Blog #12: Stomping Out Malaria in Madagascar!

Blog #12

Malaria is a huge problem today, despite our knowledge of how to prevent transmission. Just how bad is it? Roughly 1 child dies every 45 seconds from malaria (taken from the Nightwatch curriculum). Malaria is responsible for the fifth most deaths from infectious diseases worldwide, and second most in Africa. For my site in 2012, malaria was the diagnosis for 33% of all clinic visits. And that’s just for the people who actually make it all the way (sometimes over 30 km) to the clinic and get the test. There are also community health workers (CHWs) that have the materials to diagnose and treat the illness, but consistent reporting of their numbers is problematic. The point being, as bad as the numbers look, they are probably worse.

This situation, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, has led to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). This initiative is led by USAID and provides funding for projects to raise awareness of and encourage behavior change with respect to malaria transmission. Peace Corps works closely with this program, and has launched a program of its own, Stomping Out Malaria in Africa.

2013 logo

With all of this in mind, April has become “world malaria month” for many Peace Corps countries, including Madagascar. World Malaria Day is actually April 25th, and many people do events at least for this day. I decided with some local CHWs to plan out activities in two towns that I had worked in frequently for the water/sanitation project.

The first game the kids learned was malaria dodgeball. If a kid caught a ball from one of the 5 or so mosquitoes, they were said to have killed the mosquito. If they dodged the ball, they avoided contact by sleeping under a net. Simple enough. Next, they set up in 2 nets across an open space. On command, the kids would have to run to the opposite mosquito net and try not to be tagged by the mosquito. The kids’ favorite game, however, was the mosquito piñata.

Malaria dodgeball

Sharks and minnows, but mosquitoes and kids.

Making and breaking of the piñata. 

Practice what you preach...got him!

We also prepared a mural for the town of Mahasoa. The town of Antsirakaomby will get theirs probably in June, but were not able to get their sign ready in time for the month’s festivities.

This mural is about finished. It will be put up tomorrow in the town center with a roof and a stand, then the Peace Corps and USAID logos will be added underneath. Finally, a story that follows the pictures will be added.

There were a few skits to highlight 1) signs and symptoms, 2) the importance of everyone sleeping under a net every night, and 3) the problems that can arise when people use their nets for things other than malaria prevention, such as fishing.

Skit for the importance of everyone in the household--and community--sleeping under a net.

Poster for the campaign.

 

We also had some things targeted for the adults. Later on, we showed people various ways to hang their nets in their homes. Making the square nets into circle nets can help to increase the coverage, especially if people sleep on mats on the floor. Also pictured below is a net that slides on its two guiding strings so as not to be in the way during the day. Finally, there’s a net with a cloth border at the bottom, which is meant to strengthen the net to prevent against tearing due to constant tucking. Net repair and proper washing were important themes of the event as well.

Hanging and retrofitting nets.

Training for net care and repair.

If you stayed with me this far, thanks. I hope it was interesting.  If you want to learn more, visit stompoutmalaria.org or http://www.facebook.com/StompOutMalaria