Alejandro Sanz and Doctors Without Borders - Healing the Forgotten!

A few months ago Pandora wrote an amazing blog about Alejandro Sanz and I translated a commercial for a campaign called “Doctors Without Frontiers”. I found this very interesting and at that time I really didn’t know much about it but I made it my goal to find out more about what seemed to be a very noble campaign. So I started doing my research and I have to tell you that what I found moved me in a very special way. Let me share with you what “Doctors Without Frontiers” is all about. Here is the video and its translation once again just in case you didn’t read the first post. And here is the link to the original post – a must read!

http://pandorascajalatidos.blogspot.com/2011/01/alejandro-sanz-grammy-award-winning.html

"Mandile is from Zimbabwe; he is 15 years old and is HIV positive. Just like him, more than two million children in the world suffer from Aids. Only one in ten children receives the proper treatment. (Alejandro Sanz goes into store and comes back with a little box of candy). The problem is simple, without treatment, there is no cure. (Puts candy in his mouth and says) To your health Mandile!

Doctors Without Frontiers, is an international medical humanitarian organization that assists people in distress, to victims of disasters and armed conflicts, without discrimination based on race, religion or political ideology. In its fight against the pain of others, Doctors Without Frontiers responds to the most neglected populations. Hand in hand with more than 22,000 professionals working in more than 360 projects in 65 countries worldwide. In 2009 they helped 1.1 millions people with malaria, 20,000 TB patients, 1,800 of sleeping diseases, 3,700 of kala azar, 493 of Chagas disease and 190,000 people with AIDS, of which 10,000 are children. Doctors Without Frontiers provides treatment for these neglected diseases in their projects, and but daily control preventable deaths in over 50 countries, where medicines are too expensive or simply non-existent.

When you buy the pack of candy, it’s a symbolic act, but at the same time, one of very high impact because by buying this box of candy sold in pharmacies throughout Spain for just 1 euro, you are collaborating on a charity campaign to help those that are sick and forgotten.

I am happy to inform that only three months after the launch of the tablets against the pain of others and thanks to a spectacular Spanish society participation they have sold more than 3 million cases in pharmacies. The first revenue has allowed patients to treat Chagas, a deadly disease, in Bolivia and HIV / AIDS in Zimbabwe. And this is only the beginning for this amazing campaign. Alejandro Sanz and the people behind this campaign have started a life-saving movement that will impact the people in the poor and forgotten countries. Sometimes we take for granted being able to run to the pharmacy and buying something as simple as a pain reliever but it is very heart wrenching to know that millions of people throughout this world are not as lucky. We have pills to mitigate almost any pain. But, what if what hurts us is the pain of others, the pain of those who do not have pills to cure their suffering? How cool is it that we have pills for almost everything, and now with this campaign those of you who live in Spain can take one pill to help soothe the pain of those who don’t have any.

I want to thank Alejandro Sanz for being the voice for this campaign. We all know that he is not only an amazing artist, but also a wonderful human being, and a true humanitarian. I am hoping that this campaign continues to grow and it reaches many countries, including the United States. I think that all of us will be willing to purchase a pack of candy to help save lives. Always remember “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is inmortal”.

Peace and Love ;-) Candela