In this post, she recounts the experience of visiting a rural health clinic.

The drive to Keemba Rural Health Clinic from the closest town is a long and bumpy ride due to the uneven dirt roads. Looking out the window I see children walking to and from school alongside the road and across fields that are being prepared for the first rains of the season. Cows are crazing and ox carts are transporting people from one village to the next.

When we arrive at the clinic, mothers with their children are waiting for post-natal and prevention of mother-to-child treatment (PMTCT) care. The nurses dressed in white stand out among the women with colorful wraps.

I am immediately drawn to Brenda who is 7 months old and attached to the back of her mother, Rolina. Rolina waits patiently in line for her turn to speak with the nurse. Her calmness gives me the impression that there is no urgency for her visit and she has been in this position many times before.


Rolina and Terrance with daughter Brenda.

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Nov17

Fighting cholera in Zambia

The Permanent Secretary of the District of Lusaka, Mr. Stephen Bwalya, is also present. He empowers the students to inform their teachers when there is no soap at school. The children’s response is laughter which I believe indicates enthusiasm about their new charge.

UNICEF Communication for Development Officer, James Simasiku, also speaks to the children and encourages them to take the messages about cholera prevention home to their families.

Banja plays music, dances and performs skits to reinforce the importance of hand washing. The presentations are fun and entertaining for the students

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Jun08

Tetanus: A silent killer

Mufflers can generally be found in cars. They stifle the loud, high-pitched sound of a car’s engine so that you hear a more smooth-sounding vroom! vroom!

But (as I’ve discovered) mufflers are not limited to the metal bellies of cars. They also exist in our everyday conversation with the rest of world. Sometimes (and usually because of the distance between us) the messages we hear

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May09

On Mother’s Day honor her by helping others

Honor her by helping others

It’s not too late to get the women in your life a great Mother’s Day gift. Thank her by helping mothers and their families survive and grow by sending a UNICEF Inspired Gift eCard. Inspired Gifts gives you the opportunity to purchase actual life-saving items that will be shipped directly to one of over 150 countries where UNICEF serves.

Here are some gift ideas:

  • For the countless meals cooked, thank her by providing the gift of nutrition to a child in need.

  • For the doctor’s visits for shots, thank her by providing 86 children with a polio vaccine.

  • For the help with homework assignments, thank her with the gift of notebooks and pencils.

  • For the baths after a day of playing in the mud, thank her with the gift of clean water.

The gift may seem simple, but the gesture is immense. Honoring her by providing others with Inspired Gifts means no children falling prey to malnutrition, no young lives lost for lack of immunizations and no child denied the chance to learn and play. It means you believe that no child should fall victim to a preventable cause.

Make her proud, and purchase UNICEF Inspired Gifts today!

* Be sure to choose our ecard option to ensure delivery by Mother’s Day.

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