Salma Hayek
Actor, producer, director
Spokesperson for UNICEF's Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus-Vaccination Campaign
Mother of Valentina, 18 months
"I think that in some ways, all women are mothers. It's in our nature to protect, to nurture, and to feel empathy; this programming just kicks in more strongly when you have children. I used to do a lot of fieldwork on my own, mostly with women who were survivors of domestic abuse in Central America, South America, India, and Africa. That was so amazing, and, yes, I did some good. But after having a baby, I found I became so much more vulnerable—to work on a lot of issues and not see a lot of change can become very depressing. I needed to get involved with something that was tangible, and that we could really stop: I needed the psychological 'We can do this!' I started working with UNICEF on raising money for and awareness of the tetanus-vaccination campaign. Tetanus doesn't really exist in the United States, but it's still a threat in remote parts of the world, especially to new mothers and infants. By getting the vaccines to these places that need them and by training the locals in how to administer them, we can eliminate tetanus in three to five years. It can be history."
See how you can join Salma Hayek and all the current and past Smart Cookie honorees in making the world a better place at ChangingThePresent.org/cookie.
