There is a tidal wave racing through the blogosphere at the moment. It is gathering momentum and carrying us all along.
Making us all stand up and shout out for help, not for ourselves but the voiceless, the helpless, the unnamed, the unknown.
Mummies here working for children there.
Save the Children, how can we refuse?
Regular readers of Edspire will know that a few months ago, I asked you to sign the No Child Born to Die petition, the Save the Children campaign to fund vaccinations for children in developing countries.
Now I am asking you to take just a few minutes from your day to help us out again, this time to try and persuade David Cameron and other world leaders to tackle the global health worker crisis and ensure that children everywhere have the same care, attention and medical support that we take for granted here in the UK everyday.
I am currently in Spain on a post wedding ‘familymoon’! I have very little time to write looking after two toddlers and ensuring that they are safe from the sun, water and eating stones!! This though is a small task compared to keeping a child in Africa safe from harm and well nourished, with very little professional support. And so in the midst of our busy family holiday I am finding the time for this. To support Save the Children in their bid to tackle the global health worker crisis and ensure that ‘No Child is Born to Die!’
Can you take five minutes too?
Perhaps this will persuade you …
When world leaders meet at the UN in New York, 20 September, we need them to commit to filling the massive shortfall in midwives, nurses and doctors in the poorest countries.
Doctors, nurses and midwives are vital to help children survive. Without them, no vaccine can be administered, no life-saving drugs prescribed and no woman can be given expert care during childbirth.
But the massive shortfall of health workers in some of the poorest countries is hitting the most vulnerable children and families the hardest.
Half of the 8 million children who die each year are in Africa, yet Africa has only 3% of the world’s doctors, nurses and midwives.
How can we sit idly by and let this be?
There is something we can do, this is it!
Children are dying from causes we know how to prevent or treat.
That’s why lots more doctors, nurses, midwives and community health workers are needed in the poorest countries. We can stop millions of children dying.
Save the Children’s No Child Born to Die campaign has helped secure a massive increase in funding for life-saving vaccines. Now we must take the next step to ensure children don’t die simply because they are too poor to see a doctor or nurse.
I am so grateful for the health workers who played such a massive part in my life and that of my children in recent years. We are only the family we are today because of their hard work and care.
I have tried to tell my tale in 100 words as challenged by Hello Its Gemma and Mummy From the Heart.
It is impossible for me to name one health worker who I feel gratitude and respect for. There were so many involved in the birth and early development of Esther and William. So many involved in saving my life and preserving theirs. I am certain that all three of us would not be here without their quick thinking, expert knowledge and care. We are a growing family of four thanks to the amazing health professionals we have encountered who have enabled Esther and William to grow bigger and stronger every day. How can we ever thank them? Words are not enough.
When thank you is not enough, what can we do?
What can you do to ‘Save the Children’ today?
Sign this petition now to help end the health worker crisis.
Share on Facebook and help spread the word.
Take the challenge set by @HelloItsGemma and @michelletwinmum is to write 100 words about a great health professional you have encountered in your life and link up to the blog hop below. Share just 100 words about a health professional that has made a difference for you.
Use the hashtag #healthworkers on Twitter to share your tale, your views
Tweet about this campaign, blog it, share it, be a part of it, make a difference, save a child!
Together we can make things happen if we try!
If you are reading this post please consider yourself tagged and invited to join our efforts.
Together we can make a difference and enable other children to grow bigger and stronger as our own do every day.
Great post! It’s such a simple thing that we can do, to sign that petition but such a huge impact on millions of people 🙂
words are not enough, but thanks for all yours, for taking the time – reminding us how important good care is.
thanks XX
Thank you so much for joining in and adding to the very considerable shout I was able to make in NYC.