Giving Kids a Shot@Life In America and Beyond

It breaks my heart daily that there are children in the United States who need our protection. Children face abuse and hunger and experience the worst of humanity in their gentle souls. Try as we might to protect them, it seems to never be enough. Advocating for the safety and care of children is a Sisyphean task. I toil alongside others much more accomplished, invested, and dedicated to eliminating child abuse and feeding children in need. There are myriad issues to tend to when caring for our nation’s children.

I never imagined vaccinating them would be among them.

I’ve just returned from the Shot@Life Champion Summit in Washington, DC. It’s events like this that fuel me, landing me in the center of my tribe. A friend asked me about my trip, and all I could say was how marvelous it was to be among like-minded people who are advocating in one unified chorus to bring vaccines to developing countries. We realize how the world is connected, not only digitally, but biologically. We know that advocating for global vaccines also helps children in America. It’s not hyperbole to say that these diseases are literally a plane ride away.

We spent a day on the Hill, meeting with our representatives. It continues to be an invigorating and empowering experience. Supporting the budget for global vaccination programs might be the last bipartisan issue out there. Even my comrades from the other side of the aisle and I can shake hands congenially and agree that it behooves us to protect the children of the world. After all, the global vaccine budget is less than one percent of the foreign aid budget, which is a fraction of what you imagine. About one percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid in general.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet many people from developing countries who are perplexed by the vaccine debate in the US. One noted that mothers in African nations travel by foot five, ten kilometers or more to vaccinate their children. Mothers in India forego a day’s wages to take time from their jobs to get their children life saving shots. Vaccination in these countries is not viewed as a luxury or a choice; it is literally a matter of life and death.

I met Dennis Ogbe, celebrated paralympian, who contracted polio as a child in Nigeria. He was left paralyzed in both legs, eventually regaining strength in his right leg. Dennis said that in America he is among the minority limping through the airport, while in his home country it’s the other way around. Let that sink in. He’s a dad, an athlete, a polio survivor. Dennis is also an all around great guy. He’s a raconteur extraordinaire. I can draw on Dennis’ experiences in both Nigeria and his home in Kentucky to continue to fuel my work with Shot@Life.

There are thousands, no, millions, of Dennises out there. It’s a wonderful thing to know that we have the power and perseverance to literally give these children a shot at life. Join me. Lend your voice. Write to your Congressional representatives. Donate to save a life.