The team visited a nearby Muslim community to meet and talk with the chief to be sure that the children in this compound had been vaccinated. As the team passed one of the three mosques in the community and entered the compound, the group was met by Malam Ibrahim Gariba. "The chief is sleeping," he said. "But I will get him for you."

In the elaborate house that included a large T.V. with VCR and expensive looking glassware, Seidu Hamani, a large imposing man wearing long brown robes emerged sleepy-eyed and welcomed his guests. Formal greetings were extended with Ghanaian handshakes that included a strong grip of the hands and snap of the finger at the end. John Atisu with the Ghana Red Cross Society explained that we wanted to meet with him first to make sure he knew about the vaccination campaign and would support keeping his children healthy from measles.

Hamani explained "There are 1,000 people in this community and 600 are children. I have told the mothers here that all children must be vaccinated. We made an announcement in church and also told the teachers." Last year he had seen a few cases of measles in his compound and understood the importance of vaccination.

About 15 percent of the population in Ghana is Muslim and in this particular community, men can have up to four wives if they are financially able support each of them equally.

At the Nuria Islamic Primary School, the children were wearing the same brown and orange uniforms we had seen all over the Volta Region, in both the Evangelical Presbyterian schools and in the rural villages. "Vaccinators were here on Monday to see to the 124 students at this school," said the school’s headmaster. They returned on Tuesday to perform routine outreach to make sure each child was vaccinated and discovered that there was one child who did not attend school that day and had missed his chance. But a vaccination team returned the next day, found the child, and made sure he received his measles jab. This demonstration of outreach and effort to reach just one child in a sea of 8 million explains how measles campaigns can reach 95 percent coverage and higher in one week – helping further the Measles Initiative and its goal of eliminating the disease.

The headmaster explained, "Because the jab hurts, some children had pouting faces, but many were brave."

Michael Hawkins, a member of the American Red Cross Board of Governors member, also commented on the expressions of the children. "Everywhere we go we see so many children. You could take a million pictures of these little faces when they get their shot and you’ll never see exactly the same expression," he said. "It doesn’t matter where you are, children are all the same when it comes to this – they wince, cry, stare straight ahead, run off. Not one face is ever exactly alike."

Many of the children in the community clamored around Hawkins’ tall frame, reaching up to feel the skin on his arms. Many had never seen white skin before.

All of the children were eager to meet the visitors and make friends. Paula Green Johnson, a board member for the Salt Lake City Red Cross chapter who visited another region of the country, said "This little boy was following me around all day. Every now and then I would feel a tiny little hand slip into mine," she said. "All children need to be touched, loved. It amazes me that they live in horrible conditions we just don’t see in the U.S. but have huge smiles on their faces and are happy."

As the team left the compound at 1 p.m. they heard the call for prayer and chanting in the distance. Before leaving to pray, the chief warmly thanked the team for helping to vaccinate his children and walked them to the bus. He put his arm around Nick Farrell, a Health Advisor for the International Federation of Red Cross, and said, "In the end, we are all brothers."

On the way back to Accra we stopped at an enormous open market. Every fifth day is market day, and people milled everywhere collecting food to cook for dinner, soap, spices and household items. Our team came across one of the young Ghana Red Cross volunteers we had met the day before. "Hello my friends!" he said. "You are leaving today? Leave your email so we can communicate." With a wide grin on his face, he shook each of our hands and said "Thank you for supporting us and helping our people."

"Everywhere we go, we hear thank you’s from the mothers, teachers, volunteers, cab drivers. This really shows me the value of what we are doing. There’s a call to action here," said Hawkins. "Help really can’t wait for these children. So we’re not waiting."