2010 Botswana Malaria Campaign

This year's campaign kicks off 19-23rd July in Botswana northwest region called Parakarungu village. My students will travel 1400kms to do the campaign in that village. We are distributing 500 treated bednets at cost of U$5000. Thanks to the Alexandar Dawson school for co-sponsoring the acquisition of nets.

More updates coming.....

2010 Botswana Annual campaign

Gaborone Secondary School again goes to the remotest village in Botswana northwest at village called Parakarungu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parakarungu

The campaign will take place July 22-23, 2010. More photos, short videos coming your way on this website. Follow us through..... Many thanks to the long time friends, Alexandar Dawson School from Colorado who have been campaigning with us since 2007 for offering financial support towards the 2010 acquisition of treated nets.

more updates coming!

Malaria Campaign in Kenya

I am posting the following information for Ms Ann Nganga. Ann is the ENO Program coordinator for Kenya and new to SLAM. I think you will find her posting very informative. Ann, welcome to the SLAM family!
-Bill Meyers

Malaria Campaign in Kenya


Our campaign is in central Kenya in Makuyu area this forms part of the only plains in central Kenya. This place is very flat and warm, thus very conducive for mosquito breeding. The campaign is sponsored by the population service international(PSI). It is called mosquito out and us in.
In our local language that is Kiswahili we say MBU NJE SISI NDANI. That means we are in, under the protection of the mosquito treated nets and the mosquitoes are out.

It was discovered that even after the people are given the nets they do not use them but use all sorts of excuses to avoid the nets. Thus in this programme the students are trained on ways of using the nets and explanations to give to the population after educating them.

After educating the group the children are given each ten households. The students walks
around in twos, checking if their clients are using the nets. This is done by the school scouts and as they move around speaking with their peers they can physically check if the nets are properly hanged or well fixed waiting for their use at night.
Reasons for this child approach is that:



• Children are more frank than adult thus truth is likely to come out.
• Kids can comfortably check on their friends bedrooms with ease.
• Kids will easily give out the excuses the adults will be hiding.
• In their visits they can demonstrate how to hang up the nets in all types of houses and beds.
No one can dismiss the kids away when they are educating the adults as adults would be dismissed by their peers.
The kids are very serious on what they believe and this is very likely to influence their parents, neighbors and friends.

The reasons given for not using the nets are;

• The treated nets are poisonous.

• It is too warm to sleep under the net.

• The people do not know how to hang the nets.

• Nets are too big for some beds

• Others sleep on the floor thus not possible to hang the net.

• One feels like there is less air while under the net.

RESPONSES TO THE ABOVE REASONS

• The treated nets are poisonous.
Ans There could be some mild chemicals that is true, but one do not directly get them in ones system. If you get malaria you will take very strong drug which may even have very serious side effect. Which chemical is better?

• It is too warm to sleep under the net.

Ans Warm ?could be but if one gets malaria the effects would be worse compared with the short discomfort which can be controlled by having light beddings

• The people do not know how to hang the nets.

Ans The kids demonstrate as in the photos using pegs, short posts or rafters, nails on the wall or the roofing since the nets have got nine strings for easy hanging

• Nets are too big for some beds
Ans Adjust the strings to the desired height and width.
• Others sleep on the floor thus not possible to hang the net.
The kids demonstrate as in the photos using pegs, short posts or rafters, nails on the wall or the roofing since the nets have got nine strings for easy hanging


• One feels like there is less air while under the net.

That could be an assumption but once you get used to the net you forget. Could. If one gets malaria the effects would be worse compared with the short discomfort which can be controlled.

Lastly the pupil gets down to the cost that one incurs in she /he gets malaria. Starts with the pupils


One may not attend school for a week or more days 3 EUROS PER DAY 15-20
Malaria tabs goes for 3-5 EUROS
The transport to the hospital 3-5
The transport for the parent guardian accompanying 3-5
The money he would have earned that day 3-5
The cost of lunch and snack on the way 6-10
Special food due to nausea and other discomforts 6-10
Five days salary for the baby sitter(nursing) 15-20

Total 57-80 EUROS


The cost of a treated mosquito net which
can be used for five years is 0.5 EUROS

There is also the discomfort which cannot get a value
And damaging of the liver and death is also a possibility.
Then the kids ask their audience if the risk is worth.


The project will take one year as the pupils do a followup to their households.
Evaluation is done monthly as the kids through their teachers forward their monthly forms with two visits per month

Hunger Banquet at the Dawson School

This year the week before winter break the students at the Alexander Dawson School once again participated in the hunger banquet. The hunger banquet is a tradition at the Alexander Dawson School that has been celebrated for a long time. It is our way of appreciating and being grateful for what we have and trying to experience a small piece of what it is like for those who do not have enough to eat. This year a few of the students from our SLAM group volunteered to help raise money to buy mosquito nets for families in Botswana. The students sat at a table to collected donations and spread the work about Malaria and our SLAM group. For a donation of five dollars the donors were given a blue ribbon. At the hunger banquet we collected a total of $160 dollars to donate towards buying mosquito nets. We will be doing more fund-raising this coming spring and hopefully it will be as successful as last year.

Sincerely, Riley

SLAM Benefit Concert at the Denver School of the Arts

On Thursday, September 25 the Tobatana Marimba band played a benefit concert at the Denver School of the Arts (DSA). Carly, a senior at DSA, organized the concert in order to kick-off the fund raising for next years Malaria Eradication Campaign in Botswana. The concert was a success with students and parents from DSA attending and $200 was donated for the purchase of mosquito nets!! We want to thank the members of Tobatana for traveling to DSA after a long day of work and playing for 1.5 hours. Some of the musicians live 50 miles away but they felt strongly enough about this concert to make the effort to be there. The crowd loved the music, danced and learned how serious malaria is in Botswana. Thank you Carly for organizing this event!

SLAM projects at Alexander Dawson School Colorado USA

The seventh grade SLAM group at Alexander Dawson School Colorado USA has been doing numerous things this year. The first step for us was to make a power point presentation that we would present to the Lower School (Kindergarten to Fourth grade), the fifth and sixth grade, and finally the seventh and eighth grade. The power point’s purpose was to educate and raise awareness about Malaria and also to notify people about the fundraising we would be doing. The power point had a big impact on the grades we presented it to especially the younger children, who could not believe some of the facts and statistics we were presenting to them.
Once the power point presentations were done we started a coin drive. A fundraising activity where different grades bring in coins and dollar bills to raise money for mosquito nets. The coin drive was run from Kindergarten to the Eighth grade. In the end whichever grade raised the most money won a pizza party. Except for the sixth grade they were so excited by the SLAM project that they decided to donate the money from their pizza party back into the coin drive! All together we raised a total of 957 dollars. This money will be used to buy mosquito nets for the families in Botswana.
We all look forward to working on this project more with you all in the future.

Sincerely, Riley and Anika
Alexander Dawson School, Colorado USA.

End Malaria Blue Ribbon Campaign in Nigeria

Dear all,

My name is Egbon Jabilee SS I), from MIND BUILDERS College in Abudu (Delta state, south-south Nigeria) it’s been a very long time since SYAHD team visited our school last year to introduce the MFI / SLAM Blue Ribbon campaign, the session was enlighten and educative to all students including our Science teachers (i.e. Biology, Physical health education, physics & chemistry), we pray that SYAHD team would re-visit our school and see how we run our SLAM activities perfectly. Our school principal always encourages us to organize malaria events (e.g. assembly message, foot ball match’s, environmental / clearing gutters and stagnant water within our school.

We’re introduce to Blog by SYAHD team, but we always find it difficult to visit café because we have to travel for about 15kilometre to the city, our school is located in village (away from city), since last year we organize 2 malaria events with the support our school teachers, and Mind Builders College Parent Association. This year we hope to establish a linkage and visited some schools nearby so that we can see how they can contribute immensely to reduce the malaria incidence.

Malaria really affect every one of us, and we hope this could become a history, we would continue to educate our fellow students in other schools, and members of community to take action. There is also need for SYAHD to provide mosquito nets, educational materials and share some experiences with us, so that we can be fully representers of MFI / SLAM global educational campaign for us (student), you are always remembered “Ahmad and Muhammad from SYAHD in Kano state”

On behalf of the entire SS 2 & 3 students of MIND BUILDERS College, our teachers and Principal, we hope this mail finds you well and your team / school students in northern Nigeria.

From MIND BUILDERS COLLEGE
Egbon Jabilee
(SS I Student)