Day 9: Protect Children from Malaria in Rwanda

Today, as I was looking through the "Children's Health and Well-Being" section of GreaterGood.org, I came across an organization that helps prevent children form being infected with malaria in Rwanda.

Partners in Health, the organization that helps the children in Rwanda, states that, "At its root, our mission is both medical and moral. It is based on solidarity, rather than charity alone. When a person in Peru, or Siberia, or rural Haiti falls ill, PIH uses all of the means at our disposal to make them well—from pressuring drug manufacturers, to lobbying policy makers, to providing medical care and social services.Whatever it takes. Just as we would do if a member of our own family—or we ourselves—were ill." Clearly, PIH is there to help for these people.

Malaria, a disease carried by mosquitoes, kills more than one million people a year, mostly African children. The Child Health Site, the donation organization, says that, "Insecticide-treated bednets are a proven, cost-effective way of saving lives, yet in Rwanda, one of the poorest nations in Africa, they are far beyond the reach of the overwhelming number of families, who struggle simply to survive in the face of malnutrition, AIDS, a shattered economy, and the legacy of civil war and genocide." It is not very expensive to purchase a bednet, and it saves a child from an almost inevitable disease without one. A $40 donation provides enough anti-malarial bednets to protect ten needy Rwandan families from malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

During the course of this blog project, I've seen a lot of major problems in this world that could be stopped easily with a donation. It's not like this is global warming, a much more difficult problem, due to the usage of gasoline from cars around the world; this is a disease that can be easily avoided with a cheap net. It almost seems ridiculous that these people haven't been taken care of, since malaria is so easily avoidable. This disease almost only attacks people that are poor, because for the rich, this is a somewhat easy disease to avoid, with the rich having homes to sleep in and roofs above their heads. I've learned that a poverty-ridden life, like one in Rwanda, is really tough, in more ways than most people realize. I don't think I've ever worried about getting malaria. I definitely have never had a problem finding clean water to drink. The only problems I've ever had going to school regard getting up earlier to go on the bus. I hadn't ever thought about all of the difficulties in life that I don't have to deal with.

To donate, please visit this website. Thank you for reading.