We Are Young.

We are young. We are frustrated. We are uncertain. We are even confused. We are angry. We are disappointed. We are constantly finding things are not as we had hoped.

We are young. We are exhausted. We are overwhelmed. We are overworked. We are unappreciated.

We are young. We are discouraged. We are saddened. We are continuosly seeing the world is filled with cruelty.

We are young. We are spirited. We are, despite it all, optimistic. We are young. We find energy. We are hopeful. We are determined.

We are young.

We will change the world.

ART CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

NETwork Against Malaria Weill Cornell Medical School Chapter would like to invite you to participate in our 1^st Annual Art Contest in Recognition of World Malaria Day—April 25, 2011. Our theme, NETs work Against Malaria.

World Malaria Day is a day to remember malaria victims and celebrate global efforts to control malaria. In honor of World Malaria Day 2011, the Weill Cornell Medical School Chapter of a national nonprofit, NETwork Against Malaria, is hosting our first annual art contest to help spread awareness of a disease that threatens nearly half the world population and claims the lives of nearly one million people every year. Most of these are of young children living in sub-Saharan Africa. It doesn’t have to be this way. When mosquito nets are heavily used, malaria transmission can be cut by over 90%. Although nets can have a major impact, few families in sub-Saharan African have the ten dollars needed to purchase one.

To facilitate learning about mosquito nets and the people who need them, NETwork Against Malaria has established an art contest. By creating artwork that nurtures understanding of serving others with malaria, NETwork aims to help students develop an appreciation of other cultures, increase awareness of the problems others face, foster the growth of the global community, and teach children how they can make a global impact. For additional curricular resources visit www.networkagainstmalariaartcontest.blogspot.com; for additional information about malaria and NETwork Against Malaria please visit www.networkagainstmalaria.org.

For rules please see attachment and information below.

Thank you for your efforts to educate the next generation.

Sincerely,

The NETwork Against Malaria Weill Cornell Medical College Team

Attached: rules

Contests Rules for participating children:

Please email all submissions to: NETworkagainstmalariaCornell@gmail.com Or mail all submissions to: NETwork Against Malaria Box #820 445 East 69th Street New York, NY 10021

Deadline: postmark May 12, 2011 or email by 11:59pm May 11, 2011.

1. Create an original piece of art using the theme: Nets Work Against Malaria. The theme should appear on the front of the work. Art should reflect the theme.

2. Use 8.5 x 11 inch paper (for both mailed and emailed artwork).

3. Make your poster colorful. Use markers, colored pencils, crayons, paint. (Do not use glitter or glue.)

4. Original art only. Please no stencils or coloring book pages.

5. Please label the artwork: For mailed entries: student’s name, school, teacher, grade must be written on the back of the paper.

For emailed entries: The art should be scanned or photographed. Student’s name, school, teacher, grade must be included in the name of the file in the format: FirstNameLastName.School.Teacher.Gr(grade number) (e.g. JaneDoe.WeillCornell.MrsDoe.Gr8). Please submit files in .GIF, .JPEG, or .PDF format.

6. Prizes will be awarded to 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and honorable mention winners in each division.

7. The divisions are as follows: grades K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8,

Winners will receive a certificate and a goodie bag with a NETwork Against Malaria T-shirt.

Teachers/educators of winning participants will also receive a NETwork necklace made with fair trade Ugandan beads.

Please mail and postmark submissions by May 12^th or email by 11:59pm May 12^th.

Questions?

Email: Vlad Thomas or Margaret McGlynn at networkagainstmalariacornell@gmail.com

Phone: Margaret McGlynn (618-581-6046)

For curricular resources please visit www.networkagainstmalariaartcontest.blogspot.com

for more information about NETwork Against Malaria please visit: www.NETworkAgainstMalaria.org

With one Bead

With just one bead, you can change a life. NETwork volunteers make jewelry using beads made by Ugandan women. The women go to trash dumps and get old newspapers and magazines. They cut them into strips and roll them into paper beads. The women seal the beads and send them to America where volunteers string the beads to make jewelry.

The jewelry made by our volunteers is sold to purchased bednets for Ugandan children.

We can do a lot with a single bead like save a life.

How to Save A Life

Saving a life can be rescuing a child from a building. It can be pushing a person out of the way of an oncoming bus. It may even mean giving a life for a friend. It can generous- donating food to an impoverished family, providing funds for medical bills, or giving a bednet to children in the developing world. Saving a life can be more simple. It can mean showing someone their purpose and dignity. It can mean helping someone realize they are important, and matter and their life is precious. It can be as simple as being someone's reason to live.

An Ocean Away

Bridging the gap from your school to Uganda, can be simple by working through NETwork Against Malaria. Its phenomenal to see how far away your efforts travel in the fight against poverty and malaria.

This picture shows the distance between a fifth grade class from South Eastern Illinois who raised funds for bednets and the Ugandan children who received these nets a continent away.

Go the distance!

Another Ugandan Prover

You can't dig with a spade handle, but it helps the spade to dig.

For Them

It is more than a project. Service benefits real people.

For them take action.

DYC Weekend

NETwork Against Malaria supporters are prepping for this weekend with beads, baskets and a couple bottles of caffine. We're headed off to the Dioceasan Youth Conference to share our wares and our story with teenagers from across southern Illiois. Our goal: Walk away with a few bucks, a few more pieces of jewelry, and a bunch more volunteers. Cross your fingers and we may even get a chapter out of the weekend.

So this weekend is about youth empowerement and NETwork-ing. It's about meeting people and inspiring people and causing them to take action. It's about showing people the faces of Ugandan children and challenging them not to look away, not to ignore, not to forgot. It's about helping people realize that although we're an ocean away there is so much we can do for those smiling children.

My Ironic Dog

My dog's name is ironic. Actually, that's how I learned that word.
"Nice dog," someone would say. "What's his name?"
"Snowman," I'd say while beaming at the black dog. "It's ironic."
The truth is, anyone who said that my dog was a "nice dog" was really just a nice person. He was horrible.
I was in third grade with a border collie mix who knew not only that he was a heck of a lot stronger than me, he was a heck of a lot smarter to. We did 4-H together and he'd drag me from one tree to the next as the rest of the class heeled beautifully in a ring.
Around this time we were introduced to the gentle lead which I equate to a horse halter. It looks like a muzzle giving some ill-informed people the idea that at any moment the dog may attack. I could guide him by his snout and whenever he pulled it brought his head back to the right place.
Have you ever seen the movie Spirit? Ok. That movie. 8 year old girl. Giant dog. It didn't end well. He threw his head back in forth, ran in circles while we walked and made quite a spectacle of himself. Come to think of it, I can't really blame anyone for being distrustful of such a beast.
Eventually I gave up on the whole gentle lead thing. I still kept training him and working with him and laughing at him and loving him and thinking in general that I had the best, smartest, most beautiful dog whoever lived. And honestly- who's to say that I didn't.
The rest of the world didn't agree. Although he's ten now, he really hasn't calmed down that much. He's perfectly behaved when he wants to be and my increased body weight gives a little more resistance. We qualified for the state 4-H dog show because he decided one day he may as well cooperate.
When I'm trying to explain my dog to someone who thinks this crazy creature is unpleasant I tell them this story. Snowy chases anything that moves. Its his hearding drive- his instinct (not to mention his greatest passion in life). Anyway one day I come into the backyard to let him in and a mother and two baby possums are walking around our backyard. Snow is not chasing them or staring at them with his intent "I would chase you if I knew it would cost me in future pieces of string cheese" look. No. The babies would come within a few feet of my "untame" beast and he looked up at them curiously.

My point is this. Everyone- even crazy dogs- has a great heart. Lots of people missed the opportunity to adopt Snow from the shelter or get to know him later because they took one look at him and said, "No thank you!" But my advice is this- weather its a person, dog, elephant, or volunteer project, give them a chance. Odds are if you don't, you'll miss out on a great experience or, in my case, a best friend.

Meet the Beaders

You've heard a lot about and seen a lot of our amazing Ugandan volunteers and net recipients. Now check this out: http://networkagainstmalaria.giving.officelive.com/Meet_the_Beaders.aspx. These are just a few of the thousands of American volunteers. Learn about these young people. get to know them. Realize there are people out there right now taking an active role in their global community. Realize they are not that different from you!

Already involved in NETwork and want to be added to the page? E-mail me: NETworkAgainstMalaria@gmail.com and just answer the questions everyone else did.

Want to join these amazing individuals in their fight against malaria? Well don't just sit there GET INVOLVED!

Inspirational Leadership Quote

"Go to the people. Learn from them. Live with them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. The best of leaders when the job is done, when the task is accomplished, the people will say we have done it ourselves. "
-Lao Tzu

Thanks for the penguin Flicker

George Clooney Gets Malaria

George Clooney, the famous actor, is now added to our list of famous people with malaria. He contracted his disease while volunteering in the Sudan.

Bednet Distribution October 2010

See your impact on the lives of those on the other side of the world!

Keep up the great work!

The Faces of NETwork Against Malaria

Take a look at some of the many impacted by NETwork Against Malaria. This collage was made in 2009.

Volunteering

As I mentioned before I'm at a children's hospital for senior service and right now I'm home sick. This is the first time I've chosen to stay home sick since I had the stomach flu freshman year. And do you know what the worst part is- I don't want to stay home. Some of my favorite kids are going home today and I don't even get to say goodbye.

Wow. I just totally twisted the purpose of volunteering. I made it about me- what I wanted. I want to say goodbye to these kids. I should be excited out of my mind they're going home(which I am) but I should also be happy that I stayed home and didn't get them sick.

It can be really easy to make volunteering about you- about how you feel. "I feel good when I help someone." "I love to feel like I'm making a difference." "I feel like volunteering has taught me a lot and opened doors."

Yes! These are good things- good feelings. And its fine and normal and healthy to have good feelings and to like good feelings and be motivated by good feelings. Let's face it- these may be some of the best good feelings out there to be motivated by.

BUT I have to keep in mind that volunteering is about putting others first, attempting to fix problems in our communities, and making an impact. THESE things are more important than feelings.

Picture from Distribution Oct. 2010

Thanks for all your support guys!

THANK YOU!!

You did it!

Thanks for all the votes. Because of you, NETwork has earned a permanant spot on GlobalGiving.org.

Volunteering for NETwork Against Malaria

Volunteering for NETwork and having a ball!

Get involved with someone, something, NOW!

Global Giving

I know I sound like a broken record, but support us on Global Giving! It makes a great holiday gift!

Congrats!

Congratulations to this year's NETwork Against Malaria 5k youth winners!