Si Se Ve / If You See

I get asked all the time, why UNICEF? And for me, the answer is pretty clear.

If you want to make grand transformational change on a scale like no other, then you turn to UNICEF. They

have the expertise, the skills, the relationships with governments in 190 countries. That's profound. That's what I got to see when I was in Peru.

The idea of going to Peru was incredible to me because I was going to get to see so many sectors of where UNICEF does its

work. We were able to see that vision in multiple areas including education,

child protection and health. And what was amazing was that there was a succinct plan in place for each one of

these sectors and each was being tackled in a creative but datadriven way. My

trip to Peru only lasted for 4 days, but we fit a lot into those days. I can see when I go to Peru, when I visit the

schools, every child has a voice, every child has importance, and every child has rights.

So when we went to the schools to see the programming that UNICEF had created in order to tackle child violence, we

learned that children there, particularly the adolescents, are in so much danger from a violence perspective.

It was wonderful to see these classrooms filled with awareness and tackling these issues and giving these children a voice

and a way for them to protect themselves. That's where UNICEF has come in to really not only detect this issue,

but to come up with a strategic plan to give these kids an incredible route to be part of the solution for such a

horrific situation. These children were able to read materials and act out skits

with masks that are from their indigenous tribes. They related to those characters and had a wonderful time

putting on the skits for us, but it showed their real understanding of the issues and it's turning the whole generation against violence.

I got to speak to some of the children.

They felt like leaders coming out of that program and you could see their zest in wanting to teach it to the younger children in the school as well.

As a physician, mental health is the cornerstone to anyone's well-being. And it was wonderful to see that UNICEF was

making this a priority for these children, especially adolescence. It's very clear when children have had good mental health support. It lays the

foundation for their success throughout life. One moment that I'll never forget was a 10-year-old boy named Sebastian.

He had such a bright, warm spirit and he ran to greet me and gave me a hug immediately and he took my hand and he

held it so tight and I could feel so much love and he led me to an area under

a pagota where we got to see books that UNICEF had donated to the school and it

was such a bonding moment. It was such an incredible moment where he just felt so seen. He felt heard and in one of the

books it shows the UNICEF logo and he pointed to the logo and he pointed to my shirt and then he made a little heart

sign. I got to give him a hug and tell him to stay in school and work hard because he could achieve anything and he

felt confident. I think he knew that he could and that he was going to. It was such a beautiful moment I'll never forget.

On our second day, we traveled up river to a place called Masaaya to visit a rural health center. Considering the

journey we had to take to get to Masa, it was breathtaking to see the clinic there.

As a physician, I found the clinic to be so well supported. I'm not even sure how UNICEF was able to get all of that equipment into that clinic in Masaya.

these massive solar powered refrigerators in this remote clinic.

It's critical for vaccines to stay at a certain temperature and so cold chain is essential in delivering vaccines. UNICEF

provided a way to keep vaccines cold in the rainforest so that children there could get life-saving vaccines. It was

incredible to see that in Masa, such a remote area where children deserve to be vaccinated, a cold chain was

established. I learned that UNICEF was trusted all by word of mouth. You were

seeing all of these mothers trusting this clinic in particular for their care. In Peru, it's common in these

indigenous tribes for women to stand while they're birthing their child. and UNICEF has made that possible in their

clinic. We even saw a tree trunk that UNICEF had brought in for the mothers to use so they felt more at home and more

at ease. And that's a wonderful way for them to be introduced to the medical community and then they continue to get

their care there for themselves and their children. There was a section of the clinic that focused on adolescent

medicine really focusing on them and their particular needs. A wonderful interaction that I had was I got to be

with a group of adolesccents who had come in for their routine checkups and they immediately engaged with me. They

immediately wanted to know where I was from and I was so impressed with their worldly knowledge and their curiosity.

Incredible questions that they had for me. We ended the conversation by talking about my ethnicity being Indian-American.

And so we ended the conversation by saying namaste. It was so wonderful

because every time I would get a peak of them through the hallways, they would turn around and say namaste. It was

really fun to see them take in some of my culture, too. Afterwards, we got to spend some time with the community.

UNICEF had just installed new dry toilets. These communities were so grateful for the advent of the dry

toilets that they had in each one of their homes. They used to have so many diseases due to the open defecation that was occurring in terms of

gastroenteritis and other fatal diseases. These girls no longer have to go outside of their homes to use the restroom. And so they've seen a real

difference. and also they were able to have dignity.

On our last day, we were back in Pukulpa visiting the regional hospital. I was really surprised to learn that neonatal

screenings are not a standard practice in Peru. This is something we take for granted in the United States as all of our newborns are screened for

life-threatening diseases like PKU and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. It was wonderful as a physician to see these

newborns being screened. Of course, throughout the community, there was a lot of doubt of why their children needed to be screened for these as it

hadn't been done before. But with the support of UNICEF and collaborators, these mothers felt very comfortable

bringing their children, their newborns into the hospital to get these screenings. And it's saving lives.

Whether a mother is from Pukalpa, Peru or Houston, Texas, she wants the same thing for her child. A bright future

where her child can thrive, these kids have every ability and desire to succeed in life. Just a little support is all

they need. And I promise you, they'll do the rest themselves. UNICEF gives them that support so they can go on to reach

their full potential and chase their dreams. When I go on these trips as a mother, I see the faces of my children

in the children that I'm visiting and it's a feeling of responsibility. You want to help all the children. When I

left, I absolutely felt that almost desperation to help and do something for

them. But as time has gone on, I've been able to understand the role of UNICEF.

It just gives me so much conviction for how UNICEF handles every situation and tackles every issue. It's not a numbers

game for UNICEF. It's every child. When I come back from these trips and I share the photos and videos and stories from

what I've seen, my children are enthralled. They want to know what they can do, how they can make a difference.

That was the exact moment that I knew UNICEF would be part of my life forever.

And I wanted UNICEF to be part of my children's lives, part of my family's lives, part of my friends lives because

I want everyone that I love to experience the same kind of fulfillment and joy that I do when I get to work

with UNICEF and help the world's children.