April 25th marks ‘World Malaria Day’ which means
little to the western world, but living in Sub-Saharan Africa I am able to see
why a day is devoted to such a cause.
In my tiny village just since January of this year over 1000 cases of malaria
have been treated at the rural health clinic, manned by one nurse and random
volunteers some days. In a place
where 20% of maternal deaths and 40% of deaths to children under 5 are caused
by malaria, this disease cannot be looked at lightly. This is why for the past two years of my service I have made
a point to celebrate World Malaria and use it as a springboard to get
information to the public.
This year was a huge success, with over 500 people from the
surrounding area coming to the event.
We had a disc jockey for a dance party, two different groups performed
malaria related skits, a young girl’s dance/drill team performed, we played
educational games and even had a relay race. The event ended with everyone enjoying a local drink,
munkoyo, made by the neighborhood health committees.
I hope that my village will continue this tradition for the
years to come after I leave in hopes of one day eliminating malaria once and
for all!
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| Dance/Drill Group Performing while singing 'Prevention is Better than Cure' |
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| Relay Race- Groups had to run three legged, fill in a dirt hole, run back to the mosquito nets and tuck themselves in, all while being timed. |
www.stompoutmalaria.org
