My colleagues in the social media room. Picture: Christine Mosler

I blogged three times during the four hours and tweeted crazily to get the message out to the digital world, it was frantic, it was silent and it was an amazing thing to be part of.  

The feeling in the press conference when the announcement was made that the world's leaders had chosen to save four million lives in those four hours was more calm satisfaction than wild jubilation. I swallowed down the urge to whoop and resisted the temptation to get up and dance. Back in the social media room there was no almighty cheer but a frantic clicking of many keyboards as the news was tweeted, facebooked, blogged and emailed out.  

The people who are most affected by this decision won't hear the news at all. It will be a gradual filtering through as vaccines are rolled out and a dawning realisation that fewer children are dying. This is a huge stride forward and I hope that it is followed by many more as countries strive to close the iniquitous gap between those who have so much and those who have so little.  

Me on the back of a motorbike during a visit to Mozambique to learn about vaccines

I would like to leap back on that motorbike out in Mozambique, grab the health worker's megaphone and shout the news out to the women and children I met while I was out there. Their voices were heard and it was a fantastic thing.  

Of course, vaccinations have their critics and I have talked and tweeted with many of them over the last few weeks. Some of them were rolled out on Monday's news and comments programmes and debate has continued in the newspapers and on the radio throughout this week. There are two distinct camps, one which says "charity begins at home and that we should not be sending aid overseas while funds are tight", and the other that we should be "looking at the long view and cleaning up the water supply".  

Children like Dulsa will die without these vaccinations. Picture: Christine Mosler

Library opening times, a tightening of the belt, less money in the council coffers all matter but they don't matter as much as the life of a child. Investing in the health of poorer nations pays dividends in the long term; prevention is cheaper than cure. Vaccines are a cheap and effective life saver and enable countries to begin to clamber to their feet; a healthy nation is more productive than one struggling to survive.  

It is easy to sit in the UK and look at the 'big picture' but if you have visited these communities and met these women and these children there can be no doubt or conflict in your mind. They feel the death of a child just as I would, their children deserve a chance at life just as mine do and they can't wait.  

I, for one, am cheering Monday's decision. Loudly!  

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Christine Mosler is a mother of four and "mummy blogger" for the charity Save the Children. She recently accompanied them on a trip to Mozambique to follow a vaccine from its original storage point in the city and into the arm of a child in a rural village.

The UK Government is spearheading a global effort to vaccinate 250 million children by 2015. Find out more at www.dfid.gov.uk/GAVI2011  

Please note, this is a guest blog. Views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of DFID or have the support of the British Government.

This trip took me out of my comfort zone as mum to four children, sometime supply teacher, freelance writer and regular "mum blogger". I travelled with Save the Children, Tracey Cheetham (a political blogger) and Lindsay Atkin (a popular YouTuber). We went with the aim of whipping up a social media storm to highlight the current funding gap for vaccines ahead of the GAVI summit on Monday 13 June, and the need to plug it to save four million children’s lives.

Dulsa Costa - the lucky girl I met at the end of the delivery chain who got a life-saving jab. Picture: Christine Mosler

I was interested to see how the cold chain, which is necessary to keep vaccines in good condition, was managed over vast distances, under a blazing sun out into remote rural locations. The vaccine we were following is the vaccine all four of my children had when they were babies – it protects against measles, diphtheria, typhoid, tetanus and Hib (which provides some protection against pneumonia). It is the superhero of vaccinations.

What I hadn’t anticipated was the effect this trip would have on me as person and as a mum. What we saw was aid working well and what I became aware of was the need to ensure that vaccination against preventable childhood illnesses is available to all. Vaccinations bring health workers which bring health education which brings a healthier, happier population. It’s not rocket science.

Dulsa Costa received the vaccine I was following. Picture: James Oatway / Panos

This is Dulsa Costa the little girl who received the vaccination I had been following. These mothers and these children have the same hopes and dreams as me and mine do. They deserve a chance at life.

Blowing bubbles with the kids. Picture: James Oatway / Panos

The children of April 7th village (named after Mozambique’s National Woman’s Day) had never blown bubbles before. It took them about 30 seconds to get the hang of it and then they did exactly what my children do…ran about madly popping them!

Meeting with the others mums in the village. Picture: James Oatway / Panos

While they were playing I showed their mums pictures of my family and, although we didn’t speak the same language, we understood each other clearly. It is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

Back in the UK I have been caught up in media madness as we feed back what we saw. I was asked by one reporter what I hoped to achieve. It is a question which goes right to the heart of my reasons for going.

I want to give these women a voice and their children a chance. They are the voiceless. They don’t have internet access or telephones. They can’t climb into an aeroplane and fly across the world to stand up and shout for their children.

We visited The Chicumbane Rural Hospital and met two mothers and their children on the paediatric ward.

Christina with her son Paulo. Picture: Christine Mosler

This is Christina, she had walked from her village to a road, carrying her sick child. She had then travelled for four hours to get her son to the hospital. Just getting to the hospital has cost her far more than she can afford. She has left her other children in the care of her community. She sleeps in the grounds of the hospital where her child is being treated. There is no running water at the hospital so she helps to carry barrels of water into the building. Barrels of standing water are an inviting home for mosquitoes.

Her son is called Paulo. He is 18 months old and is half the size he should be, he is malnourished and struggling. He may well leave the hospital carrying something else with him. Paulo has enough to cope with without catching an easily preventable disease. His chances of survival are slim. I can’t save him. Children shouldn’t be dying of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea. It’s not right.

After meeting with Andrew Mitchell, I am hopeful that the voices of the voiceless will be heard. Picture: Christine Mosler

Yesterday, I met Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, at his office in London and showed him how we have been spreading the word in the online Twitter and blogging community and the overwhelming support we have received. I handed him the Save the Children Vaccines for All report and he outlined for me the government’s commitment to vaccinations for the world’s children and his high hopes for a good response from the world’s leaders at the vaccine summit on Monday.

I came away from that meeting with hope in my heart and a belief that the voices of the voiceless will be heard.

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This Monday, the UK Government is spearheading a global effort to vaccinate 250 million children by 2015. The drive is set to save the lives of four million children across the developing world. Find out more at www.dfid.gov.uk/GAVI2011

Please note, this is a guest blog. Views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of DFID or have the support of the British Government.