NETwork Against Malaria

Vital Stats

Margaret M

Belleville, IL

people helped2400
People Doing It 300

The Problem

Malaria kills 1 African child every 30 seconds; Ugandan families spend 1/4 of their income on malaria treatment and prevention. It doesn't have to be this way; Malaria is preventable. Insecticide treated malaria nets have been shown to reduce malaria transmission by over 90%. Mosquito nets are cheap--only $10, and as many as three children can sleep under a net--but most families cannot afford them. NETwork Against Malaria is working to provide impoverished Ugandans with mosquito nets. We are also trying to educate American students about the global burden of malaria. networkagainstmalaria.org

Plan of Action

In 2007, I founded NETwork Against Malaria after a conversation with Fr. Mujule, a Ugandan man who began schools in Uganda, particularly for girls. Fr. Mujule admitted his students missed 60 days annually sick with malaria which caused them to drop out of school. Realizing I could help, I founded NETwork. Our goal is to educate Americans about the burden of malaria while raising funds to purchase malaria nets for impoverished Ugandans. We have Ugandan volunteers who distribute all the nets and ensure they are properly used. NETwork has expanded in the United States and now has chapters throughout the country. Our members travel to schools, community organizations, and churches to teach volunteers about malaria and the volunteers make jewelry that NETwork then sells to generate finances to purchase malaria nets. The jewelry is made using Ugandan beads supplied by another nonprofit. The beads are made by women in Uganda who have AIDS or who have been widowed by AIDS. To date, over 30,500 Americans have listened to NETwork speakers or volunteered for NETwork, and we have raised over $40,000. After funds are raised, our Ugandan volunteers travel to remote Ugandan villages to distribute nets to schools and community associations. They give presentations to ensure the nets are used properly. To date, we have sent 2400 malaria nets to Uganda (since 2007), and we plan to send 2000 more by the end of next October. In fact, we have generated enough funds to expand to another region. We are in the process of partnering with additional international sites and volunteers. We know our work has been successful because after we distributed nets to an all-girls high school in Fall 2008, their enrollment increased the following fall. Parents believed if they sent their daughter to school, she would receive a malaria net. Fr. Mujule says the net distributions have "made a big difference for people in the village."