*Guest blog by Chris Hilton, Canadian Red Cross
Today is World Malaria Day, an opportunity to highlight the amazing progress that has been made toward the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, which include the target to reduce preventable deaths of children under five, improve maternal health, and combat the spread of malaria.
Chris Hilton, Senior Manager of Government Relations for the Canadian Red Cross recently returned from a Red Cross net distribution campaign in Liberia - an example of the type of work that is underway to fight malaria and promote mother and child health.
Here is a short account of his experience:
I laughed when I was handed a personal headlamp before embarking on my first trip to West Africa. I did not actually think it would be needed – nor was I prepared to accept the real darkness that accompanies a village with no power. For someone who has had electricity at his finger tips his whole life – to suddenly have it removed is somewhat shocking. But this is what happened when the 2 hours of generator time provided by the “hotel” I was staying at ended my first night in Zwedro, Liberia.
The lack of power and utter darkness, to which I am not accustomed, did allow me the perfect situation to reflect on the first day of the malaria net distribution I was in Liberia to witness. It afforded me a few uninterrupted moments to think about my understanding of the Red Cross and how it had changed in a fundamental way.
The local Red Cross in Zwedro had just embarked on a 15 day campaign to distribute bed nets to remote communities in hope of combating malaria. The Red Cross volunteers – like their Red Cross cousins in Canada – understood the importance of the job they were doing. They volunteered to help provide for their local communities, they talked about the importance of helping the most vulnerable and for the need to be universal in the distribution of the nets.
What struck me however was that these people – the very volunteers with the Liberian Red Cross – were part of those most in need. They live in poverty that I struggle to explain in terms the average Canadian understands. They give their time and support in the face of a daunting and seemingly never ending fight against a deadly disease. When they rightly could be asking for help – they instead are the ones who are providing it.
Sitting in my room in the total darkness I realised that for me the Red Cross was no longer abstract – it is not just a set of principles. It is working with people and communities in simple ways to make often dark and dire situations a little brighter.
Click here for more information on our Africa malaria program.