Comfort zone: where did you go?

You may remember that I said in my best/worst last week that I was going to tell you about something I’m doing that’s going to push me out of my comfort zone? Well I’ll soon be going to Papua New Guinea as part of my role this winter as an ambassador for Vicks Road To Relief.

And for me, that’s about as far out of the zone as I could get, short of Mars.

But it’s a good thing and for an excellent cause.

Here is the press release which explains it more succinctly than I could.

MIA FREEDMAN ENCOURAGES AUSTRALIANS TO HELP TWO MILLION CHILDREN ON THE ROAD TO RELIEF FROM PNEUMONIA

With winter finally here, and temperatures dropping, most people are battling to keep healthy and parents are battling to keep their children’s sniffles at bay. Busy mother of three Mia Freedman is about to embark on a different challenge –joining Georgie Parker as an ambassador for the Vicks Road to Relief campaign, which aims to significantly reduce the incidence of pneumonia amongst children in developing countries.

In her capacity as ambassador, Mia will visit neighbouring country Papua New Guinea, a recipient of Vicks Road to Relief support. In conjunction with UNICEF, Mia will witness the desperate need for basic healthcare and immunisation, and encourage Aussie parents to make a real and significant difference to the health of children in developing nations by supporting Vicks Road to Relief.

Mia also encourages everyone to support the campaign online: “If you’re like me and spend a lot of time on the internet you can support the initiative online by joining the Vicks Road to Relief Facebook page. For every fan Vicks will donate an additional measles immunisation to UNICEF1.”

Vicks Road to Relief & Pneumonia

Vicks Road to Relief provides an easy way for Australians to make an enormous, real difference to
the lives of underprivileged children. Every specially marked Vicks product purchased this winter will pay for
one child in a developing country to be immunised against measles, to help in the fight against pneumonia.
Pneumonia is a serious complication of measles and a common cause of death associated with measles. Each year almost two million children in developing countries die from this preventable disease2 – yet it
receives little attention.

All funds raised by the Vicks Road to Relief will be donated to UNICEF, who will ensure that the measles immunisations are administered in the places where they are most urgently needed. This includes Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh & Vietnam.

Here’s how Aussies can help:

1. Buy packs of specially marked Vicks products. Every specially marked Vicks pack sold will
fund 1 measles immunisation, to help in the fight against pneumonia in developing countries.

2. Join the Vicks Road to Relief Facebook fan page. For every fan, Vicks will donate an additional measles
immunisation to UNICEF1. Click here to join.

3. Help be our voice and start a conversation encouraging others to support Vicks Road to Relief, tweet
with #vicksroadtorelief

For more information visit the Vicks Road to Relief website.

Here is my fellow ambassador, Georgie Parker on her mission with Vicks Road to Relief last year in Bangladesh:

When I’m in PNG, I’ll be making a similar video about my time there….I’ve already had my travel injections (needing immunisations to go visit an immunisation clinic might be one of the more ironic things I’ve done lately) and I was a big fat wussbag about it.

Well, I didn’t cry but I complained rather a lot afterwards which is almost as pathetic.

Seriously though, this is something I feel very passionately about and I jumped on board instantly when I was first approached to be an ambassador.  When winter comes, our entire kitchen morphs into a chemist, with every possible form of medication for every member of the family fighting for counter space in the kitchen.

When you or your kids (if you have them) are sick, it’s a miserable time for everyone but I totally take for granted the fact that the misery is more just about discomfort and inconvenience. In Third World Countries, for millions of families, it’s literally a matter of life or death.

We moan about having to have immunisations (or is it just me?) when there are people who would do anything to be able to immunise their children and protect them from illnesses like the measles which can lead to pneumonia and death.

I’m really looking forward to seeing, learning and understanding a whole lot more about this when I’m in PNG soon.

Naturally, I’ll be sharing it with you here…..watch this space.