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Measles Initiative Makes a Splash at Austrian Study and Friendship Camp
Sophia Jeffrey
Tuesday, October 14, 2003 — These days, Jean Pembleton is busy getting used to life as a freshman and French major at Georgia State University. But, this past July she was thousands of miles away from her Georgia home, taking part in what she calls the "chance of a lifetime," the 48th annual 'Study and Friendship Camp' run by the Austrian Red Cross Youth Council. The camp, always held in the Austrian countryside town of Langenlois, gives young people involved in Red Cross around the world the opportunity to come together to share both their cultures and their experiences as Red Cross volunteers. As the only representative from the U.S., Jean not only informed other participants from 17 countries around the globe about life in the U.S., but also presented a Red Cross initiative that she has been passionately involved with since its inception, the Measles Initiative.
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"Because my mom works for the Atlanta Chapter of the Red Cross International Services, I began volunteering with the youth council for my county when I was about 11 or 12 years old." "It's in my blood," she said with a laugh. When Jean reached her teen years, she joined the Atlanta Red Cross Youth Board. It was there that she became involved with Measles Initiative., a five-year program to eliminate measles in Africa where 450,000 children die from the disease every year "It's been wonderful to have been involved since the beginning of the Initiative, and it's been great to see it go from sitting around a table and talking about ideas to actual implementation." Jean has been active in giving local presentations and in creating activities to get the community involved with the Initiative. "It's amazing to see how far we've come!" she said. As the co-president of Amnesty International group in her high school, Jean made a presentation about the Measles Initiative, informing her fellow students about the ongoing global threat of measles. "Amnesty was the most natural outlet through which to present the life-saving program to my high school."
But the highlight of her work with the Measles Initiative by far came when she was nominated through the Atlanta Red Cross chapter's International Services department to go to the Austrian Study and Friendship Camp, which meets every summer for approximately three weeks. It was no surprise that Jean's platform for nomination to the camp was the Measles Initiative.
On July 4, when most of her fellow Americans were barbequing and watching fireworks, Jean arrived in Langenlois, Austria to share almost three weeks with 57 other teenagers who would quickly become close friends, some from other European countries like Italy, Hungary and Finland, and others from as far away as Japan and Malaysia. "This was truly an international camp," said Jean, and "learning was by complete cultural immersion." The theme of this year's camp was "You & Me -
Being different - being okay!" Each participant or delegation gave an initial presentation on his or her own country and also a presentation about the specific activities of their local youth council. "It was neat to be able to see what other people are doing in Red Cross youth councils across the world." Jean explained that a friend she made from Italy works in back of an ambulance. Since the Red Cross' mission is to "help as needed," young people are involved in a host of different activities worldwide, and the camp provided ample opportunity to exchange information about these activities.
In presenting the Atlanta chapter's youth involvement with the Measles Initiative, Jean found that few participants realized the threat that measles still poses in today's world. "Other groups do a lot of activity with HIV/AIDS, first aid etc., but I was the only one dealing with measles from the youth perspective," explained Jean. "Youth these days know about and are committed to causes like HIV, but don't really realize that measles affects so many youth worldwide." In addition to her measles presentation, Jean headed a "measles" booth throughout the duration of the camp, which campers and others visited during their free time with questions and concerns about measles. "I feel like I reached a lot of people and presented a whole new side of the Red Cross. Measles isn't something people normally think of when they think of the Red Cross, so it was great opportunity to let people know about it."
Campers also participated in excursions to local points of interest (like the former Concentration Camp of Mauthausen), nearby towns and cities, and enjoyed many outdoor activities. In addition, they had plenty of visitors from the Austrian Red Cross headquarters and other organizations who made presentations about such topics as the White Ribbon project, Men against Men violence. "It was the most exciting Red Cross experience I've ever had," Jean explains, adding that the bonds made at camp still hold tight through continued contact and exchange of information via email and a camp yahoo group. "We even trade opinions about the latest movies!"
Now that Jean is back in the Atlanta area, her work with the Measles Initiative hasn't stopped. Together with the Atlanta youth group, she is working on ways to get the Girl Scouts involved with the Initiative. They have created a measles badge that can be earned by completing activities, as well as workbooks and games for scout troops. The Atlanta youth chapter is making these materials available to troop leaders around Atlanta area for use with their troops for games and activities.
For more information on ways youth can be involved in the Measles Initiative, visit the Measles Initiative National Youth Campaign website at http://www.measlesinitiative.org/youth/news.asp.
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