The Cause of the Silent Killer

Malaria comes from a parasite…Malaria is carried by single-celled, wormlike parasites called Plasmodia. Before a mosquito bites a person, they surround the area they are going to bite with a circle of saliva. The Plasmodium parasite lives inside the mosquito’s salivary glands. Plasmodia are small—so small that 50,000 could fit inside a period at the end of a sentence. Several dozen Plasmodia enter the blood stream, but it only takes one to kill a person. The parasite travels through the circulatory system until it reaches and burrows into the person’s liver cells.

There are four different species of malaria parasite that affect humans, but the most prevalent and the most dangerous to humans is Plasmodium falciparum. Plasmodium falciparum is the only species that attacks the brain. In the entire world, half of world’s cases of infection, and 95% of deaths by malaria are caused by Plasmodium falciparum. [1]

Just a bite…Malaria comes from the bite of a “loaded” Anopheles mosquito. The Anopheles mosquito is the only insect that can carry the human malaria parasite. In fact, it is only the female mosquito that transmits the malaria disease. The female depends on hemoglobin, the part of the red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body, to nourish her eggs.

Malaria transmission is a chain. A mosquito obtains the Plasmodia when they bite a person who is carrying the parasite. The now “loaded” mosquito then passes the parasite to next person it bites. [2]

A person does not stir as the parasite travels through their body. Most people are bit at night at night between 12 – 4 am. Mosquitos creep into uncovered windows and attack their unsuspecting victims. The path of the parasite begins with the bite. The Plasmodium leaves the mosquitoes’ salivary glands and enters the person’s circularatory system. The parasite travels through the person’s blood stream until it stops in her liver and burrows into the liver cells. There the Plasmodia eat and multiply…each one 40,000 times. Stretched beyond capacity, the liver finally bursts. The freed parasites then attack and kill the red blood cells. Without the oxygen-carrying red blood cells, the vital organs fail. [3]

Then the signs come. The child lives unaware as their body struggles against the foreign invader for one to two weeks. But then her temperature rises as her frenzied body struggles to overcome the parasite. What at first seemed to be the flu has morphed into something far more dangerous. High fevers…Shivering…cold sweat…freezing…vomiting…chills…sweat. All the while, the body is raging inside inside. When the fever reaches its peak, the body is so hot it almost boiling itself alive.

At its worst…it is the falciparum species that invades. Some of the red blood cells grow knobs on their surface and hook onto the brain. Locked onto the brain, these cells are prevented from reaching the spleen, where damaged cells are destroyed. But this attachment causes the worst form of malaria of all. This attachment causes the brain to swell. Cerebral Malaria. The worst kind of all.

It is at this point that the body succumbs. The parasite destroys so many oxygen-carrying red blood cells that the lungs and brain shut down. The blood becomes too acidic and brain cells die. The child convulses and falls into a coma. In addition to the coma, the child falls prey to life-threatening anemia and brain damage—and seeps deeper and deeper into the clutches of death.

The child is now at the mercy of malaria. Mothers, fathers, cousins, grandmothers carry children for miles upon miles. They drive, ride, paddle, and run to the nearest clinic. If they reach their destination, they can only hope and pray that it is not too late. [4]

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[1] Finkel, Michael. “Bedlam in the Blood.” National Geographic. July 2007.

[2] The Disease.” Malaria No More. 2008. 8 Jan 2008. .

[3] Finkel, Michael. “Bedlam in the Blood.” National Geographic. July 2007

[4] Finkel, Michael. “Bedlam in the Blood.” National Geographic. July 2007

How NETwork Started

The idea of NETwork Against Malaria began when we met Fr. Mujule, a priest who has come to serve the Diocease of Belleville from the diocease of Hoima in Uganda. Fr. Mujule began 2 girls' schools and a co-ed secondary school. Educating "the girl-child" is not valued in Uganda ; his efforts were met with much resistance. Fr. Mujule is undoubtedly a national treasure of Uganda , and in spite of their poverty, they gave him up to come serve us.

Fr. Mujule represented a Ugandan view of Malaria as he discussed his frustration with the disease. In Uganda, Malaria hospitalizes one out of every 2 children under age 5, costs every Ugandan family about ¼ of their annual income, causes children to miss about 60 days of school every year, and claims the life of one Ugandan child every 5 minutes. Malaria propagates the problem of poverty in countless ways.

Fr. Mujule is not only frustrated by the drastic effects of the problem, he is also frustrated because it does not have to be this way. Malaria is preventable.

How is malaria treated in Uganda?

The majority of people in countries where malaria is prevalent prefer to use allopathic medicine. They can purchase antimalarial medicines, such as cholorquine and fansidar, at drug stores. Most people do not posses enough knowledge of herbal medicine to use traditional remedies in fighting malaria.

[1]

[1] “Malaria.” World Health Organization. 4 Jan. 2008.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/index.html

Real Men Make Jewelry

“What about you?” the new kid said to me, “What’s your deal? What do you do on the weekends?”

I shrugged.

“Are you a mall rat?” he snickered.

“Watch a lot of TV?” he chided.

I haven’t been to the mall since last semester,” I answered. “When I watch TV – it is movies with friends while we make jewelry.”

“Jewelry-making girls. Ha! Knew it.”

“Not just girls. Guys make jewelry too,” I said. “Real men make jewelry.”

He squinted at me. But I knew I had him. “Yeah, guys make jewelry, necklaces, bracelets, key chains. We make jewelry for this non-proft, NETwork Against Malaria. We use paper beads handmade by ladies in Uganda, combine them with recycled beads. Sell what we make. The money we make goes to buying malaria bednets for kids in Uganda.”

“You do what?”

“Yeah. Malaria kills one child in Uganda every five minutes. It is a terrible disease – high fevers, shakes, death. 300-500 million die of malaria every year in the world. A $10 bednet protects kids from the mosquitoes that spread malaria. Yeah, that is why I say, ‘real men make jewelry’. You should come – we have pizza. Last week I made chocolate chips!”

He smiled, “I’ll think about it.”

I nodded, “Sure, you think about it. You show up and I’ll make sure you get the first piece of pizza.”

The next week he was there. And the week after – two years later he is still coming. We got to be good friends. He can make a pretty sweet necklace, too.

Sometimes it just takes an invite to get somebody involved. You never know where that will lead you. For me it led me to a great friendship and a lot laugh.

Hmph…

Is there ever a day when you really don’t feel like doing anything? Maybe you just took a giant test and you feel like your brain is oozing right out of your ears. Maybe you just had a really tough practice and for some reason TV sounds more soothing than sleep. How about that feeling when you’re sprawled on the coach and you just stare at a bag of chips because you’re so hungry, but moving the extra inch is just a completely inconsiderable feat?

Sadly, yes. I’ve been there and I hope if you’re reading this you’ve been too. I’m not wishing any discomfort on you, believe me but how dumb would I sound if you read this and were like, “Um, no. You are the only person that’s ever desired to underachieve in the history of the world?”

But that feeling never lasts. You snap to at six pm on a Thursday wondering where in the heck three hours of your life went and how you’ll spend the next six.

Sometimes that feeling is a good thing in my opinion. It means you’ve applied yourself so much that you’re completely drained. Who finishes a race with enough breath to chit chat about the medal he or she just won? Look at accomplished athletes and at the end of a race they’re completely spent.

But others… I’ll be honest. Other times, I’m just lazy. But I’ve found laziness has never helped me accomplish anything. I’m not saying relaxation is bad. In fact, I believe relaxation is sometimes necessary, but laziness is one of those things we all sometimes crave, but should try to avoid.

Welcome to the best place to be non-lazy and in my opinion, the best possible goal. Let’s make this world an awesome place.

Pictures of You

There’s something hard about volunteering for a group of people on the other side of the ocean- you don’t get to hold their hands and you don’t get to look into their eyes. You don’t learn their names or hear them laugh. But you still you made a difference in their lives and they in yours.

For me, this all turns around when I receive a package in the mail a few weeks after each distribution. I hold the pictures in my hand of the children whose lives we impacted.

They have distended stomachs and dirty clothing. Often there are stains and tares on their prized school uniforms. Many of them look into the camera with wide frightened eyes. In their rural village they have never seen a camera before. Some look back into the camera with pride. They walk themselves to school. They striving towards education, so why shouldn’t they be proud? Others look into the lens with gratitude; they realize the importance and gravity of the nets. They look into the camera, but, as is customary in their culture, they show pressed lips, no smile. Then there are those who cannot contain themselves. They forget their fear of the foreign machine. They forget their customs. They cannot help it. They seem to realize how much hard work has culminated in this moment. They seem to know these nets will protect them from a terrible disease. They seem to realize how these nets are concrete proof of how love exists between people who have never met, how love transcends distance. They beam at the camera.

Holding each picture in my hands shows me that there are no boundaries and although it sometimes takes a leap of faith, helping those children is worthwhile.

Not only worthwhile, but extremely rewarding.

With Just One Bead

One of the best things about NETwork Against Malaria is that so much comes from so little. We started small and grew large. We had a little bit of money, and we acquired enough to literally save lives. We had five people involved. We have thousands. One of the best ways, in my opnion, to illustrate this is to show just how much NETwork can do with a bead. Let’s meet bead number one.

A grandmother watches her eight year old granddaughter play dress-up in the dining room. She sits at the table as the little girl parades into the room in one outfit then another. One time, the girl enters in a beautiful blue dress with a ribbon holding back her hair. She has on shimmering silver sandles and a gaint smile. The grandmother is so awed by the little girl and her adorableness that she goes into her closet and finds an old costume bracelet to match the outfit. The little girl tries on the bracelet and loves it. The grandmother gives it to her to keep.

The little girl keeps the bracelet on her wrist at all times. She constantly pulls it off to show parents, friends, and teachers. One day, while she is walking home, she tugs too hard and the elastic gives way. The beads scatter all over the sidewalk. She and her friends scoop down to collect the beads. Without noticing she forgot one, the little girl runs to her grandmother’s house. At first the little girl is disappointed, but the grandmother pulls out an old box and gives it to the little girl specifically for the beads and she feels much better.

That same afternoon, a little boy is walking home from baseball practice. He notices a pretty blue color in the grass and he puts it in his pocket. His mother finds it two days later while she’s doing the wash. She puts in a jar near the sink. The bead sits there forgotten for a few days until the mother begins spring cleaning. She puts the bead in with other used and broken jewelry to drop off at the church.

A teenage girl checks the box at the church and notices a bag of jewelry and beads. She especially likes one blue bead. She uses it for a bracelet and brings the bracelet to the farmers market in town that weekend to sell for NETwork Against Malaria.

A little girl and her grandmother walk past the NETwork Against Malaria booth. They stop to hear how ten dollars buys one net and saves three lives. They pay attention while the teenage girl says that each bracelet is half a net. Then the little girl notices something, a bead just like the ones on her old bracelet. Except next to the beautiful paper beads from Uganda, the bead doesn’t look like it used to. It looks wonderful. The grandmother helps her try on the bracelet and insists on buying it and one for herself.

The little girl and grandmother walk away wearing their bracelets after saving 3 lives.