I Never Did You Any Wrong

Photo: © UNICEF/Asselin

I never did you any wrong,
not yet old enough to know
that the colour of my skin, where I was born
means I won’t have a chance to grow.

I do not know that you’re struggling to
make ends meet in your own backyard.
I’d help you too if I could, I swear,
but right now life is just too hard.

I was born in a part of the world, you see,
where we haven’t been as fortunate as you.
Where diseases rage and children starve
there is nothing my parents can do.

So I’m asking you, please, spare a thought for me,
I never did you any wrong.
I am not yet old enough to know,
would you please help me to grow strong?

I am once again in that position where me writing in English is a disadvantage. The Swedish branch of UNICEF is currently running a campaign where one post helps vaccinate 95 children against polio, measles and tetanus. I find this campaign highly commendable and therefore, below, please see UNICEF’s text (Swedish only):

Den här bloggposten vaccinerar 95 barn

Just nu söker UNICEF en hälsospecialist till konfliktområden i Afghanistan. I tjänsten ingår bland annat att massvaccinera miljontals barn mot stelkramp, polio och mässling.

Jag skulle gärna ta mig an uppdraget, men eftersom jag inte kommer loss så publicerar jag den här bloggposten istället. Då vaccinerar jag nämligen 95 barn runtom i världen mot stelkramp tillsammans med Apotek Hjärtat. Det är också bra.

Jag är med UNICEF i kampen för varenda unge. Vill du också vara med och förändra barns liv? Bli Världsförälder här: unicef.se/bli-varldsforalder. För 100 kronor i månaden är du med och ser  till att barn över hela världen får vaccin, medicin, rent vatten och utbildning.

Har du en blogg och vill vaccinera ytterligare 95 barn? För varje bloggare som publicerar den här bloggposten mellan 16 april och 13 maj så skänker Apotek Hjärtat 95 stelkrampsvaccin. Läs mer och hämta bloggmaterial på unicef.se/sprid-budskapet/bloggkampanj

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11 December: Did you know?

Did you know that it was on this day in 1789 the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the oldest public universities in the United States and the only one to award degrees in the 18th century, received its charter? Or that it was on this day in 1931 the British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster 1931, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, theDominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa?

And on this day in 1934 Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the last time, in 1941 during World War II, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans’ declaration of war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on Germany and Italy and in 1946 the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established.

It was also on this day in 1964  Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, in 1972 Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon, in 1997 the Kyoto Protocol opens for signature, in 2006  Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, the president of Mexico, launches a military-led offensive to put down the drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacan. This effort is often regarded as the first event in the Mexican Drug War and one year ago, in 2010, two explosions occur in a busy shopping district of Stockholm, Sweden, killing one and injuring two others. Officials say the incident is being treated as a terrorist attack.

Some birthdays to remember on this day are Hector Berlioz, French composer (1803-1869), Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (1912-2007), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and Soviet dissident, Nobel laureate (1918-2008), Brenda Lee, American singer (1944), Nikki Sixx, American musician (Mötley Crüe) (1958) and Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish ice hockey player (1972).

Need a reason to raise a glass of bubbly on this day? Why not join in the celebration of International Mountain Day (International), Human Rights and Peace Day (Kiribati) or National Tango Day (Buenos Aires)?

For more information about historic events on this day, please go here.

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