United Methodists host Nets partners in Angola
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(From left) Sam Perkins, Ruth Riley, Bishop
Gaspar Joao Domingos and Dr. Magrida Correa visit a mother whose child
is being treated for malaria at the Dr. David Bernardino Hospital in
Luanda, Angola. A UMNS photo by John Gordon.
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A UMNS Report by John Gordon*
Feb. 28, 2007 | LUANDA, Angola (UMNS)
While visiting hospitals and clinics filled with mothers cradling
sick and dying children, professional basketball star Ruth Riley saw
"what the face of malaria looks like."
Touring the African nation on a malaria observation trip hosted by
the people of The United Methodist Church, the WNBA star urged people
everywhere to support Nothing But Nets, a global campaign working to
provide insecticide-treated bed nets to protect families against
disease-carrying mosquitoes.
The nets cost $10 each, and 100 percent of each gift goes to the cost
of buying and distributing them to families in underdeveloped nations
such as Angola, where mosquitoes typically transmit malaria at night
while people sleep. Health officials say the nets can reduce
transmission by as much as 90 percent.
"I can tell you that the need is so great, and the contribution is so
small," Riley said in an interview with United Methodist News Service.
Riley led Notre Dame and the Detroit Shock to collegiate and WNBA
championship in 2001 and 2003 respectively, taking Most Valuable Player
honors in both tournaments.
The 6-foot-5 center joined former NBA star Sam Perkins, NBA executive
Brooks Meek, Elizabeth McKee of the United Nations Foundation and
representatives of The United Methodist Church in the Jan. 27-31 tour.
The church, the U.N. Foundation and NBA Cares are among the partners
in Nothing But Nets, which is taking aim at one of Africa's biggest
killers of children. While malaria can be prevented, it kills about 1
million people a year, 75 percent of whom are children.
Church 'is very important'
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A mother watches over her child being treated
for malaria. The disease kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds. A
UMNS photo by John Gordon.
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Since its launch in 2006, the campaign has raised more than $4
million to buy and distribute more than 400,000 nets to families in
Africa. Nets have gone to Nigeria so far, and Angola is among 21 other
African nations in need. Campaign organizers plan to distribute nets in
those countries in partnership with their governments' ministers of
health.
"The United Methodist Church, as a partner to Nothing But Nets, is
very important," Riley told UMNS. She cited "the community-based
organizations they have here … and the relationship they have with their
people."
The church's West Angola Annual (regional) Conference organized the
hospital and clinic visits so the delegation could observe and speak
with people first-hand about malaria.
"In the hospital we visited this morning, they said that they lose four to five children a day from malaria," Riley said.
McKee, who is director of marketing for the U.N. Foundation, said the
trip allowed the group to see the "horrible effects" of malaria up
close. "We saw anemia, cerebral malaria, babies with low immune systems
who subsequently got HIV, mothers and fathers who are ill, and children
who were orphaned when their parents died from malaria," she said.
Poverty and illiteracy
The delegation met with health officials in Angola as well as
officials at the U.S. embassy to learn about health-care challenges in
the country.
Poverty and illiteracy are among the root problems, and malaria
worsens them by overloading the health-care system and causing children
to miss an average of 25 days of school a year. Angola has the second
highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world. Only 30
percent of the population has access to potable water and 60 percent of
sanitary systems have been destroyed.
"Most of them, they live with at least two U.S. dollars a day," said
United Methodist Bishop Gaspar Domingos of the Eastern Angola
Conference. "Most of them, they don't care about how to protect against
malaria because they want to eat."
Domingos said malaria is such a health problem that many Angolans contract it six or seven times a year.
Malaria has been brought under control and even eliminated in many
parts of Asia, Europe and the Americas. Yet in Africa, with increasing
drug resistance and struggling health systems, malaria infections have
increased during the last three decades. The bed nets are a simple and
cost-effective solution.
"On this trip, we learned the true importance of long-lasting,
insecticide-treated nets," said McKee. "People are using the nets and
stopping the mosquitoes that spread malaria. The real challenge is
meeting the tremendous need for nets throughout Africa."
To send a net and save a life, visit Nothing But Nets or United Methodist Communications. United Methodists also can give through their churches by designating their gift for Advance #982015.
*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer based in Marshall, Texas.
News media contact: Fran Walsh, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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