04.25.05

africa malaria day–updated

Posted in life at 10:55 am by

Today, Monday, April 25th is the fifth annual Africa Malaria Day. Malaria claims 1.1 million lives worldwide, over 80% of those lives in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of those deaths are children. For those of you not inclined to do the math, that works out to mortality rates of approx.:

2411 deaths per day
100 deaths per hour
1.67 deaths per minute

All in sub-Saharan Africa alone.

I don’t care what your political, religious, or any other sort of persuasion is; that’s wrong. I also don’t care what the characteristics of your solution is–personal or governmental–because, frankly, both are needed.

The only thing there’s not time for is caution or patience. Because every minute of caution, a person dies. There are a host of GOOD and ethical foundations out there. The time to act is NOW. Find an organization that you can get behind and start helping.

For more information on Africa Malaria Day check out these great posts and groups:

Under the Acacias (a series)
From the Salmon (a series, as well)
ONE (an organization)
The Gutless Pacifist
The Big Lowitzki
Prone to Wander
World Wide Wanderer
Two and Two makes Five

And, that’s just a beginning. You can raise awareness, too. Do some research, get informed. But most importantly, get active. Do something. Write about poverty. You have the luxury of time, but the 30 or so people in sub-Saharan Africa who died of Malaria while I wrote this post do not.

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