To Save a Million Is a God-Given Opportunity - Audrey Hepburn & UNICEF

To Save a Million Is a God-Given Opportunity - Audrey Hepburn & UNICEF

 

“To save a child is a blessing: to save a million is a God-given opportunity.”

This is one of the famous sayings of Audrey Hepburn and hit the headlines across all the newspaper of the world, and even became an inspiration for the global culture of donation. Audrey Hepburn, she carried out various activities for UNICEF even in her later years when her health had worsened. How was she related to UNICEF?

 

Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels, Belgium. Her original family name was Ruston, but she got family name as 'Hepburn' because her father changed his first and last name a lot for his instability. After she became 6 years old, her mother and she had a wandering life in Netherlands and England apart from her father. Her family was not that poor in her childhood thanks to her mother's side and her mother's ability to support. However, their fortune began to ebb as Europe fell under the influence of the Nazis. At the time of the World War II, their poverty reached a boiling point, and Audrey Hepburn starved near to death. While this was happening, it was just United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (hereafter UNICEF) that helped and saved her. This memory became the reason why she had actively carried out lots of activities for UNICEF.

 

She became a star overnight with a movie, ‘Roman Holiday’, though, she lived a reclusive life after her two unhappy marriages. However, she realized the fact that her reputation would help to raise a charity fund and started to join in UNICEF activities voluntarily.

 

She had taken full advantage of her reputation and popularity to raise fund for the relief activities, but she had never behaved herself as a star during serving activities. As a mother with two adorable children, she loved every child and felt deeply sad for dying children.

 

If UNICEF went she followed them no matter where it was the wild, battlefield, or the infected areas even at age 60. She set to work with great eagerness as a goodwill ambassador of UNICEF and did not care the money though UNICEF only gave her a dollar a year except the travel budget and the room charge. Even she was not given her own office. Her passionful relief activities were saving many lives while her own health got worse. Under too tight schedule, not considering her age, sadness and emotional shock from the scene made her health deteriorated. Just before her visit to Somalia in September 1992 she had gotten some warning signals with her health. After coming back, she had to take some painkillers in order to deal well with many interviews and events to raise relief fund. Finally, she finished the work November 1992 and she was diagnosed with rectal cancer in an LA hospital. She had a surgery but the result of it was not good.

 

Only three months were allowed for the rest of her life. Further treatment became meaningless for her. After retiring, she came back to her hometown in Switzerland and spent the rest of her life with her family. At her last Christmas, she read her favorite poetry to her offsprings as if it was her last will.

    

"...Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others."

 

In January 1993 when she was 63 years old, Audrey Hepburn breathed her last as her family and her soul mate Robert Wolders looked on. She was laid in a knoll from which she might be able to look down her house in Switzerland, and people all over the world including her colleagues mourned over her death. Audrey Hepburn's passionate and sincere relief activities were carried on by giving 'Audrey Hepburn Peace Award' which UNICEF and Global Vision for Peace established.