With a new insecticide-treated net, Aisatou and her son (above) will be protected from mosquitoes while they sleep.

FATICK, Senegal – For Aisatou, life in a rural Senegalese village is dangerous. Like the rest of her poor neighbors, her hut home, with its cloth walls and a stick and mud roof, provides little protection from the malaria-carrying mosquitoes prevalent in the area.

With constant exposure, Aisatou has gotten malaria before. She’s a survivor. But another bout with the disease could prove fatal for both Aisatou and her 4-year-old son Ibraima.

There is no hospital nearby in Aisatou’s village of Fatick. There are no prevention services available and only a small health center to handle any sickness.

Now, the 28-year-old mother is expecting another child, making her more vulnerable than ever. Ninety percent of malaria-related deaths in Africa occur in pregnant woman and children under five.

Operation Blessing purchased and distributed nearly 3,000 nets in the rural village of Fatick which will help protect about 5,000 villagers.

Operation Blessing recently helped young Aisatou and others in her village to avoid getting bit or infected again. In cooperation with the Government of Senegal and local churches, OBI purchased and distributed nearly 3,000 nets treated with insecticide, a simple but powerful barrier from the deadly mosquitoes.

Over the course of three days in August, church volunteers distributed nets and provided malaria prevention education. The distribution targeted the most vulnerable populations, according to the World Health Organization: pregnant women and children under age 5, like Aisatou and Ibraima.

Including secondary beneficiaries, who will share nets with the recipients, nearly 5,000 villagers will now sleep under the protection of these nets.

The efforts of OBI and many other organizations have dramatically decreased the malaria-infected population. According to the National Program for Fight against Malaria, there’s been a decrease in malaria cases in Senegal from 1.5 million in 2006 to 275,000 in 2008.

To help this trend continue, OB plans to organize at least two campaigns a year to distribute mosquito nets throughout the country.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Be a part of OBI's ongoing medical relief efforts by making an online contribution to help those suffering from extreme poverty and sickness.

 

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