It takes a city

By Phil Busse of Portland, Oregon. Phil is the managing editor of the Portland Mercury and was a candidate for mayor of Portland in 2004.

Two years ago, the mayor of Corvallis declared October to be "land mine awareness month." It was a simple gesture but it drew recognition to a serious and daily problem half a world away in war-torn countries. Over the course of the month, residents in Corvallis hosted a few public education events and eventually enough money was chipped in -- roughly $75,000 -- to sweep clean an entire field in Afghanistan.

That program was in the back of my mind a few months ago. At the time, tsunami relief efforts were winding down and I thought, "what next?" What global issue can Portland residents tackle next? (Not that I’m overly competitive, but I did figure, if Corvallis can do it, certainly Portland can do it better!) During the tsunami relief efforts, Portland residents were some of the most generous in the country, with thousands of dollars raised and hundreds of workers traveling to southeast Asia to help out.

To make the project truly a city-wide effort, I was hoping to find an issue that had realistic goals and could be achieved by small donations -- like a dollar.

Measles! Yes, measles. Although a disease like measles may seem irrelevant in America today, in African nations it is still very much a threat, killing about 400,000 children each year -- a number nearly equal the population of Portland. What's most frustrating about measles is that -- unlike AIDS -- it's completely curable and preventable. An inoculation costs less than a dollar.

Three weeks ago, I presented a resolution to Portland’s City Council to declare July as "measles and malaria awareness month." (The resolution was officially introduced by Dan Saltzman.) City council approved the resolution unanimously and since then, working with the local chapter of the Red Cross, I have been helping to spearhead a grassroots effort to raise awareness and funds in Portland. Those funds will directly pay for vaccinations as part of the Red Cross’ measles initiative, a four year old program that sends delegations to African nations to inoculate children. This year Red Cross is focusing on three countries -- Chad, Niger and Mozambique. Our goal is to raise funds to inoculate 10,000 children in Mozambique.

There is also a broader picture: I hope that this year’s "measles and malaria awareness month" will inspire future, similar Adopt-A-Global-Problem projects in town and that residents will adopt a global problem each year -- and do what we can to remedy that issue.

In the past, city council has waded into international issues, like denouncing the Reagan administration's destabilizing measures in Central America and, more recently, introducing a resolution against the war in Iraq. Those measures have largely been symbolic. But this is an opportunity to directly save lives. In some way, it is a chance to counterbalance the devastation that Americans have committed in other corners of the world -- and a chance to express how we would rather American foreign policy manifest itself: as a helping hand rather than a battering ram.

No, this year’s measles and malaria awareness month will not save the world completely, but it is a puzzle piece towards that bigger picture. And, in the meantime, Portland has an opportunity to save 10,000 lives in Mozambique.

For more information, please check out redcross-pdx.org and tell your friends in Portland!

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