Last week in our nation’s capital, students of Cornerstone Schools in Washington, D.C. celebrated Malaria Awareness Week with a full schedule of activities and lesson plans focused on malaria and the impact we’re having in the fight to end malaria-related deaths. Students received a visit from the our Policy Center’s own Wendy T. and had the opportunity to see what it would feel like to be under a real mosquito net.

The lessons were complemented by a classroom fundraising competition which raised more than $300 to provide life-saving mosquito nets in Africa! In addition, Mrs. Coley’s third grade class was rewarded with a special treat for raising the most money during the week – the opportunity to throw a pie in the face of Cornerstone’s Principal Lange. What a sweet treat for this great group of students who are already making a global impact and helping us to save lives!

Watch Principal Lange get pied in the face by Mrs. Coley’s class!

Earlier this week, our team received an email from Liz, whose son decided to donate his “tooth fairy money” to Malaria No More. We liked the story so much that we asked her to write a guest blog post about it. Read her charitable tale below:

Last holiday season I gave each of my children $10 to donate to a nonprofit. I gave them a few nonprofits to choose from. One of my children, Will (who is now five) chose to donate to Malaria No More to buy a bed net for, in his words, “the place with the most mosquitoes”.

Fast forward to the other day when Will lost his first tooth. Or, more accurately, when Will lost his first two teeth since the dentist had to pull them to make room for adult teeth. The tooth fairy came and gave Will $3 per tooth. The next morning I asked what Will wanted to do with the money. He shocked me by saying that he wanted to donate $5 out of the $6. Since we had just read “Three Cups of Tea”, I asked if he would like to fund a year of school for five children (by donating to a nonprofit that is currently holding a fundraiser at his school). ‘No’, said Will. ‘I want to give it to the bug place’ (which I eventually figured out was Malaria No More). ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Because it’s more important to live than to go to school’, said Will.

Leave it to a five-year old to get to the heart of the matter. And leave it to a five-year old to remind us what a privilege it is to be a part of something as important as ending malaria.

This weekend, traveling the roads from New York to Maine for a wedding, I tuned into Marketplace on NPR to learn the latest goings-on in this emotional Tilt-A-Whirl we call the current US economy when—surprise, surprise!—I found myself smack-dab back in the malaria world.

In a great piece about the First National Bank of Orwell, Vermont, some local schoolkids go up to the teller to complete a transaction and we, the lucky listeners, are treated to this:

First, click here. Trust me, it’s way more fun with the audio.

(Kids) “Can we please have a check for 350 dollars?” (Teller) “Now how are you going to pay for that check?” (Kids) “Right here.  That’s how much there is.” (Teller) “Okay.  Well, you know what I have to do, I have to count it.” (Kids) Okay, yup, Mrs. S said.” (Teller) “And who is the check going to be made to?” (Kids) “MALARIA NO MORE!” (Teller) “Okay! It’s going to take me a minute…”

Granted, this story had nothing to do with malaria, but doesn’t it say something wonderful about the world today that kids in Orwell, Vermont have small-town experience in banking and global experience in philanthropy?

According the New York Times and new data from UNICEF, child deaths have fallen to their lowest levels since 1970.

The child mortality rate has declined by more than a quarter in the last two decades — to 65 per 1,000 live births last year from 90 in 1990 — in large part because of the widening distribution of relatively inexpensive technologies, like measles vaccines and anti-malaria mosquito nets.

Malawi is one of the many African countries making progress, and largely due to Malawian high school students that took 10-week health training courses and acquired the knowledge and tools (like bicycles) to help sick children in the community. These students are able to help mothers by providing them with birth control and malaria medicines for the family.

We still have a long way to go until we reach our 2015 goal of eliminating malaria deaths in Africa. But it’s great to know we’re getting closer every day.

This post is an excerpt from Jonathan Shradar’s post on the Malaria Watch blog at the Malaria Policy Center:

At the Malaria Policy Center we spend most of our time on conference calls and in board rooms talking about how policy makers can help defeat malaria a world away and this week in Tanzania we have been doing a lot of the same. We are meeting with government leaders and other NGOs to determine how to best wage war on this terrible disease.

But for me, the policy arguments and strategies can only be one part of our efforts and thanks to Save the Children I got to see and hear from another important part of our battle with malaria – the kids that are coming down with it everyday.

These kids amazed me. They were so responsible and to me, more accurately articulated problems with net and drug distribution. At one point the eleven-year-old guy sitting next to me claimed that the youth council should be the one distributing malaria drugs so they get to the people that need them the most.

As we work to build malaria campaigns in Tanzania I will remember what these children taught me and how confident there were in the face of such poverty and disease. They are the ones whom will realize an end to malaria deaths and I want to do what I can to help them.

Read Jonathan’s full account on the Malaria Watch blog.

This past weekend, a team of us here from Malaria No More headed up to Wilton, Connecticut for the 28^th Annual Wilton Nutmeg Invitational Tournament. We weren’t just there to cheer on talented young girls as they competed for the top prize, but we were also there to bring awareness about malaria to aspiring young soccer stars and their parents. We set up a large tent with malaria information and encouraged the players to particpate in the Speed Shot, where a sports radar measured how fast each player could kick a soccer ball. The Speed Shot contest was successful in riling up plenty of fun, spawning quite a few sibling rivalries, and of course, teaching the kids about what malaria is and how we can stop it.

We had the kids kick the balls into actual bed nets, the same kind families in Africa use to protect themselves from the bite of a malarial mosquito, and we also hung up mosquito targets for the kids to aim at while kicking. It was a weekend full of giving the boot to mosquitoes!

The kids also had a visit from Congressman Jim Himes, a member of the Congressional Malaria Caucus, who came out and showed his support for the United Against Malaria campaign and also took some pictures with the lucky winners of the Speed Shot competition. Those winners also walked away with some United Against Malaria jerseys as well as tickets to a New York Red Bulls game.

But most importantly, the winners and all participants alike walked away armed with the knowledge of how to fight the malaria menace.

Nikilesh Eswarapu is an intern with Malaria No More. His fastest kick at the Speed Shot was 38mph which, incidentally, is only slightly faster than the fastest 9 year-old.

Goodwin, better than good in patch design contest!

9-year old Emmy Goodwin of Wilton, Connecticut was recently recognized by the Wilton Soccer Association (WSA) and Malaria No More for her winning design in the 2009 Nutmeg Invitational Tournament logo contest. The winning design was chosen from among 50 submissions and will be featured on this year’s tournament t-shirts along side the Malaria No More and United Against Malaria logos. To honor her achievement, WSA President Andy Hoffman presented Emmy with the official jersey of the newly crowned European Cup champions, and long-time supporter of Malaria No More, FC Barcelona.

In the lead up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, The Wilton Soccer Association has dedicated the 2009 Nutmeg Invitational to Malaria No More and the United Against Malaria campaign, which is committed to leveraging the world’s most popular game to raise global awareness and renew worldwide commitment to ending malaria. 

The Nutmeg Invitational Soccer Tournament will take place June 13th and 14th with nearly 60 teams, representing 17 towns across Connecticut. The tournament will feature mosquito net blue goals, United Against Malaria lace guards, and the “How Fast Can You Kick Malaria?” Speed Shot and information booth, helping to educate players, coaches and parents about malaria while testing their shot velocity. Whether teams win or lose on the field, they’ll come away with a major victory against malaria.

United Against Malaria is a partnership of footballers, non-governmental organizations, foundations, governments, and corporations who have joined forces ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to unite in the fight against malaria. www.unitedagainstmalaria.org

The following is a guest post from Amanda Ackerman, junior at St. Luke’s School in Connecticut:

On a beautiful sunny afternoon on World Malaria Day, I hosted a multi-faith event which brought together family and friends for a concert in support of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Faiths Act Together campaign. I had previously co-arranged a malaria relief event at Yale’s Woolsey Hall and always assumed “big is better”.  Yet the beauty of this event was in its simplicity.

Together with a bed net, FaithsAct Together World Malaria Day silicone bracelets which I created (see picture), talented singers and a healthy dose of optimism, my goal was to raise awareness while celebrating and acknowledging the day. Most of the people had never seen a  bed net before and the impact it had was enormous.  The direct correlation between the actual net and a life saved was an extremely powerful message and one that people could see and touch. This low key event raised over $2000 for Malaria No More and showed that awareness can be successful with little fanfare.

This humanitarian cause becomes a moral challenge, for people of all faiths and none, when  when a preventable disease which is left lingering in our interdependent world is not eradicated for good.  Simple grassroots efforts will help lead the way.

FCB's Seydou Keita Raises Awareness

As a part of their Play City initiative with Nike, Youth Noise, a social networking site for young people looking to make a difference in the world, and a consistent supporter of our work to fight malaria, gave a shout out to More Than A Club in their feature blog post today.

To get the scoop, Youth Noise blogger Trina Chiasson interviewed me about my first hand experience at Barca’s April 22nd match, during which the team took time to raise awareness about World Malaria Day (April 25th). During the interview, we also had time to cover the recent More Than A Club-supported net distribution in Mali and discuss how FC Barcelona’s three players from West Africa, Seydou Kieta, Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Touré donated their time to record life-saving video messages that will be used to educate their countrymen and women about the importance of sleeping under mosquito nets.

I want to thank Youth Noise for their recognition of More Than A Club and encourage all the young athletes out there to seize on the example set by FC Barcelona.

To learn more about how you can change the world through sports visit www.MoreThanAClub.org and check out Youth Noise’s Play City initiative which encourages and enables athlete-activists to use sports to revitalize communities and catalyze change.

P.S.: Check out another blog entry about MNM on Youth Noise—thanks for helping to keep awareness high!

The following is a guest post from Justin Libaw, a former Malaria No More intern:

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to meet a group of kids not quite half my age, but easily doubly as dedicated and driven as I was when I was in their shoes. These seventh and eighth grade students at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto, California participated in Project Give, a yearlong school project allowing them to learn about issues of global significance and to work to bring the world closer to addressing pressing needs.

Project Give adopted the United Nations Millennium Development Goals as a guide for the students’ efforts and a group of five students chose to focus their attention on the problem of malaria. These students spent many months learning about the disease and about the efforts of Malaria No More to address its impact. They prepared a presentation to share with their peers and they donated $700 to provide mosquito nets for children in Africa!

At the celebration of their Project Give accomplishments, these five students discussed what this project had meant to them, expressing the importance of doing good for others and how a simple $10 mosquito net could save lives. As we left the event, my friends and I remarked on how impressed we were with the impact these middle schoolers from Eastside had made and on how we were confident that their efforts would extend well beyond that night.

Justin Libaw is a member of Initiative Against Malaria (I-AM), a Stanford University student group working to engage college students in the fight against malaria. Learn more at http://malaria.stanford.edu.