In the lead-up to TEDxChange, a TED event focused on the progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, Melinda Gates blogged about our work on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation site.
In her post, Melinda noted: Malaria No More, one of our grantees, is taking a creative approach to raising awareness about malaria. They’ve been a fantastic partner–find out more about them from this GOOD profile of their work. They’re working with the Senegalese singing sensation Youssou N’Dour to educate people through his song “Xeex Sibbiru.” The song–whose title translates “Fight Malaria” in Wolof (a language spoken in several African countries)–encourages listeners to take action against malaria. They’ve also launched an American Idol-style singing contest. The campaign encouraged musicians to write songs to raise awareness about malaria.
A few years ago, Bill and I challenged the health field to set a goal of eventually eradicating malaria. With inspirational examples such as these, it’s clear the world is making great progress against this disease. That’s why we remain optimistic that the goal of eradication will ultimately be met.
We’re grateful for Melinda’s GOOD words and look forward to attending the TEDxChange Webcast on September 20th. You too can RSVP here.
Tanzanian hip-hop sensation Professor Jay stopped by the Malaria No More office in New York this morning during what is his first visit to the United States. Professor Jay is one of our greatest allies in the Zinduka! Malaria Haikubaliki (Wake Up! Malaria is Unacceptable) program to spread a culture of malaria control across Tanzania.
Professor Jay is a Tanzanian hip hop artist. The type of music he sings is also called Bongo Flava, which often represents the hardships of Tanzanian life, including malaria HIV/AIDS, inequality, and struggling to meet basic needs.
Professor Jay has won several awards, including best hip-hop album in Tanzania.
Learn more about his efforts, and watch the Zinduka! music video here.
Zinduka! Goodwill Ambassadors Marlaw and Mwasiti record television PSAs with Sesame Kilimani character LuLu to promote a malaria-themed book distribution. The books will be given to all Tanzanian schools and will help educate young children about malaria prevention and safe practices at home.
Protecting young African children — the population most affected by malaria — is a top priority for MNM. As part of that goal, MNM’s Zinduka!campaign in Tanzania has partnered with the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Kilimani Sesame, the Sesame Street program developed in Tanzania, to educate young children about malaria.
To reach this goal, the Zinduka! campaign and Kilimani Sesame are working together to produce and distribute malaria-themed books to all Tanzanian primary schools. These colorful, entertaining books feature popular Kilimani Sesame characters who stress the importance of sleeping under a net every night and going to the doctor if you feel sick. As part of the partnership and book distribution, Zinduka! Goodwill Ambassadors and music stars Marlaw, Banana Zoro, Mwasiti and Natasha have recorded television PSAs that feature the Kilimani Sesame character LuLu talking about malaria prevention, testing and treatment. The recorded PSAs will help reach children and parents with the message of practicing malaria prevention at home.
What other creative partnerships do you think will help educate African children about malaria?
Youssou NDour, one of the most celebrated African musicians in history, played for one night only at the Barbican in London this week. Youssou took time out from promoting his new album to talk about how he is using world music to educate people about malaria prevention in Africa and to raise awareness about malaria in the US & UK.
Youssou is a board member of Malaria No More and is also the leader of the Xeex Sibbiru campaign in his home country of Senegal. Learn more about how Xeex Sibbiru is using music to change the way people think about malaria in Senegal and across Africa.
Crowds, including a healthy contingent of local and national Senegalese press, packed Pikine stadium and the rooftops of surrounding buildings to witness the first United Against Malaria / Xeex Sibbiru (‘Fight Against Malaria’ in the local Wolof dialect) Celebrity Cup last week.
The much anticipated match pitted Senegal’s football legends against a team comprised of contemporary Senegalese footballers and famed musicians, including Blackburn Rovers El-Hadji Diouf and grammy-award winning singer Youssou NDour. Both teams wore uniforms featuring the UAM and Xeex Sibbiru crests.
The good-natured competition saw the two teams exchanging lots of goals and friendly trash talk knowing that win or lose, both teams were accomplishing their ultimate goal…raising awareness about malaria. The match, which will be aired on national TV later this week, featured speeches by Youssou NDour and other noted players encouraging the people of Senegal to use mosquito nets and seek treatment for malaria. TV broadcasters joined the chorus of voices speaking out against malaria, taking time out from their match coverage to acknowledge the UAM campaign and it’s significance.
Players and musicians alike also used the occasion to record a public service announcement for United Against Malaria that will air on TV alongside the match and throughout the coming months in Senegal. Learn more about the United Against Malaria campaign here.
For those of you not lucky enough to be in Dakar for the Xeex Sibbiru Song Contest, we wanted to share some details. Take a minute to join in the experience and see how MNM’s innovation is having an impact in Africa:
Learn more about one of Malaria No More’s signature initiatives, Surround Sound Senegal, on our website round-up, including a video of the winner—Djibril Diop—performing in front of the crowd.
You can also access amazing behind-the-scenes footage of the finalists rehearsing before the concert and see how East meets West in a jam session with Diamond, our incredibly talented guest from Tanzania’s Zinduka! campaign.
To meet the contestants, head over to the Dakar Calling blog, where Peace Corps volunteer extraordinaire Adam Horowitz introduces the world to the Xeex Sibbiru Song Contest finalists.
Please see these compelling submissions from around the globe for our “World Briefing: Telling the Malaria Story” contest. To help raise awareness about the prevention and treatment of malaria, we asked graduate students to develop a blog post that focuses on the current malaria burden and ways in which we can make progress in the fight. After reviewing entries from students all over the world, we have selected six finalists from schools in the Philippines, Venezuela, Italy and the Netherlands!
Now, these six finalists are waiting for YOUR votes. Only three will win a trip to Zambia, Africa.
Visit the contest page, and tell us who among these passionate students should travel with our teams to Africa to witness firsthand how local and international partners are working to help end malaria deaths. Our winners will visit Zambian clinics and meet with physicians, health care workers and patients. For these finalists, this is an incredible opportunity to cultivate their understanding of a global health burden that, if eliminated, would save nearly 1 million lives each year.
Who do you think should win? Read these students’ essays before voting ends on June 25, and decide for yourself!
Yesterday, I arrived in Ghana the fastest (and most fashionable) way possible – United Airlines’ inaugural non-stop flight to the continent of Africa. On board with me were other members of the MNM team, as well as the US Ambassador to Ghana and former American Idol Elliott Yamin. Needless to say, we were all excited.
But what made that flight extra special were the mosquito nets riding below next to my baggage. In celebration of its first flight, United, with the help of ExxonMobil, graciously offered to donate 1,500 mosquito nets to kick off our long-term partnership. And today, we kicked off the net distribution that will take place in rural communities outside Accra.
With tremendous help from partners on the ground, NetsforLife, we honored the launch of this partnership and the launch of the net distribution at the only children’s hospital in West Africa. Princess Marie Louise Hospital (PML) sees approximately 200 patients a day and half of them have traveled miles to find out they have malaria.
However, since we’ve united, it’s our hope PML sees fewer malaria cases by the time we come back.
Our partners at Malaria No More UK have been working with NetsforLife to help Ghanaian families protect themselves from malaria. Check out their amazing video below:
Last night, United Airlines launched its first flight to Africa, opening direct service from Washington DC to Accra, Ghana. To mark their maiden voyage, United used its plane to help deliver mosquito nets to families in rural Ghana and signaled their commitment to the global race to end malaria deaths.
Under the leadership of Dr. Constance Bart-Plange, Director of the National Malaria Control Program, Ghana is making tremendous progress in malaria control. With a focused effort on prevention, rapid diagnosis and treatment, the country is working to decrease the disease burden by 75% by the year 2015.
Malaria No More UK and NetsforLife® recently partnered in Ghana to distribute nearly one million nets to children and pregnant women in the Northern and Eastern regions of Ghana. Joining in this effort is long time partner of Malaria No More and leader in the fight against malaria in Africa, ExxonMobil, which provided the mosquito nets for the inaugural flight to Ghana.
Check out Malaria No More UK’s new video on their work with NetsforLife® in Ghana here.
Highcroft Racing completed an impressive debut run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race this weekend, finishing ninth overall in a field that began with 56 cars but only saw 28 cross the finish line.
Driver David Brabham blogged before the event that he was proud to race with the Malaria No More logo prominently featured on the side of the team’s Honda Performance Development ARX-01c prototype. He wrote that Le Mans offered “a valuable opportunity to continue the team’s efforts to battle against malaria.”
Logging a total of 3,100 miles during the 24-hours and reaching speeds of 210 miles per hour, David and the rest of the Highcroft squad spread awareness about the Miles to End Malaria campaign to an estimated crowd of 235,000 spectators, and 105 million television viewers.
The 24 hours of Le Mans may be over but fans can still help Highcroft Racing and Brabham raise money for the ”Miles To End Malaria” campaign. Fans can donate by visiting the campaign site or by bidding on one-of-a-kind autographed memorabilia and experiences on the special Miles to End Malaira Ebay auction.
In the lead-up to TEDxChange, a TED event focused on the progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, Melinda Gates blogged about our work on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation site.
