Nothing But Nets

The United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers, recently released a report highlighting the advances that have been made in expanding malaria control interventions. The report cites notable progress in achieving Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s goal of providing universal distribution of proven malarial interventions to all endemic African countries by the end of 2010.

Mr. Chambers notes that the expansion of prevention and treatment options are the result of a bolder global commitment to fight malaria, including over $3 billion in pledges for malaria funding, and underscores last year’s announcement that the world can reach near-zero deaths from malaria by 2015 with increased momentum.

Oruchinga Refugee Camp, Uganda
Wednesday, March 11

Imagine how you would teach a classroom full of children from four different countries, speaking six different languages, and with generally low literacy rates. The Oruchinga refugee camp hosts close to 3,000 refugees, mostly from Rwanda but also including refugees from Burundi and the DRC. We had the privilege to visit the primary school within the camp, which actually brings together both refugee and national (Ugandan) students. Gavin DeGraw and Tom Cavanagh talked to the young students about malaria and shared the news that after school, the children would be receiving bed nets. In one class, Tom asked how many had ever suffered from malaria. Every student raised their hand…
 
Not only do the teachers work hard to help the students retain their lessons in spite of all the obstacles mentioned above - they also are teaching the children about health! The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) requires the teachers to educate the students on malaria control. And we were about to see just what that means.  

Nakivale refugee camp, Uganda
Tuesday, March 10

Sitting under a roof made of UNHCR plastic sheeting while squeezing into a mud-brick house just 8ft by 10ft, on my left is Eliza, a 40-year-old refugee from the Congo. She is a polio survivor sitting in a homemade wheelchair with a baby on her lap. To my right is Tom Cavanagh, Hollywood star and producer. Tom and I were helping Eliza hang the mosquito nets she just received this morning during a net distribution. 

But possibly a better way to describe this experience would be: to my left - Eliza, an amazing woman full of life and joy. And to my right – Tom, a champion for malaria prevention and a newfound friend for all of the people in this refugee camp.

Driving down a dirt road today in Uganda, we were reminiscing that two and a half years ago, several of us at the UN Foundation were sitting around a small table in Elizabeth’s office, brainstorming. We had a great opportunity in front of us: how could we build off the incredible success of the Rick Reilly Nothing But Nets article that hit newsstands on May 1, 2006, and had resulted in over $1 million raised in a few short weeks?

We didn’t know if the American public would rally around this cause, a disease which few of us will ever have firsthand experience with, but is killing a child every 30 seconds. We didn’t know if we would find partners to help us push out the simple message that malaria kills and nets save lives. But we were given this opportunity to raise awareness and funds to prevent malaria – and we knew we needed to make it happen.

When we look back on it, we laugh because at the time, one could fit all the advocates raising awareness for malaria in one room. But now there are over 100,000 of you! 

Quillian Recreation Ministries, the Sports and Recreation Ministry of First Methodist Houston, recently held a shootout competition at our gym in Houston, TX to raise funds for the Nothing But Nets campaign - to help send bed nets to prevent malaria. The ballers ranged in ages from 7 to 14 and were given a chance to collect sponsors for Nothing But Nets.

The turnout was incredible with 177 children from our Youth Basketball program participating. Once the competition finished and the dust settled, our fundraising efforts resulted in nearly $7,000 raised for Nothing But Nets within an hour!  The event was a huge success and included not only the shootout competition, but also a coaches game and a slam dunk contest for the children. 

I had no idea what to expect when traveling to Kenya to visit refugee camps in Dadaab.  I had been on a safari to Kenya 14 years ago with my husband and son and so loved the air of the land and the romance of the sky and the vistas of animals on our planet. While I knew this trip would be of a different nature, I could not have prepared myself for the overwhelming experience I was about to have.
 
After our 24-hour journey from New York we arrived in Nairobi for six hours of sleep before departing for Wilson Airport to catch our flight to Dadaab.  On a 19-seater UN charter flight we met others from UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), members of a film crew and a few doctors from Kenya who donate a few days every other month to "help" out in one of the three camps - Hagadera, Dagahaley and Ifo. 

A dedicated Nothing But Nets supporter from the Union for Reform Judaism used her traditional Jewish coming of age celebration to raise money for anti-malarial bed nets. Naomi Keren Black, a thirteen year old girl from Australia, asked for donations to Nothing But Nets in lieu of Bat Mitzvah gifts.

To promote her efforts, Naomi created a Bat Mitzvah webpage that highlights her life and the special celebration that took place on December 27, 2008.  

One of the coolest aspects of going to Kenya to distribute bed nets in the refugee camps was to see our partners participate and get something out of it, too. This time around, we were with the Union for Reformed Judaism (URJ). The entire group was touched by the experience, especially Rabbi Marla Feldman, who wrote an awesome blog post about the trip and her reaction to being able to take part in this live-saving effort. Check it out here.

Thank you, URJ, for a great trip, and thank you to all of our supporters for helping us cover Kenya with bed nets!