Unite For Mothers on Mothers Day
I arrived at work this morning to find an enthusiastic email in my inbox explaining the latest UNICEF initiative - with a mothers' day spin. This time around, the focus is on HIV and AIDS in young children.
Currently, 10% of all HIV positive people in the Pacific are children - 90% of whom have contracted the virus from their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. Basic medical care and education could prevent this in the majority of cases - when women have access to the this care and education, the risk of transmission from mother to newborn can drop to as little as 2%
If you're interested in getting involved, there's a series of things you can do. And for each one, you can easily put in as much (or as little) effort as you want to.
They're organising a petition to present to the Prime Minister (and relevant MPs). All it takes is to write your name and email address, and you've added another voice to the cause.
For those of you who can knit and/or crochet, there's a little project - UNICEF are looking to get 1400 22cm knitted (or crocheted) squares which they plan to sew together to make a baby blanket to present to MPs on mothers day.
And last but not least, they're going to be at Parliament at 3pm on mothers day (Sunday 10th May) to pass over the blanket and petition. There are more details on the website (click the banner to learn more)
It's a good cause, and for those of use who are too worried about cash flows to donate, this is the perfect opportunity to at least feel like we're doing something. So who's with me?
We can have a race to see who finishes the most squares before the deadline...