HELP at Your School

Ever wonder when HELP International is coming to recruit at your school?  Check out the Calendar on their website at http://help-international.org/help-international-calendar

This month:

Check every month and don't miss out on your chance to serve this summer with HELP!


Yours Truly, HELP Headquarters

Valentine's Day Around the World

Valentine's Day is tomorrow (hint, hint) and Americans definitely eat up this holiday.  Celebrating with a significant other by going out to a nice dinner, seeing a mushy movie, feeding each other chocolate-covered strawberries and adorning one another with gifts.  But do any other countries celebrate this romantic holiday besides the USA?  Some of the HELP countries include:

India

Africa

Thailand

Peru

How are you spending Valentine's Day wherever you live?

Yours Truly, HELP Headquarters

HIV Education

In Uganda, we [HELP] taught 9 HIV-positive individuals tactics for keeping themselves healthy with a damaged immune system. We also taught them community mobilization skills, which they used to start support groups in their own communities. This brought services to AIDS-affected villagers who otherwise would not receive help, because they live too far from the hospital. It also brought a sense of empowerment and purpose to those who we mentored to create the support groups.

The World Health Organization published ten facts about HIV:
1. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infects cells of the immune system
2. HIV can be transmitted in several ways
3. 34 million people live with HIV/AIDS worldwide
4. HIV/AIDS is the world’s leading infectious killer
5. Combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) prevents the HIV virus from multiplying in the body
6. About 6.65 million HIV-positive people had access to ART in low- and middle-income countries at the end of 2010
7. An estimated 3.4 million children are living with HIV/AIDS
8. Mother-to-child-transmission is almost entirely avoidable
9. HIV is the strongest risk factor for developing active TB disease
10. There are several ways to prevent HIV transmission
 
To read more of this publication, please go to http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/hiv/en/index.html
 
Yours Truly, HELP Headquarters

Sports Around the World

Over the past weekend, one of the largest sporting events took place...the Super Bowl.  Along with football, basketball, soccer, what are some other unique sporting facts about the countries that you will be going this summer with HELP?

India- Sports include kabbadi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda
Belize- Belize has their own canoeing team.
El Salvador- Has the largest stadium in Central America called Estadio Cuscatlán.  It holds over 45,000 people. Football is a huge sport played here.
Fiji- Also is big in Canoeing, with their Takia Outrigger Canoe Club page on facebook, you can keep up to date with all their highlights.  
Thailand-  The most popular sport here is Muay Thai Boxing.  Others include Krabbi Krabong and Sepak Takraw.  Read more here. 

What are you looking forward to playing?

Yours Truly, HELP Headquarters

World Cancer Day

According to the World Health Organization, tomorrow, February 4, marks the World Cancer Day.

WHO has come up with ways to help prevent cancer, gain more knowledge about the fatal subject, and provides other tools to help you understand what cancer really is.  Please check their website at http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_cancer_day/en/index.html 

We have all been effected by this leading cause of death.  What are some ways you can help ease the burden of cancer?

Yours Truly, HELP Headquarters

10 Facts About Immunizations

Everyone involved with HELP that goes abroad for the summer, will have specific immunizations to their country of choice.  The World Health Organization has made a list of facts about immunizations, the importance of them and what they have accomplished.  MAKE SURE YOU GET YOURS!

1. Immunization prevents an estimated 2.5 million deaths every year
2. More children than ever are being reached with immunization
3. An estimated 19.3 million children under the age of one did not receive DTP3 vaccine
4. Over 1 million infants and young children die every year from pneumococcal disease and rotavirus diarrhoea
5. Public-private partnerships facilitate the development and introduction of vaccines
6. The supply of influenza vaccines has been significantly expanded
7. Global measles mortality has declined by 78%
8. Polio incidence has been reduced by 99%
9. Annual deaths from neonatal tetanus have fallen
10. Immunization provides an opportunity to deliver other life-saving measures

To read the entire article, please visit http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/immunization/en/index.html



 

Photo taken from: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/immunization/factfile12_20091021.jpg

Yours Truly, HELP Headquarters

India Breakthrough

(Photo taken from http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1540477,00.html)

Reading on the World Health Organization (WHO) website today, there was amazing news about India...NO POLIO FOR A YEAR!!!  For those of you who do not know what Polio is, it's a "disease that maims, paralyzes, and even kills its victims, who are mostly children."  Compare WHO's article and the great strides India has made to the TIME article back in 2006, when India was fighting Polio like crazy!

Yours Truly, HELP Headquarters