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Portland student leads campaign against measles
By Jamie Mazzurco, special for MeaslesInitiative.org
Friday, March 16, 2007 — High school students are rarely silent. But as Michelle Dubinski delivered a presentation on the Measles Initiative and its life-saving activities to protect children, that’s exactly what she heard: silence.
Michelle Dubinski, a youth advocate and student at Gresham High School, stands in front of a presentation board. In just one week, Dubinski informed more than 1000 people about measles in Africa.
Oregon Trail Chapter/American Red Cross
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For one week, Dubinski dedicated all of her free time to setting up educational displays at her high school and giving nearly 10 presentations a day on measles. "By the end of the day I didn’t want to talk anymore," Michelle said, laughing.
As a senior at Gresham High School in Portland, Oregon, Dubinski discovered the Measles Initiative while searching for an idea for her Senior Service Project. To develop her project, she began working with Francisco Ianni, the youth services specialist for the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The project would have two parts. First, there would an educational component, providing information about measles and how the American Red Cross and its partners are fighting the disease. Second, the campaign would provide young people with an opportunity to affect change and save lives through fundraising.
The Measles Initiative, launched in 2001, is a partnership committed to reducing measles deaths around the world. Leading this effort are the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, and World Health Organization (WHO). The Initiative has an ambitious goal: to support the reduction of measles deaths by 90 percent by 2010 (compared to 2000). Already, the Initiative has supported more than 40 campaigns in Africa and Asia helping to reduce measles deaths by 60 percent globally (compared to 1999).
Dubinski researched information about measles, and she set-up a short presentation to educate her fellow students about the Measles Initiative campaigns. Dubinski made her message school-wide by setting-up posters and advertisements from the Oregon Trail Chapter, other worldwide chapters and the Measles Initiative. In the end, Dubinski reached approximately one thousand students and staff with information about the efforts of the Measles Initiative. She also raised more than $600 by selling Measles Initiative pins in her community.
Working with the Red Cross and the Measles Initiative was "one of the most productive, time consuming and draining projects that I have ever done," she said. "But it has been the most rewarding."
For Dubinski, the best part was the response that she received from her peers at Gresham. "They really got it," she exclaimed. "They really understood that one dollar, equals one vaccine, equals one life."
And the impact of her work will be felt beyond the week-long campaign, as several students have already shown an interest in conducting their own Measles Initiative projects next year.
According to Tom Urbanowitz, the senior project director for Gresham High School, "Our hope is to make this campaign a permanent fixture at Gresham High School."
The Measles Initiative is a partnership committed to reducing measles deaths globally. Launched in 2001, the Initiative—led by the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the World Health Organization—provides technical and financial support to governments and communities on vaccination campaigns worldwide. To date, the Initiative has supported the vaccination of more than 500 million children in 50 countries helping reduce measles deaths by more than 68% globally and 91% in Africa (compared to 2000). To learn more or make a donation, visit www.measlesinitiative.org.
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