In 2008, The World Health Organization (WHO) reported “half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, and an estimated 243 million cases led to an estimated 863,000 deaths.” Hundreds of thousands of people died at the hands of a completely preventable disease! Shocking, isn’t it?
Photo courtesy of savanna.org.
The carrier you may ask? A simple, small, stealthy female anopheles mosquito.
Recently, filmmaker Bobby Bailey, founder of Invisible Children, led a team to the African country of Uganda to learn the truth about malaria. Here in the U.S., we typically don’t give malaria a second thought, because our country eradicated this plague 50 years ago through the The National Malaria Eradication Program. However, when night falls over the continent of Africa, this nightmare lives on. Every night our brothers and sisters in Uganda fall asleep in fear that they may very well awaken as the newest victim of the malaria pandemic. During Bobby’s time in Africa, he used the art of film to create “When The Night Comes“, a documentary that exposes the alarming reality of malaria while offering a solution to the world’s greatest killer.
Photo courtesy of thewordisbond.com
In comes The Brave. This trendy, new grassroots organization founded by Bobby Bailey, “embodies an idea that transcends borders, allowing powerful individuals to step into the story and affect those in need.” The Brave has taken the lead, along with the United Nations Foundation and Nothing But Nets, to Unite Against Malaria. The goal – to let people around the world know that the threat of malaria is real, and that we can bring this beast to an end. Through the United Against Malaria campaign, advocates (you) are contacting our political representatives to support an initiative that will eradicate history’s most notorious killer from the face of Africa by the year 2015. This will be achieved by the distribution of insecticidal net beds (Send a net, save a life). These nets will protect our siblings from the anopheles, and by preventing malaria’s ability to spread, the disease will have no choice but to
Photo courtesy of tripadvisor.com
phase out of existence. If we act now to provide a net bed for every citizen of Africa, this pandemic will be nothing but a bad dream in only five years.
Ready to get involved? Here’s your chance!
On Saturday, April 24, (the eve of World Malaria Day) thousands of students from around the nation will be “Sleeping Out” with net beds to show our world leaders that we are serious about bringing malaria down. Nashville, being the shining social justice hub of the U.S., has been chosen as a Sleep Out city. So, next weekend, grab your friends, a sleeping bag, and get to the soccer field at Belmont University. It’s time for The Sleep Out To End Malaria: Nashville!
Photo courtesy of belmontbruins.cstv.com
With one week left, we need people to get excited, recruit friends, and sign up online with Nothing But Nets. “It’s naive to think we can’t bring malaria to an end, and it would be an injustice if we didn’t try.” – Bobby Bailey