This post is part of theGlobal Moms Relay. Every time you share this post,Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 (per action), up to $300,000, to four causes helping improve the health and wellbeing of moms and kids worldwide:MAMA,Shot@Life,U.S. Fund for UNICEF andGirl Up. Scroll to the bottom to find out more.
The year 2030 conjures up bittersweet thoughts, since my children will be on the verge of adulthood. What will they be like? What will the world look like for them? Have I prepared them for all the challenges they will face?
I also think about the young children I've met as a Global Advocate for the United Nations Foundation's Shot@Life campaign. They will also be young adults by then and I hope their childhoods were filled with laughter, play and access to the education and healthcare they deserve. I hope that by 2030, no child will die from a vaccine-preventable disease and that the debilitating effects of polio are a thing of the past.
We are on a trajectory of progress, reducing the number of children dying under the age of five, but globally, 21.8 million infants still lack access to basic vaccinations. And every year, polio continues to rob our world's children of their childhoods by inflicting irreversible paralysis.
My time in Kenya was filled with children's laughter and play and I hoped, if nothing else, we made a tiny difference in inching us towards a polio-free world; a world in which all kids are kicking soccer balls, dancing and running, and none have to wear leg braces or use crutches to walk. When I look at my own children I wish that for them -- the ability to play and do whatever makes them happy.
The world is 99 percent polio-free, but this last one percent is so challenging. In 2030, I hope that polio is a distant memory and all children have the opportunity to live like children.
You share, they give: Each time you 'like' or share this post via the social media icons on this post or comment below,Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 (per action) up to $300,000, to improve the health and wellbeing of moms and kids worldwide throughMAMA,Shot@Life,U.S. Fund for UNICEF andGirl Up. $1 provides 1 life-saving measles vaccine for a child in the Philippines through Shot@Life.
You can also use theDonate A Photo* app andJohnson & Johnson will donate $1 when you upload a photo for Girl Up or UNICEF, up to $100,000. You can help make a difference in seconds with the click of your mouse or snap of your smart phone. Share this post with the hashtag #GlobalMoms, and visitGlobalMomsRelay.org to learn more. TheUnited Nations Foundation,Johnson & Johnson, BabyCenter and The Huffington Post created theGlobal Moms Relay with a goal of improving the lives of women and children around the globe.
* via the Donate A Photo app for iOS and Android. Johnson & Johnson has curated a list of trusted causes, and you can donate a photo to one cause, once a day. Each cause will appear in the app until it reaches its goal, or the donation period ends. If the goal isn't reached, the cause will still get a minimum donation.
