UGANDA Day 1: Shot@Life Trip at UNICEF Offices in Kampala

UGANDA Day 1: Shot@Life Trip at UNICEF Offices in Kampala

“When we walked out of the airport, the smell of crisp wood burned air swept in the gentle breeze. We had made it to Uganda after almost a full day of traveling. We were excited to hear about Uganda’s health programs for children.”

This week, I am on a UN Foundation delegation to Uganda with the Shot@Life campaign. Today was our first day on our mission, and my mind is already blown!  We started our day (well, some of us started their days with breakfast, but my phone was still accidentally set for Amsterdam time, so I came at the last moment) by piling into a UN bus and heading to the UNICEF offices in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.
UN VanWe spent the morning and early afternoon in a meeting room type setting to be debriefed by UNICEF about Uganda and the programs they are working on for the health and safety of the children.

Let me tell you this. There are AMAZING people doing really interesting work for children’s interests here. Dr. Sharad Sapra is the UNICEF Country Representative for Uganda. Previously he had worked for UNICEF in NYC for 6 years, and then chose to take this assignment in Uganda. He spoke of the importance of the “4th screen”, the cell phone. He explained it was fourth to the movie, tv and computer screens. The ideas Mr. Sapra and his team have come up with to engage the people of Uganda are innovative. So innovative that they are now being incorporated in other countries.

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Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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SOCIAL GOOD: World Moms Blog to Visit Uganda with UN Foundation

SOCIAL GOOD: World Moms Blog to Visit Uganda with UN Foundation

World Moms Blog founder, Jennifer Burden, is headed to Uganda soon with the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign!

Last week I got the e-mail…”We have had a spot open up on our observation trip to Uganda (which is in two weeks), and we thought of you.” I had less than 24 hours to decide to accept the incredible invitation from the UN Foundation, and before I knew it, I was reading every travel advisory for Uganda under the sun.

The Shot@Life trip will be observing UNICEF’s bi- and tri-annual Family and Child Health Days, where children are given Vitamin A tablets to boost immunity and prevent blindness, deworming tablets to treat parasitic infections, routine polio and measles immunization, monitoring for nutritional status and insecticide treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria. There will also be visits to other routine immunization clinics, schools, places of worship and other places in rural Ugandan communities.

Could I leave my girls, 5-years old and 19-months old, for a week? They would be just fine for one week. Remember all that stuff you’ve told yourself about teaching social good to your children by setting a good example? Well, this. Yes, this.  (more…)

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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World Moms Blog Update September 2012

World Moms Blog Update September 2012

Not fully recovered yet, as in there’s still a lot of follow-up to do, from the BlogHer conference which was over a month ago.  Actually, not only have I not posted about it here, but my bag is still not fully unpacked. I know.  So embarrassing.  What is even more embarrassing is that World Moms Blog editor, Nicole Melancon, is flying in and staying at my house this weekend for us to commute into NYC for the Social Good Summit together, and she was my roommate at BlogHer last month.  She knows the bag! I have less than 2 days to get it unpacked before she gets here.

Running World Moms Blog and being everything I can be first to my 5 year old and 1 year old daughters all day is tough work.  But, I’m really happy to do it.  Really happy for so many reasons.  Here’s my latest list of reasons:

1)   The momentum was lifted even higher when 8 of our contributors met for dinner in New York City last month on the eve of the BlogHer conference.  We munched on Greek food and talked about everything from what it was like to live where we live, our kids, travel, the blog, the posts we read, but most importantly, taking the opportunity for some of us to get to know each other on an even more personal level.  Best night ever! (more…)

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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SOCIAL GOOD: Shot@Life and Reliving First Kisses

SOCIAL GOOD: Shot@Life and Reliving First Kisses

Child of Tanzania.

Child of Tanzania.

Where was your first great kiss?  Was it behind the bleachers during a high school football game with a guy you were crazy about from history class? Was it with your first boyfriend? Your first girlfriend?  Was it after your wedding night? Was it on the altar? Were you following cultural or religious protocol?

Regardless of where and how your first great kiss occurred, you will likely always remember it.  Perhaps, you’re glad you had it.  Perhaps today, you can imagine going through life without it, or you cringe when you think about the person it was with, but back then, whoa.  Back then it meant the W-O-R-L-D.

These important firsts: first steps, first smiles, first words, first friends, first days of school, first kisses — they were all so important to us as they occurred.  Every child in the world deserves a chance at them.

And, as a mother, I’d like to tell you about an even deeper kind of first kiss.   (more…)

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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SOCIAL GOOD: Look Kids, Mom’s on TV!

SOCIAL GOOD: Look Kids, Mom’s on TV!

Actress, Amanda Peet, with World Moms Blog Founder, Jennifer Burden, in Times Square in NYC advocating for Shot@Life, life-saving vaccines for children in developing countries.

In January, World Mom’s Blog’s advocacy for global health and children began offline at the pilot grass-roots party thrown at my house for the UN Foundation’s new Shot@Life campaign.

For the first time, at that party, I talked candidly in front of my friends and my mom about why the movement for life-saving vaccines for children in the developing world resonated with me.

It was a difficult, personal story for me about my many pregnancy losses, how desperate I felt and how I want to prevent mothers around the globe from ever having to feel that desperate, tragic feeling. There are mothers in the world losing their children to diseases that we have the know-how to prevent. And I want to help.

I have since shared my story at a UN Foundation Volunteer Summit in Washington, D.C. and at my friend Jodi’s grass-roots Shot@Life Party in New Jersey.  But, this past Friday was, well, a little different…

I accepted an invitation from the UN Foundation to open my heart and speak for a larger audience in NYC at the launch of the Shot@Life Public Service Announcement (PSA) on the big Toshiba Screen in Times Square. (more…)

Jennifer Burden

Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India. She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls. Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.

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INDONESIA: Visiting the Doctor

A few weeks ago we had a rough day at the doctor’s office. Our twin four-year-olds needed a routine medical check up to apply for school next year so we set up an appointment at the nearby international health clinic. To ensure that I’d leave with filled-in forms – and given my son’s tendency toward noncompliance in medical settings – I spent a few days preparing them for the big event.

We talked a lot about what would happen at the appointment and why it was important. I also banked on a bribery strategy and took the kids to the toy store the day before to pick out craft activities that we would do together after a successful check up.

The exam began and both kids were doing great and cheering each other on: “you’re doing a good job!” said one to the other. Then it was time for the required Mantoux TB skin test – an injection of Tuberculin beneath the skin on the inside of the left forearm.

My daughter cheerfully agreed to go first. Her smile quickly gave way to a frozen look of shock and then (more…)

Shaula Bellour (Indonesia)

Shaula Bellour grew up in Redmond, Washington. She now lives in Jakarta, Indonesia with her British husband and 9-year old boy/girl twins. She has degrees in International Relations and Gender and Development and works as a consultant for the UN and non-governmental organizations. Shaula has lived and worked in the US, France, England, Kenya, Eritrea, Kosovo, Lebanon and Timor-Leste. She began writing for World Moms Network in 2010. She plans to eventually find her way back to the Pacific Northwest one day, but until then she’s enjoying living in the big wide world with her family.

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