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Imagine No Malaria

When I was a small child, I often dreamed of being an adult, so I could fix what was wrong with the world. When I became an adult, I realized there was plenty to be fixed and being an adult was not the sole prerequisite for transforming ugly realities into promising possibilities.
 
Just as there are mountains that seem nearly impossible to climb, there are twenty-first century problems that seem intractable at first glance.
 
The World Health Organization reported approximately 1 million deaths from malaria worldwide in 2006. Most of the deaths were African children under 5 years old. As the Children’s Choir from Africa sang at Annual Conference I wondered how many of us realized they would return home to communities where many children do not reach the age of 15. Death in many parts of Africa where The United Methodist Church is vibrant and growing is related to poverty and preventable diseases including malaria. The July/August edition of the “Interpreter” magazine highlights the United Methodist effort to imagine and contribute to a world without Malaria. The Iowa Annual Conference is a major player on the team of global health advocates saving lives via prevention, treatment and education.
 
“Every 30 seconds another child in Africa dies a painful death from malaria caused by the bite of a tiny mosquito.” United Methodists have been leading the way in partnership with the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation and the United Nations with a goal of eliminating Malaria deaths in Africa by 2015.
 
“Malaria costs the African continent an estimated $12 billion a year.” The money raised at the Iowa Annual Conference for Mosquito Nets will save hundreds of lives in Sierra Leone. We cannot solve every global health problem by 2015, however, our first challenge is to imagine a world where children do not die prematurely due to preventable diseases.
 
I have been to Liberia and Sierra Leone and witnessed the wonderful work of United Methodists. I was given anti-malaria drugs before traveling and slept under a mosquito net. We visited clinics with little or no drugs to treat the sick. We, also, celebrated the growing partnerships fostered by Annual Conference and local congregations.  I can imagine a world without malaria.
 
We get to decide if malaria will be the next disease to cease robbing the world of the gift of future generations. This is one mountain we can climb, one problem we can solve. Thank you Iowa United Methodists for saving lives. 
 
Be encouraged...