Bamako, December 13, 2007

Following many months of preparations, the largest public health event ever to take place in Mali has begun.

Early in the morning, the president of the country urged the population to attend the vaccination and distribution sites where over 2,8 million children under five will receive free health services that the majority of them cannot access on a regular bases. This is a unique opportunity for Malian families living with less than 1 dollar per day to protect their children from common diseases such as measles, polio and malaria, as well as other health conditions including intestinal worms and malnutrition.

Starting as early as 5 am, thousands of families started to line-up outside the health centres. This is one of the first signs that the campaign will be a success.
Meanwhile, thousands of health workers and Mali Red Cross volunteers started setting up the sites that will deliver this massive intervention across the
country.

Marking the beginning of the week-long campaign, today is a very important moment in the history of Mali.

After visiting distribution sites around Bamako, I left the capital city with a team of Red Cross workers and headed to the region of Segou. As an international delegate that is here to support the campaign and in particular the work of the Mali Red Cross, I wish to capture the immense team-effort that has made this possible with the help of my camera lenses and my pen.
Segou, Niono, December 14, 2007

We departed from Segou at 7 am and drove over an hour and a half to reach the town of Niono. As we drove, I saw vaccination and distribution centres along the road in urban, rural and isolated regions. At every community we passed by, there were lengthy line-ups of families outside the sites. The whole country is taking part in this massive effort that will improve the health of children and their mothers.

Arriving at a vaccination and distribution site is a powerful but also potentially overwhelming experience. It is a simultaneous array of faces, colors, smells, sounds and textures. Mothers chat loudly while breastfeeding their babies and waiting in line. Children run around and play. Some health workers try to control the crowd as others provide vaccines to crying children and mosquito nets to happy mothers. Families continue to arrive as others leave the sites with sobbing but healthier children.

Behind this apparent chaos, I see a display of true team-work. Everybody works together to make this happen, from donors to organizers and beneficiaries. I look at the eyes of the people present, and I feel a deep sense of humanity. We are all here for the same reasons. We care. To me, this is one of the most important messages from this campaign.