Dust off those mosquito nets

I was recently speaking with someone close to me about malaria in Guinea, explaining that I had gone door-to-door to hang mosquito nets that had been sitting under peoples' beds, unused. He asked, "Malaria isn't actually that widespread in Guinea, is it?" I'm beginning to realize how much I take for granted the fact that malaria is the number one killer in this country; to me, that's common knowledge. The disease accounts for 34 percent of all consultations, 31 percent of all hospitalizations, and 14 percent of deaths in Guinea. Essentially all Guineans have had malaria by the age of 2; considering how dangerous the disease is to children under 5, this is a staggering statistic. 

I've found that combating this disease isn't easy. The simplest and most effective way to prevent malaria is to sleep under a mosquito net. Luckily, last year the Global Fund and President's Malaria Initiative (thanks Obama!) funded a country-wide net distribution. Ideally, this means that every family in my village received brand spanking new insecticide-treated nets, enough to cover all individuals. (In practice, of course it didn’t end up perfectly – but they still did a damn good job.) So, after receiving a new net, obviously you hang it up, right? Not necessarily. On my house visits this year I’ve found a lot of nets collecting dust under peoples’ beds.

Sleep under your net, and you won't get malaria. You'll protect your children and pregnant women from death, you'll save a lot of money that you would have spent had you or one of your family members gotten malaria, and you'll be able to continue to go be productive in the fields or doing whatever work it is that you do. Simple enough? But that small act of hanging a mosquito net and tucking it in every night before you go to sleep is a behavior change that has to be learned. Simply telling people once to sleep under a net isn't going to do it. Malaria is such a fact of life here, it's accepted. Hence why I say, combating the disease isn't easy.

That being said, it's not impossible, either. This month is Malaria Month in Guinea, and volunteers all over the country are partaking in malaria-related activities and projects. The momentum we've gained this month is amazing, and seeing other volunteers working hard to stomp out malaria is inspiring; this is definitely the good kind of peer pressure.

I've been happy to dive into malaria work. The school year is winding down and the motivation levels of even my 10th graders is so low that it's a little painful for me to go to school everyday. In addition to helping my community, selfishly these projects have helped me out, too. So, what have I done to STOMP out Malaria? I've worked with a group of ten of my best and most enthusiastic 9th graders to make them experts on malaria. While it may be hard to get people to sleep under their nets, I've found simply giving the facts about the disease and dispelling myths can be incredibly effective. NO, malaria is not caused by mangos, or milk, or dirty water. After these 10 students became experts on the disease, we went to the health center on "vaccination day" to speak with pregnant and nursing women and explain to them the facts about malaria and the importance of sleeping under a net. They did a fantastic job, pairing off into groups of two and speaking one-on-one with 29 pregnant and nursing women throughout the morning. 

The most enthusiastic of the students, a boy named Bakary, then invited me to his village to go door to door and hang nets. Most of the nets were covered in dust, so we took this as an opportunity to teach how to effectively wash mosquito nets without destroying the insecticide. We told each household that we'd come back in one week to check and see if the nets were washed and hung; if they were, we'd take a picture of the net's owner and hang the photos up in the health center. We'll be going back this Tuesday to see if they've hung their nets -- although, Bakary has told me he's returned to their houses everyday to see if their nets are hung, so something tells me we'll have no problems by Tuesday! 

This past week, Tess and I organized a soccer match between our two villages, hosted in Cissela. During the game's half time, both of our schools performed malaria-themed skits. These were a HUGE hit. My students (those same 10 ninth graders) dressed a boy up in drag as a pregnant woman; the play essentially explained the importance of mosquito nets, especially for pregnant women. Tess' students' skit had a great message: if you don't sleep under your net and you get malaria, you'll have to spend your money on treatment; if you do sleep under your net, you can spend your money on something cool like a new phone or clothing (I think this hit home with the middle school crowd). I was so pleasantly surprised with the work the students had put into the skits, not to mention the audience's reception.

The cast of our skit -- with a pregnant woman and four mosquitoes

Malaria month is only halfway finished, and I've got lots more planned, including a bike tour with Tess to 5 villages; we'll teach lessons in primary schools in each village. Like every month here, Malaria Month is flying by! My time in Guinea is quickly disappearing, so I'm trying to make the most of it.