Five-Minute Time Out: UNICEF
Caryl Stern on the campaign to save thousands of children a day.
by Lindsay Armstrong
May 15, 2009
The One Pack=One Vaccine campaign has been very successful so far, raising enough money to pay for 45 million vaccines. Why do you think that this particular campaign has touched such a nerve with the public?
I think the concept of One Pack=One Vaccine is great. As I was saying before, some of my passion for this issue comes from being a parent and I think that’s the same for other people. If, in my daily routine as a parent, I am putting a diaper on my child, that’s kind of a bonding moment. When I see that sticker on a package of Pampers, I might juxtapose my life as a parent with what a mother in Sierra Leone might be going through. There’s this sense of connection. I have to buy diapers anyway; why wouldn’t I buy the ones that are helping to save lives? Another reason that it’s successful is that we don’t have to think about tetanus in the U.S. unless someone makes us. This campaign has brought it to the forefront. Salma has been an amazing spokesperson and obviously the power of her podium has brought the issue to the forefront of the American consumer market.
"Salma is out there sweating with the rest of us."How did you choose her as a spokesperson? Why did you fee that she was a good fit?
We didn’t choose her, actually, but she is an amazing fit. She was chosen by Pampers, by Proctor and Gamble. We just feel extremely blessed to have her. She was a new mom herself when the campaign started and I think that the cause really resonated with her. She is also just a very compassionate woman. When I’ve traveled with her I’ve gotten the opportunity to see that. We’ve traveled into villages where they don’t know who Salma Hayek is. They’ve never seen a TV, let alone a movie, and she treats herself as just another member of the team. She’s got a UNICEF T-shirt on and no makeup and it’s a hundred some degrees. She’s out there sweating with the rest of us, kissing babies, picking them up, holding them: talking to new moms as a woman and as a mom, not as a celebrity. She’s been phenomenal.
The One Pack=One Vaccine program is a great way to help, but if someone wants to be more involved with UNICEF, what would you suggest?
You can log on to our website, which is unicefusa.org. There’s a volunteers’ page that will give you a host of possibilities. Saving children’s lives doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. One dollar buys enough safe, clean drinking water for a child to sustain them for forty days. It’s something we can’t afford not to do.
If you’d like to participate in the campaign, look for specially marked packages of Pampers now through the end of May. For every pack you buy, Pampers will donate 5 cents, the cost of one vaccine, to UNICEF. Don’t have a baby left in diapers? Do double good duty by picking up a pack to donate to a shelter.
About the Author
|
|
Related Articles
|
|
Lindsay Armstrong was born and raised in Wilmington, DE, home of tax-free shopping and Joe Biden. After attending the College of the Holy Cross in freezing Worcester, MA, she moved to NYC to teach English in the public schools and pursue some form of writing. Four years later, she is finally getting around to that second goal. She lives in the Bronx with her two ridiculously cute kittens, Wally and Emmens.
|
|
|
-
by Sasha Brown-Worsham
Are "chicken pox parties" better than vaccines?
-
by Liza Featherstone
Why so many parents won't vaccinate — and what it means for our kids
-
by Paul A. Offit, MD
Vaccines don't cause autism. So why do so many people believe that they do?
|
