When
one thinks of African diseases, HIV and AIDs are often the first things that
come to mind. There is a stereotype of Africa being full of HIV/AIDs orphans
waiting for foreigners to help them out. While I recognize that this is a
pressing issue, there is a disease that is also preventing students from going
to school, teachers from teaching, and
sapping family’s strength to do needed work. April is designated as International
Malaria Awareness Month. As such, Peace Corps Volunteers around the world were
encouraged to spread awareness of this disease. Ethiopian volunteers have a
regional competition to see which volunteers can spread prevention.
In
order to spread awareness, the facts, details, and opinions are on the current
issue must be known. As my Grade 9 students can tell you: facts are truths,
details support, and opinions are an individual’s thoughts about a topic. So
let’s start with the facts and details.
First,
let’s look at Africa as an entire continent. “The African Region
accounts for 85% of malaria cases and 90% of malaria deaths worldwide”
according to a WHO website. In 2010, 91% of malaria related deaths occurred in
Africa with a majority being children under the age of 5 according to the WHO World
Malaria Report 2011. However grim these details are, the same report points out
that there has been a 20% decrease in deaths from 2004-2010. There is slight
discrepancy between WHO website and NightWatch Malaria Curriculum (This
curriculum was developed by Malaria No More and Lalela Project and revised by
Malaria No More in partnership with the American Peace Corps) on how often a
child dies because of this disease. WHO claims it is every 30 seconds while
NightWatch states every minute. Either way, in the time you taken to read this
blog so far at least 1 child has breathed their last because of malarian. The
United Nation’s “Millennium Development Goal 4 target of reducing under-five
mortality by two-thirds by 2015 but also to MDGs related to poverty reduction,
education, and maternal health” show the fight of this disease is just
starting. Goal 6 of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and Beyond, has the
following three specific targets:
1. Halt
and begin to reverse, by 2015, the spread of HIV/AIDS
2. Achieve
universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
3. Halt
and begin to reverse, by 2015, the incidences of malaria and other diseases
The same UN source claims that from
2000-2010, there have been 1.1 million averted malaria deaths in the 10 highest
malarias counties. In 2012, 13.7 million “long-lasting insecticide-treated nets
to reach at least 24.6 million beneficiaries” in Democratic Republic of Congo
through various partnerships with the UN. Slowly there is work being done all
over the continent.
Now
to Tigray, Ethiopia where I am living. According to a 2009 journal on this
region partnered between the Faculty of Medicine from Sweden, Tigray Health
Bureau, and Umeå International School of Public Health of Sweden, the disease
came to Ethiopia in the 1950’s and now 50 million people are living in risk
zones. It designed a program to “reduce malaria by 25% by 2005 and 50% by
2010;” however, I have not been able to find the supporting reports to
determine if these goals were attained. In 2004, Ethiopian government passed a
Health Service Extension Program (HSEP) aimed at providing more clinics. “By
2009, more than 15,000 health posts are expected in the rural sub-districts
locally known as kebeles.” In Tigray,
malaria outbreaks occur most during harvesting and planting seasons in areas
below 2,200 meters of elevation. This makes 78% of the population at risk
during the two highest seasons for workforce.
So
what have I done? While teaching skills of fact and opinion with students, I
based the entire lesson around malaria. Students had to identify if statements
were fact or opinion and explain why. While they know numbers signify facts,
they did ask if the facts were accurate. It was hard for them to think that in
our 42-minute class period, 42-84 children under the age of 5 had died. Many have
siblings that age. While “best” and “worst” always signify opinion, there
became an open debate on whether or not malaria is the worst disease worldwide.
While this lead to us reviewing how to set up a debate listing pros and cons,
it also allowed students to hear from each other. Some students have had family
members die from malaria, while others from AIDs. It showed how important it is
to protect against this and other virus/diseases too.
For
classwork students had to complete the following prompts: “I think malaria
is______________ because _______________.” and “After 25 years, I think malaria
will ________________ because _______________.” While many simply stated that
“malaria is bad because it kills,” others used comparisons and superlatives to
compare it other diseases. One student wrote that malaria hurts families
because it kills. Creative and critically thinking about the future is
difficult, but students surprised me. One mentioned that “malaria will be
decreased because people will have knowledge and understanding.” Another
student mentioned that “malaria will be 0% because scientists would have
developed technology.” Overall as a class, we all hoped that in 25 years, when
they are having children, that malaria rates will be decreased substantially.
Using
two balloons sent from my college roommate, blue tape sent by my Grandma Cindy,
first semester papers, 12 popsicle sticks, some flour, and water, I created a
giant mosquito piñata. While I grew up making these for various mission trip
fundraisers or Spanish class assignments, I never realized how odd the thing
really is. Especially when trying to translate the concept to others as your
hands are dripping with goo. The mosquito turned out blue as I had given the
students a short test first semester on 1/8 size pieces of blue paper provided
by Peace Corps and had collected the tests after showing them to students. The
hardest part was finding a rope and an adequate tree to hang it on. The class
with the highest mid-exam average had the honors of bashing the bug to get the
lollipops inside.
Before letting the student break
apart the mosquito piñata, I had them tell me facts and opinions about malaria.
We also talked about different ways to prevent malaria such as mosquito nets
and medicine. However, many students recognized that medicine is expensive and
usually only the “forengi tourists” have them. It was a great discussion while
also having fun.
There
are many factors that impact and influence students and their families. One is
malaria. Although there is effort being put into promoting awareness, providing
accessibility to resources and treatment, and keeping the rates decreasing,
there is still a long way to go.
Sources:
NightWatch
Curriculum: Developed by Malaria No More and Lalela Project. Revised by
Malaria No More in partnership the
American Peace Corps.
Disturbed to PC Ethiopia Stomp Representatives in January 2015.
UN Millinium Development
Goals and Beyond 2015 download:
www.who.int/malaria/publications/atoz/whocdsrbm9912/en/&sa=U&ei=BgMyVb2hGtjjat7tgMAD&ved=0CB4QFjAC&sig2=nqq2z97O5OzOajPK5rKZ5g&usg=AFQjCNGDEDJgC_zEE3t-MsfEyCsWlKVtFA
WHO:
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