Net Gains: Love in the Time of Malaria
Net Gains: Love in the Time of Malaria
Malaria is the leading cause of death in Uganda, claiming more than 100,000 lives per year. The mosquito-transmitted disease will strike approximately a half-billion people worldwide in 2009, at least a million of whom will die - most of them pregnant women and children under the age of five, most of them in Africa. With proper supplies and education, however, malaria is entirely preventable.
One grassroots non-profit organization, Soft Power Health has achieved considerable success in Uganda by going village to village and hut to hut, working with translators, distributing mosquito nets, and holding malaria education seminars. Soft Power Health founder, a 39-year-old kayaker and internist from New York named Jessie Stone, believes, as I do, that high-quality photos from the frontlines can be one of the most effective means of raising awareness about the malaria crisis. Billboards, slide shows, postcards, and fliers can all facilitate the spread of information for potential victims and the essential fundraising efforts of small, self-funded non-profits.