Save a child's life - our biggest global campaign launches
From today, you can log on to Kroo Bay website and be directly in touch with children in Kroo Bay, Sierra Leone. You can also provide a child with a simple life-saving solution just by sending a text
Monday 18 February 2008
Nearly 10 million children die every year before their fifth birthday - mostly of diseases the world knows how to prevent or treat. To tackle this, we want people around the world to take 10 million actions by 2010 for the 10 million children who die every year.
Text campaign
From today, you can join the campaign and text any of the following seven simple solutions:
- Text NUT to 81819 for £1.50 and we'll buy one day's supply of the micronutrient peanut paste that is specially formulated for severely malnourished children.
- Text NET to 81819 for £5 and we'll deliver a mosquito net straight to a child at risk of catching malaria.
- Text WATER to 81819 - your £5 will buy a water filter to provide clean water for children and their families.
- Text BLANKET to 81819 for £5 which buys a micro-fleece blanket to keep children warm and helps stop common colds from getting more serious.
- Text JAB to 81819 - your £5 will vaccinate one child and protect them from childhood diseases.
- Text THERM to 81819 - your £3 will buy a thermometer that will show when children are running a dangerous fever.
- Text SALTS to 81819 - your £1 will pay for oral rehydration salts to help children recover from diarrhoea.
You can also join our online global petition to demand that world leaders play their part in saving children's lives.
The campaign is backed by high profile supporters including; TV presenter Davina McCall, David And Carrie Grant, Hugh Dancy, Adrian Chiles, Christine Bleakley, Hugh Quarshie, David Threlfall and Mariella Frostrup.
New interactive website
We're inviting supporters to visit Kroo Bay, a slum built on a rubbish dump by the filthy Crocodile River in Freetown, Sierra Leone. With one in four children dying before their fifth birthday, Sierra Leone is one of the toughest places in the world for a child to survive.
Through the website, families can ask Kroo Bay residents questions and see what life is like for the 4,000 children living there. Visitors will be able to navigate around 360-degree images of the site, and catch up with the latest stories from Kroo Bay through regular 'webisodes'.
Al Bangura, the Sierra Leonean Watford midfielder said: "I know only too well how tough the conditions really are for children in areas like Kroo Bay, without the very basics that are needed to keep them safe. This is why I appreciate what Save the Children is doing - the online campaign is a much needed alternative lifeline."
What you can do
It's simple for families in the UK to make a difference. As the months go by, you'll be able to watch the changes that your donations have made for the residents of Kroo Bay happening on their computer screens.
