Happy Independence Day!

Hope you are all enjoying the summer festivities; BBQs, fireworks, lightning bugs, watermelon, and being around friends and family! We had a party of our own this afternoon with American food and a baby pool at our boss' home. It was so nice to still get to celebrate the 4th despite being an ocean away!

The past few days, we've had an All-Volunteer conference where we were able to share project ideas, new PC administration rules, and talk about our experiences thus far as PC volunteers in the Gambia.

One initiative that we, as a whole, are working on is a Malaria Bed-Net Campaign. While I was living in the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I remember being frustrated at mosquito net distribution efforts because (a) they distributed them in the city, where people have more access to resources and disposible income, (b) they would distribute them with no education, and (c) donors thought that if everyone had a mosquito net, malaria wouldn't exist. This was very frustrating.

Now, I am living in a rural area of West Africa where people cannot afford bednets, they can't even buy them within a 5 hour radius. Although people are aware of malaria and the risks involved to some extent, more education is definetly needed. Medical services are scarce in rural areas and local medicines can only go so far in prevention and treatment of Malaria.

I'm not a big fan of fundraising and asking people for money, but supporting bed net distribution and sensitization is something that you can help with from home. Against Malaria is working with current and past PCVs in The Gambia to, hopefully, bring a whole container of low-cost, insecticide treated nets here for distribution. We will be helping with education and sensitization along with the distribution of nets. Also, a generous donor has agreed to match our donations dollar for dollar. Each net costs less than $5, so with the match, $5 can buy 2 nets. Epidemiological studies have suggested that for every 20 bednets used 1 life is saved.

You can donate at http://www.AgainstMalaria.com/maggierudick . Thanks for your help!