• Tweet
• Sumo

• Tweet

They warned me about the shoes, but I didn’t listen.  We had been advised to wear comfortable shoes for our day of advocating on the hill, but having never advocated on Capitol Hill, nor even imagined myself advocating on Capitol Hill, I could not see the harm in sporting a little heel with my business suit.  I practically had to vacuum the dust off the one business suit I own as it was, after being a stay at home mom for thirteen years, and I did not realize that I would log nearly two miles in those shoes by the end of our day. (I know it was two miles because I used my Charity Miles app on my phone that tracks mileage on walks, runs, and bike rides so sponsors donate money to the charity I choose for the distance completed.)  In any case, being a mom is exactly what brought me to the point of hobbling around crisscrossing our nation’s capitol. I was there as a volunteer advocating for continued leadership in global health and global vaccines to help protect children in developing countries from vaccine-preventable diseases.  As a mother of four children it breaks my heart to think of losing a child to something that there is a simple solution for.  My application to become a Shot@life Champion was accepted, and  along with nearly 100 others from 38 states, we were brought to Washington DC for the Shot@Life Summit.  While there, we were educated on the facts, trained as advocates, and visited our congressional and senate offices.

The United Nations Foundation Shot@Life campaign educates, connects and empowers Americans to help save a life every 20 seconds by learning about, advocating and donating vaccines to children who need them the most.  Pneumonia and diarrhea are the two biggest killers of children under five years old, and the goal of the shot@life campaign is to make sure that all children in this world have a shot at their first birthday, their first steps, and a shot at life.  Polio is non-existent and Measles are rare in America due to vaccines.  We are fortunate enough to not have to worry about them in America, but they are deadly, and in this ever shrinking world they are just one plane ride away.  Vaccines are one of the most cost effective ways to save lives, improve health, and insure long-term prosperity.

As my fellow Rhode Island constituent Melissa Gardner and I set out, I’ll admit that I was apprehensive.  If you had told me a few months ago that I would be in Washington, DC, dressed up in a suit and heels, visiting my senators and congressmen as an advocate, I would have laughed.  Yet, it is amazing what feeling passionate about a topic will enable you to do, and there I was.   What I learned that day was that in our country we can all be an advocate for what we believe in.  It is our privilege to have a voice as constituents, and we are fortunate to have the ability to let our state representatives know what is important to us as a population.   Along with privilege, I feel, comes the responsibility to give a voice to those who do not have one of their own.  Elizabeth Gore told us about the lines of women who had walked for days from their villages with small children and waited for hours in the hot African sun to vaccinate their children at a clinic.  I would too if it would save my child’s life.  When I took my babies for their own vaccines, we drove five minutes down the street to the pediatrician’s office. While I don’t have to wait in long lines to have my children vaccinated, I am willing to travel long distances, and walk miles in uncomfortable shoes to give my voice to mothers, and children who otherwise won’t be heard.   Next time I’ll just be sure to wear more practical shoes.

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

By expanding vaccine programs we have the opportunity to save 1.5 million lives each year. Your voice, your time, and your support can change a child’s life forever, go to the Shot@Life website to join the movement, or apply to become a Shot@Life Champion yourself.