What Tanzania Taught Me About Vaccines, Privilege, and Shared Humanity
Reflections on the news this week about ACIP and GAVI
In January, I traveled to Tanzania for the first time with some amazing ladies. The trip was led by my friend
who is an amazing human.I was excited about this trip, but I didn’t expect it to leave such a big imprint on my heart. I left Tanzania with dirt on my boots, thousands of photos and videos, tears streaming down my face, life-changing memories, and a deep ache to return with my own family in tow (I am constantly looking up prices of flights to return). I also left with a better appreciation of humanity…
One day, we visited the Datoga, a tribe known for their metalworking. Through smoky light, I watched a man coax fire to life with rhythmic pumps of a bag, while another formed the metal into jewelry and arrowheads. In the structure next door, women crouched over stones, grinding corn by hand with slow, practiced movements.
And then—one small moment caught my eye. I was in one of their huts watching someone grind corn when I noticed a mother balancing her baby on her knees while women nearby made the baby giggle. Then later, I saw another woman kneel beside a child, plucking burrs from their clothes with a sigh that clearly meant - “you knew better than to play there”.
It was in these quiet moments that conveyed fatigue, tenderness and frustration that I saw something familiar. I’d done and felt those same things with my own kids. In that moment I realized so much of motherhood is universal.
Later that day, we visited the Hadzabe, a nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers. The men greeted us with wide grins and bursts of storytelling in their native tongue. Their voices were animated and one man acted out his stories so we could understand them. Laughter and movement bridged our language barrier. They showed us how to shoot bows and arrows and eventually pulled us into a dance. Soon almost everyone joined in, including the children. It felt like a celebration of being alive. Here is a clip from that day:
These feelings didn’t fade through the whole visit. Over morning coffee and evening fires, the staff at the lodge became our friends. They shared Swahili phrases and dance moves, swapped stories about childhood, work and dreams. We laughed together. We listened. We learned. We visited a local coffee farm and was welcomed in by the family for an hour of pure joy. I am still savoring the coffee I brought home with me.
I have been back home from Tanzania for more than four months now, and so much has stayed with me. I remember the breathtaking beauty of the landscape and the amazing animals we saw on safari (wildebeest crossings!). I also most vividly miss and remember the people. I didn’t know that seven days could forever change my heart in this way. There were so many reminders over the trip that people want the same things everywhere. To keep their children safe. To protect what they love. To build rich lives full of health and joy.
But I also saw the differences. The miles walked just to reach a school. Roads turned to mud with a single rainstorm. The long, dusty journeys to access even the most basic healthcare.
This trip didn’t just open my eyes. It opened my heart. And it strengthened a conviction I always had, one that has grown stronger now that I’ve seen it – that access to care should not depend on geography. A child in Tanzania deserves the same chance to survive an infectious disease as one in Kenya, Iraq, Brazil, Maine or Missouri. It reminded me that we’re far more alike than we are different.
Vaccines Save Lives—But Only When There’s Access
In many places, vaccines are still not guaranteed. They’re something people hope for, organize for and often walk for miles to get.
With the help of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, countries throughout the world, like Tanzania, receive support for vaccination programs. This matters A LOT because 1.5 million children a year die from a vaccine preventable disease. This is one death every twenty seconds, and it doesn’t have to be this way.
These aren't just statistics. They're the reason a child survives measles. The reason a mother doesn’t lose a newborn to tetanus. The reason a girl protected by the HPV vaccine can grow into a healthy adult.
What is GAVI?
GAVI is a partnership between many organizations and countries. For example, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and donor countries (like the USA). You can read more here. They help vaccinate more than half the world's children!
Unfortunately, this week the current head of HHS, RFK Jr., announced that the USA would no longer support GAVI. Historically, GAVI has had strong bipartisan support in Congress. We have helped save more than 18 million lives. Pulling our funding for GAVI will critically impact their ability to reach the people who need access to vaccinations.
Even if you don’t care about kids elsewhere, we have to remember that infectious diseases don’t respect borders. All it takes is one plane ride for an infectious disease to also spread here. These efforts don’t just save lives of kids overseas, it also protects our children here.
The things we take for granted: this weeks ACIP meeting
This announcement about GAVI, came during this week's ACIP meeting. This was the first ACIP committee with RFK Jr’s new appointees. He recently fired the prior members and replaced them with 8 (now 7 because one would not divest their pharma stocks) people who are not well qualified. These meetings help shape U.S. vaccine policy—decisions that impact millions of people.
During the meeting, there were more than 50 pieces of blatant falsehoods said by invited speakers (like Lyn Redwood, former president of the anti-vaccine organization that RFK Jr started known as Children’s Health Defense) and the new ACIP members.
If you want to know more about these falsehoods, you can access these briefs that outline what happened during the meetings, what was incorrect, and provide references for the accurate information.
The meeting was a lot. But through all of this past week I also couldn’t stop thinking about Tanzania and other countries where some parents would walk miles if needed to get their kids vaccinations. Yet here we are, taking them for granted (not all of us I know, but our current administration is in the least).
Vaccine Access Is a Privilege
In the U.S., you can walk into a pharmacy and get vaccinated or pick up a prescription for antibiotics. If you don’t get the MMR vaccine, and you get measles, then you’re lucky enough to be able to go to an emergency department or get medical care (this doesn’t mean it won’t bankrupt you, or that you’ll survive though, so the risk of infection is still not worth it!!!!).
But this is not the same access everyone else has. It’s something many around the world would wish for if their child contracts malaria, measles or another vaccine preventable disease. Vaccines give children the best chance to become adults.
We have the privilege of protection in the U.S. thanks to decades of public health infrastructure, scientific investment, and yes, committees like ACIP. But when we let lies take the microphone like they did at ACIP this week or in the announcement RFK made re: GAVI, people will die.
So if you're lucky enough to live in a place where vaccines are easily available, you should appreciate that. And if you're in a position to use your voice, please do.
The people I met in Tanzania welcomed me with open hearts. They shared their stories. They reminded me why organizations like GAVI matter.
Let’s honor that by fighting for global vaccine access AND by protecting what we have here at home.
What you can do!
For global vaccine access:
Sign this petition by Shot @Life, a UN advocacy organization focused on global vaccine equity.
Contact your reps using Shot@Life resources here.
For U.S vaccine access:
Share reliable information from me and others.
Share your experience with science and vaccines loud and often.
Tag congressional reps like Senator Cassidy online and demand the firing of RFK Jr. as head of HHS.
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