From the Bush Bungalow: The Real Africa: Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday

World Malaria Day is April 25.

FYI:

Malaria is one of the top reason children do not reach their 5th birthday.

Over 90% of all deaths from Malaria occur in Sub-Sahara African countries.

It is estimated that less than 5% of children in sub-Saharan Africa currently sleep under any type of insecticide-treated net.

There are an estimated 247 million cases of malaria each year.

Malaria costs an estimated $12 billion in lost productivity in Africa.

When insecticide-treated nets are used properly by three-quarters of the people in a community, malaria transmission is cut by 50%, child deaths are cut by 20%, and the mosquito population drops by as much as 90%.

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in a Sub-Saharan African country, I see malaria everywhere. It's in my village, it's in Peace Corps culture, it's at the clinic, it's in my preschool class, and it's discussed at my dinner table.

Malaria is a blood infection caused by a parasite spread from one human to another through the bite of an anopheles female mosquito. If it is not treated, malaria can progressively worsen from the simplest of symptoms to coma, or even death. One of the first signs we are always aware of is symptoms that come in waves. For example having a headache last night, but in the morning feeling fine, and then having a headache again in the afternoon. This is a red flag of malaria. Malaria is a preventable disease. Sleeping under a treated mosquito net, wearing long clothing at night, taking a malaria prophylaxis, and spraying with insecticide are key regiments that should be followed in Malaria prevalent areas.

My experience with malaria: Throughout this past year I've gotten to know Malaria and it's quirks and buttons pretty well. I've been on one form of another of prophylaxis (currently on Malarone) that I take every single day to prevent the parasite from multiplying inside of me. I have have been a lucky volunteer in that I have not fallen ill with Malaria. I have known several volunteers who have gotten sick in varying degrees. Some just had flu-like symptoms, some felt dizzy and exhausted with severe bouts of vomiting. You discover malaria when you give yourself a finger-prick test to see if the parasite is in your blood. If your results are positive you will have to take Coartem. In my village, I have seen people of all ages fall victim to malaria. I have seen elderly women laying on their front lawn wrapped entirely in chitenge rocking back in forth with high fevers and piercing headaches. I have seen children vomiting outside of the classroom block with zombie eyes. "Go home, you have malaria," is a common sentence used at school. The clinics here have free malaria test kits and free Coartem. The problem is that people do not always go to the clinic because they lack the strength to walk to kilometer and a half. Some just don't understand that malaria does not simply go away on it's own. You can't just sweat it out. Especially if you are a child under 5 years of age.

On a larger scale, Malaria- being the number one killer in Zambia does not get nearly the same amount of attention as HIV from a political standpoint. There is so much publicity about HIV on the radio, in the classroom, and from Peace Corps. More of a worldly pandemic than Malaria, HIV definitely requires more education and de-stigmatization (I have had real conversations with fairly educated Zambians whose opinions were that HIV came straight from the devil himself and those who are walking around with HIV should strictly be avoided by the "normal population"), and effects more people worldwide than Malaria. Yet Malaria- the number one killer- is not incorporated in classroom lessons or featured in radio shows. Most likely it's because of outside donors, NGOs, foreign aid that comes from countries where Malaria is not an important issue. Not many American know about Malaria or how deadly it can be. So please, share this information I am giving you so that more Americans can be educated.

Why do so many people contract malaria? The big reason is the misuse or mosquito nets. Several households have a net. But several houses also have handfuls of children who sleep on the floor, the couch, etc. Also- many nets may have holes, tears, or no more insecticide left on their net. To be completely effective, nets should be hole-free, tucked in, and undamaged. Currently, a number of Peace Corps Volunteers are conducting a 36 month study in partnership with the CDC to assess the quality of mosquito nets in their village which were distributed in 2011 (number of holes, size of tears, etc.) Results of this study will be used by Zambia's National Malaria Control Center to create replacement net plan.

What can you do?

GO to this link to find out about events and activities. And educate yo mind!!!!

That's my food for thought for the day. I am starting my journey towards year two. This time next year I will be done with my service. Wowie how time flies!

Enjoy some photos!!