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By Kathy L. Gilbert*
6:00 P.M. EST April 14, 2010 | BONGONGA, Democratic Republic of Congo
(UMNS)
Sophie Fragamga (center) visits with health worker Benoit Tshimwangain
outside her home in Bongonga, during preparations for a mosquito nets
distribution. Fragamga is holding 18-month-old son Ramazan. UMNS photos
by Mike DuBose.
Kaya Bawili and Mugalu Murumbi worry about each of their 19 children.
After April 15, they will be able to rest easier knowing all their loved
ones will be sleeping under insecticide-treated mosquito nets donated
by religious organizations including The United Methodist Church.
The Murumbi household, in the Bongonga community of Lubumbashi, is one
of 12 that will be visited by VIPs from government and faith groups at
the Katanga World Malaria Day celebration. The event is being organized
by an alliance of eight Christian and Muslim congregations known as the
Coalition Religieuse pour la Santé.
Volunteers from each faith group have undergone training and will help
dignitaries, including the governor of Katanga, hang the nets in the
homes. The volunteers will also talk to the families about how to use
and care for the nets and ways to prevent malaria.
“The best thing for me will be to welcome the governor in my house,”
said “Mama” Kaya. “The second one will be to get the mosquito net so we
cannot suffer from malaria.”
She and her husband already have lost one child to malaria.
“It is a disease that worries everyone because it kills,” she said. “At
times it can strike in the house and then you don’t have money to get
treatment so you can lose a child in a small time. It is a dangerous
disease,” said the mother, who has triplets and seven twins in her large
family.
A faithful presence
“The leaders of this community said no one has ever paid attention or
visited them before,” said Shannon Trilli, executive with the United
Methodist Committee on Relief. “This is more than nets; it represents
that we know they are here and that someone cares about their welfare.”
The nets distribution is a tangible way for the church to align with the
biblical mandate to heal, said the Rev. Gary Henderson, executive
director of the denomination’s Global Health Initiative at United
Methodist Communications.
“I am clear in my reading of the gospel that Jesus had a real concern
for the sick and dying,” he said.
Before the celebration, which will also bring South African superstar
Yvonne Chaka Chaka to this impoverished neighborhood, the trained
volunteers visited the homes of the 12 who will receive nets on April
15. The distribution will continue in the following weeks until 30,000
nets are in place.
Public health worker Benoit Tshimwangain (left) and Dr. Joseph
Chian-Nakeen train volunteers in advance of a mosquito net distribution
in Lubumbashi.
View in Photo Gallery
In good hands
Sheikh Usseni Faray, a member of the Muslim Community Organization, will
be on the team visiting the Murumbi family.
He believes the program will grow and be successful, especially if it
stays in the hands of local congregations.
“Government can only start things once and they stop. But us, we are the
community representing the people, and we preach and work with the
people all the time. So if they keep the church people involved, I think
it will be a lasting program and many people will benefit.”
Madeleine Mujinga, a university student and member of New Apostolic
Church, said she is especially thankful to the donors who are making
this event possible.
Christian and Muslim volunteers are finding unity in this battle to
eliminate malaria.
“The people who are benefiting from these mosquito nets are also from
different faiths,” she said. “I am grateful to the donors, they have
done something good. They have given to those who are unable to get
mosquito nets, so I would say thank you to them many times.”
Faray, who is a teacher, said he will talk to his students about the
project. “I will teach my students that whether you are Christian or
Muslim, you have to be united and work together.”
Side by side
Partnerships are critical, religious leaders said.
“We want to work directly with the inhabitants of the community working
through churches and mosques, also working with the government,” said
the Rev. Bertin Subi, an Episcopal pastor and president of the religious
alliance battling malaria.
“This net distribution really demonstrates the value and power of
partnership,” said Henderson. “By working together, these religious and
governmental agencies are able to do more than any one of them could do
individually.”
Education goes hand in hand with distributing the nets.
“Before when someone had a real serious case of malaria, especially a
child, or if a child died from a serious case of malaria, a lot of
people attributed that to witchcraft or sorcery,” he said. “But now
after our training, and after distributing the nets, they are beginning
to see it is preventable.”
Faith in action
The United Methodist delegation to Lubumbashi includes three bishops
from the United States as well as bishops from the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. Executives from United Methodist Communications and the
United Methodist Committee on Relief are also part of the delegation.
“I am able to recognize the spiritual value I can sense in each member
of CORESA (the coalition) toward this fight against malaria and also
toward their contribution in the alliance,” Subi said.
Dorcas Kongolo, a volunteer from the Salvation Army, sees this project
as the work of God.
“This malaria comes in a moment. Too many people suffer. I am doing this
work as a woman of faith.”
*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Kathy Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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