Ahhh, Mosquitos.
I've never thought much about them in the states--in fact they'd only ever registered as a minor annoyance, forcing me to donate blood and leaving behind itchy reminders of our brief encounters. The bastards. Even coming to Malawi, I knew that their bite could potentially be life threatening but I clung to my mosquito net, bug spray, and prophalyxis feeling safe and invincible. Can't get to me Ms.Mosquito-- I'm playing for keeps. It was even joke among my friends back home who knew how often I tend to get bitten by mosquitos. "There's no way you're coming home without getting malaria!" And I'd agree, laughing.
And so, I went through my first few weeks in homestay unaffected and unphased by p. falciparum until my baby brother was bitten. He developed malaria and became incredibly ill, incredibly fast. I watched this healthy baby go from smiley and playful to a sick wreck in a matter of a day. Luckily, my family was well educated on the symptoms of malaria, what happens when it is left untreated, and had a few kwacha to scrape together. They hired a bike taxi to take him to the health center the next day, he returned with medicine and was just fine.
However, that is not necessarily the norm. Within the span of that week, a little girl two villages over died from a case of untreated malaria. I couldn't help repeating in my mind over and over again.. "What a waste. What a tragedy. How easily that could have been avoided.." In the matter of that one week, malaria left the realm of abstract and morphed into a constant and tangible presence for me and my life in Malawi. Ever since, I've been obsessed with talking to the community about malaria. I want to understand why people don't take it seriously, why some choose to use their nets for other purposes, why some seek out treatment and others don't--and it's all fascinating. It's a mixed bag of cultural practices, needs and survival, myths versus information, and a sense of invincibility. While I have no doubt those two instances led me and my work on a path towards malaria education and prevention techniques in the community, digging further into the minds of my friends and neighbors has ignited the passion to be an activist for bed nets and early treatment.
Soon after I got to my site in Karonga, I attended a mini-malaria Bootcamp learning more and more about malaria in general and more specifically in Malawi. After that, I was chosen to go to Senegal to work internationally with the Peace Corps Africa community on malaria from a Grassroots level. I was incredibly lucky to pair something I'd become passionate about into my every day work. I've been lucky enough to find people who want to go out into the communities with me--educating and exciting everyone about malaria prevention and treatment.
April 25th was World Malaria Day and it was my deepest hope and desire was to bring awareness to my and surrounding communities about malaria. I invited four other volunteers as well as myself to hold an event where we'd spread our knowledge and passion in a variety of ways. Luckily for me, my friend and fellow PCV made a video of it:
And while I'd like to say that my presence here in Karonga has made a huge difference in how people see and treat malaria.. The impact is small, but growing. I still see people using bed nets to fish or ward off goats from their gardens, and I talk to adults and children every week who suspect they have malaria but haven't gone to the health center to be tested. And so, is the reality of grassroots work. Making connections, having conversations, reminding people howimportant their health is--not only to them, but to their families. It's remembering that I'm working within a framework and culture that is not my own, and that I need to understand the multitude of layers surrounding each circumstance and situation. It's remembering to react with kindness at all times and not act as if I have all the answers. I'm learning too, every single day, every single interaction.
But I do know that malaria is both preventable and treatable--a child dying every 60 seconds from malaria, is a completely avoidable tragedy. Even if you're not living in Africa, able to donate to programs, or actively make a change, talking about and learning about malaria and how it still affects so much of the world is valuable to all of us. I'm not going to go on my normal speal telling you all about anopheles mosquitoes, or throwing statistics in your face, that's not why you read this (assuming anyone is reading this.) I just want to remind the world that here in Africa, real people are facing real issues that aren't too big and massive and overwhelming to be fixed. We're working through them, pachoko, pachoko..
I just want to remind you that unity and solidarity across the continents, oceans or any invisible barriers we create for ourselves are worth a damn.
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