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Erin: Welcome to T2A webchat for Thursday, October 4th. We are meeting Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. Jenna is author of Anaˇ¦s Story: A Journey of Hope. Jenna met Ana during an internship for UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean. In her book, Jenna tells of Ana's struggle to break free from the cycle of abuse, silence, and illness. But this is not just Ana's story. It is also the story of many children around the world who are marginalized, neglected and mistreated.
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Tatwa: Hi Jenna, Please tell us some of the touching experiences you had while working for UNICEF.
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Jenna: My job for UNICEF was to meet with kids living in exclusion; in extreme poverty or with HIV aids or abusive homes or living without access to education or med care. I was most struck by, all of the kids, even if they had difficult lives, had so much hope and optimism for the future. I was overcome by their positive outlook on life.
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Tatwa: I encountered difficulty in India as we tried to administer polio vaccine to rural areas. Did you encounter resistance in rural areas of the Caribbean and Latin America?
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Jenna: I worked with the indigenous communities in the rural areas of Panama and the most important thing that UNICEF does is to help the leaders of these communities welcome this assistance. UNICEF asked indigenous community's leaders for their advice on health care and education and they were very culturally sensitive to the way these indigenous communities live and that the indigenous voices were heard and this was the best way to ensure that local communities did not resist assistance.
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Kemal, Ethiopia (email): I am a nurse working with a humanitarian aid organization focused on HIV/AIDS, orphaned children and nutrition. In my country and other poor African countries, child mortality is 140/1000. How can we help this HIV crisis and poverty reduction in Africa?
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Jenna: I worked in Latin America so I can't really talk about aids in Africa, though I have traveled there twice with my mother and my sister worked at a South Africa hospital. I think the key to making sure that we conquer AIDS is educating kids on how they can prevent infection. Obviously helping mothers know how they can prevent passing it to their children. No matter where we work and I commend you Kemal for working in a hospital because that's half the battle but the most important thing is education no matter where we are.
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Rohini, India (email): In your opinion, what is the essential characteristic of a survivor? What gives her resilience and the ability to rise from the swamp of misery? Is it self-esteem, hope, ambition, motivation, support from someone, the blue print of a better world or just good luck? I ask because I am a Tarot card reader and I see some people as having the capacity to rise against all odds and others just giving up.
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Jenna: Through Ana and the kids I met, the thing that made Ana so strong is self esteem and that she got the help she needed through older adults like her teacher and her priest and the head of her Aids home. Also important is that kids have education, which gives hope. Ana was out of school and now she's back in school and more hopeful and sees a future for herself and for her daughter. One of the most important things is that through education, Ana's daughter likely is HIV-negative since Ana took anti-retroviral medication and did not breast feed. Ana has broken the cycle of HIV in her family and that provides so much hope in itself.
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Peter, Kenya (email): Jenna, what do you think makes the abused feel insecure to disclose the brutality inflicted upon them? Also, at what time would it be appropriate for one to seek professional counseling?
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Jenna: Children especially are very vulnerable to loved ones and I know Ana felt because she was a child that she did not have the right to get the help she needed to be safe and that's why her story is so important...kids need to know that they have the immediate right to get the protection they need.
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One in trouble needs to seek professional counseling immediately. Ana changed as soon as she started getting help from a counselor. It's our responsibility as adults to make sure that if a child comes to us with a problem that we can get them the help they need.
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Erlinda, Germany (email): How did Ana get out of her situation? Did anyone help her? Did you have any role in it?
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Jenna: Ana is an orphan so she could not go to her mother or father for help and those she most trusted, her aunt for example, did not help her, so she got help from a teacher and from a religious leader and from older role models in her life. That's very empowering for teachers and religious leaders because they can make the difference in a child's life. I'm happy to say UNICEF through the book's proceeds, has set up an education fund for Ana and she's back in school.
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Erin: Thank you Jenna. That wraps todayˇ¦s T2A webchat, our thanks also to our visitors for joining us. For information about Jennaˇ¦s book and UNICEF, go to voanews.com and click on the T2A link. We hope you will join us next Wednesday, October 10th at 18 hours universal time, when we meet U.S. immigration attorney and VOA favorite Gloria Roa Bodin as she answers questions about how to come to the United States. That's Wednesday, October 10th, 18 hours universal time on voanews.com.
On October 4, 2007, we met Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. Jenna is author of "Anaˇ¦s Story: A Journey of Hope". 
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