Here in Burkina Faso, Peace Corps has named April Malaria Month and is dedicating the month to combating the disease with even more vim and vigor than usual.
Malaria is a disease that effects everyone in Burkina. In my village, 48% of the CSPS visits were to treat malaria. As I put an extra effort into malaria education this month, it astounds me how much people just accept malaria as a fact of life. Even when ways exist to prevent/decrease their chance of getting the disease, I find that people feel like they are going to get it no matter what they do so they don't put the effort into prevention.
So this month, my goal is to instill in my village a sense of power over this illness. I hope I can at least convince a few people that their prevention efforts DO make a difference.
I'll write more about my activities at the end of the month.
If you want more info, visit stompoutmalaria.org.
Thank you for sharing this with your friends and family. Getting around the fatalistic attitude is sometimes difficult, but I firmly believe that people understand what they can see. When they see a neighbor whose household hasn't had malaria this season because they all used their be nets, it makes an impression. You only need to find one positive deviant to start the ball rolling.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your service,
Matt McLaughlin
Program Manager
Peace Corps
Stomping Out Malaria in Africa