Promotion: World Malaria Day

In a slight but significant change of program, April 25th has been promoted from Africa Malaria Day to World Malaria Day.

Why the big change? I guess some higher-ups in the UN took note that one of every 5 child deaths in Africa is still due to that old bugger that killed at least 4 Popes.

I know you’re heard all about bednets on this blog before but this year, there’s some great data to back it up. As bednet coverage in Malawi has increased over the last few years, the anemia rates in small children (attributed largely to malaria) have decrease by over 40% since 2005. So not only are the kiddos getting malaria less, but less anemia means they’re stronger to fight other diseases.

Needless to say, we’re all pretty excited. So raise your glass or your mozzie repellent in toast and if you’re feeling generous, part with a few dollars, euros, or kwachas so we can part with a few more mozzies.

The Face of a Dollar a Day

Since I was little, Sally Struthers has been asking us to sponsor a child somewhere in the world who is living on less than a dollar a day. I’ve been working in Africa for the better part of the last ten years and have become accustomed to what I see in the village -where most African still live- that once made me stop and think. Six year olds taking care of two-year olds. Kids running around with swollen bellies full of parasites and orange-tinged hair – a sure sign of malnutrition.

In the countryside after the rains, the fields are full of green green crops and overripe mangoes lie rotting on the ground, and I can’t help but wonder how people here can be so poor. The soil is volcanic and fertile. But it’s malaria season, flooding has brought cholera to the surface, and bridges to health centers have washed away only to be rebuilt after an interminable period of time.

Here in Malawi, 133 of every 1000 children born dies before they turn 5. Amazingly, this figure is down from 189 deaths in 2000. Forty-six percent of children are stunted from malnutrition, and only 64% make it through enough school to considered be literate. Over half of Malawians live on less than a dollar a day.

I was in the bush last weekend, face to face with a young man speaking decent English with a good head on his shoulders. He has 2 small children, his wife has passed away. His salary comes out to a bit over a dollar a day, making him just slightly better off than many others in the village. But averaged across his small family of 3, he and his little boy and girl are each living on about 35 cents a day. Even if his kids don’t go to bed hungry, any extra cost -a minibus ride to the health center, a few secondhand clothes- will seriously set them back.

Progress is made slowly, but today out of each thousand born, 56 more children than at the beginning of the decade make it to their 5th birthday. Each step, however small a stride in keeping those most vulnerable alive, is bringing us closer to a world in which a child can grow up to earn more than a dollar a day.