Kuajok feels like the middle of nowhere.
Our journey began with an hour and half flight from South Sudan’s capital city Juba to the town of Aweil. From Aweil we drove nearly five hours on dusty potholed roads. At times our driver would slow down to 6 miles an hour to maneuver the massive craters.
I was in South Sudan to observe a seven-day immunization campaign supported by UNICEF and partners, including Kiwanis International. The Eliminate Project, a partnership between Kiwanis International and UNICEF, aims to protect women and their future newborns around the world from maternal and neonatal tetanus. The goal is to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus worldwide by 2015.

Kiwanis International members do extraordinary work in their local and global communities every day. We are excited that the White House recently welcomed Kiwanis International and honored 14 Kiwanis and Kiwanis family members from across the country as “Champions of Change.”

I have just returned to New York after attending three inspiring Kiwanis family conventions—the Kiwanis International (KI) and Circle K International conventions, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Key Club International convention, held in Orlando, Florida. As you may already know, Kiwanis and their family of clubs have joined UNICEF and partners in the global fight to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT). It was exciting to see that The Eliminate Project: Kiwanis eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus was front and center at all of the conventions. The passion and commitment from every level of the Kiwanis family to eliminate MNT was apparent and took many forms. Kiwanis members who had attended field visits with UNICEF served on panels and spoke about their experiences. They highlighted the urgency of raising funds: time is ticking to meet the global MNT elimination goal of 2015.

Recently a team of U.S. Fund for UNICEF and Kiwanis Club members and I attended the annual “Bread and Soup” luncheon hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Fordham, Bronx.

The “Bread and Soup Luncheon” is hosted by the club at Fordham University every year during Lent. Each year the Kiwanis members invite a non-profit organization to speak about its efforts to help alleviate poverty. This year the focus was on The Eliminate Project, a joint effort by Kiwanis and UNICEF, and the work to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.