Protect 32,000 School Children from Malaria

One year ago, my school sponsored my trip to Uganda. While there, I had the opportunity to travel by bus to Katulikirie--a rural village where we had distributed nets. The trip was not luxurious--I was the only foreigner on the bus, and for good reason--a few months later, I read in the Ugandan paper that the same bus company was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the route that I had traveled killing at least one passenger. On arrival in Katulikirie, I was greeted by countless people including a group of children. They had come to greet me partly out of Ugandan hospitality but also out of curiosity to see what I, a foreigner, looked like. They don't have many visitors in Katulikirie. This group of children sang and danced for me for hours. They worked their names into every song, worked my name into songs, and pulled me into their circle trying to teach me how to dance as they did which of course made everyone laugh. I learned their names, their schools, where they lived, and I was excited to learn that a few of them attended the nearby grade schools--Katulikirie and Bwyale. I was going to Katulikirie the next day to speak to the children about malaria. When I arrived to Katulikirie Primary School, I realized that all of the children who had benefited from our previous distribution had graduated. Still, the entire school came out to greet me. They performed songs, gave speeches, and entertained me again for hours. Yet, what had I done for them. In one weeks time, I would fly home to the comfort of Manhattan, and they would remain in Uganda, struggling to meet their every day needs. Continuing to get sick from malaria. This summer, thanks to the generous support of people like you, we were able to provide 7,200 students in the Katulikirie area nets, including EVERY student at Katulikirie Primary School! I am relieved to know that these children are protected against malaria. Thank you for your support. We are continuing to raise money for the students that I know in Bwyale. It is difficult to know that they are getting sick with malaria while we wait.

Links:

• http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=tj7TSG6IA6M

Thanks to your generosity, NETwork Against Malaria purchased 6,000 bed nets this spring for school-going children in the schools surrounding Katulikirie run by one of NETwork’s Ugandan Directors, Francis Banura.  In Uganda, 40% of school-going children have malaria at all times making malaria the largest cause of preventable absenteeism.   This fact is significant because education is the only way that the children of Katulikirie can escape their current poverty.

The children in Katulikirie are sons and daughters of sustenance farmers living off the land.  They are so poor that they wear the same clothes every day, they do not have enough money for shoes on their feet, and they certainly do not have enough money for treatment for malaria. 

When the children get malaria, they miss school, fall behind, and if their malaria becomes serious enough they are left mentally debilitated and can even die.   Preventing malaria illness with bed nets is the first step in protecting the children from this illness, and the nets help them stay in school, so that they may have the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their children. 

Thank you again for your support.  Below you will see the pictures of lives you have changed.

Links:

• NETwork Against Malaria Home Page