2.  Buyaya is a small rural parish in Eastern Uganda  Population of about 1,000  Mass illiteracy, poverty, HIV, malaria…  Malaria accounts for about half of all deaths in Buyaya.

4.  The Malaria Operation is an initiative of Meaningful Volunteer  Meaningful Volunteer is a New Zealand based 100% non-profit organisation  It has programs in Uganda and the Philippines  www.meaningfulvolunteer.org

5. Scarlet NabwireMary WenyisaOther Volunteers  Scarlet is the district manger for the region  Mary is the housemaid and cook

7.  I will receive full training upon arrival in Uganda

8.  Few villagers have phones (or email!), so a lot walking around needs to be done to organise a meeting  Each community meeting will have about 20 participants

9.  A series of lessons on malaria is given  All lessons are designed to be visual and interactive to account for the mass levels of illiteracy.

10.  Food is provided  You can’t learn on an empty stomach!

11.  Nets are taken to the homes and set up  GPS and Demographic information is recorded

12.  Information is recorded in a database via www.meaningfulvolunteer.org

13.  A follow up visit is arranged about a month or so after the net is received  A study conducted in Sierra Leone and Togo showed a 22 percent increase in net utilization after a follow up visit

14.  I need as many nets as I can get  A recent study concluded that for every 1,000 children protected by mosquito nets, 5.5 lives would be saved each year.  So, if we get just 180 nets, we can save a life every year!  $US 4 will buy one net

16.  About 3.3 billion people - half of the world's population - are at risk of malaria.  Every year, this leads to about 250 million malaria cases and nearly one million deaths.  One in five (20%) of all childhood deaths in Africa are due to malaria.  Every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa

17.  Long-lasting insecticidal nets can be used to provide protection to risk groups, especially young children and pregnant women in high transmission areas. The nets are effective for a number of years (3 to 5 years, depending on models and conditions of use).

18.  Pregnant women are at high risk not only of dying from the complications of severe malaria, but also spontaneous abortion, premature delivery or stillbirth.