Emma

I immunize for these little girls. When I went to Kenya several years ago horror stories on children dying from vaccine preventable diseases were quite prevalent. The stories of parents who would watch their children die because vaccines were not easily accessible to them. Then health programs were introduced across the Mara and parents would walk for days with children on their backs for a vaccine. A vaccine was something I ran away from as a child--I was so privileged I didn't believe I needed them. Then I saw these people who were just like me but they would do anything for that shot of hope. In that tiny vial these parents could see their children getting past the first year of life, going to school, playing with friends. Without that shot, it was a gamble with their child's life. We are so lucky here in developed countries to believe that we have a choice in vaccinating, to be so immune to those consequences. We've never seen real pain and suffering at the hand of a preventable disease but if we continue on the path we are on, we will see these things. I vaccinate because I understand the destruction these diseases can do to myself and the people around me. I vaccinate because it is safe. I vaccinate because I care.