World Malaria Day

My apologies to posting this blog a few days late, but better now than never:

This morning I was checking Twitter, it’s only been a few months since I started using Twitter but I love it. I follow some of my favorite News sources, fellow travelers, photographers, non-profit organizations, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), a few athletes (yes Apolo), a few celebrities (Jamie Oliver and Ellen) and even a girl who is a traveling stripper.

I noticed today a lot of my NGOs and news sources were talking about Malaria, and then I remembered today was World Malaria Day.  Two days ago GOOD magazine posted this video on their Facebook page. It created a bit of controversy. As you see it is in fact a “fake” news story, about an outbreak of Malaria reaching a town in California. There were some readers that were absolutely appalled at the fact that GOOD would resort to “scare tactics”, some thought that GOOD would have done a better job by showing real footage of real people suffering from Malaria.

I personally thought it was an excellent video driving home the fact that if Malaria was killing 3,000 American children a day like it does in Africa, we as Americans would be doing something about it.

I also feel that if GOOD had gone the way of showing the true faces of malaria of African children and Haitian children dying, most Americans would be immune to just another video showing the effects of the poor, sick and suffering in a country very far away from the world they live in. If one American child was dying EVERY 30 SECONDS (like it is in Africa) from Malaria there would be a DEMAND to eradicate or at least find ways to prevent Malaria.

While organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation are working towards a Malaria vaccine, there are many organizations who are handling the immediate need of providing bed nets to those who live in Malaria stricken countries. Sweet Sleep provides bed nets to every child they give a bed to, bed nets cost $10.00.

Last summer Sweet Sleep gave beds and nets to the Greater Life Orphanage, while we were there in December, they mentioned that the number of Malaria outbreaks had dropped tremendously.  Just $10 can save a child’s life, a $10 bed net can prevent a working adult from getting malaria, can keep them employed, can keep the economy of their country moving, forward, ten bucks that’s it?!

In December during the three weeks I was in Uganda, we developed close relationships with approximately 30 people. Thirty people who we saw more than once, knew their names, still know their names, will see when we go back to Uganda. Six of them had malaria, six of them who admitted out loud to us that they were sick with malaria while we were there. Who knows how many countless others we came in contact over those three weeks who were sick with malaria, but we didn’t know about it. 1 in 5 of the people we know had malaria while we were there. Here are some of the their stories:

Patrick is 13 years old and lives in a orphanage. The first day we met him, he was sick with malaria, with a fever, with the shakes, and lethargic. Candis the director of the orphanage was going to take him to the local clinic on her way to dropping us off at our hotel. The local clinic was jam packed and Beth a woman we were traveling with offered to pay for Patrick’s treatment at a private clinic. Patrick ended up having cerebral malaria, that could have killed him in 48 hours had he not received treatment. He spent 2 days in the hospital, had three IV drips and $11 later. Yes that’s right $11 and Patrick  was back to being a healthy 13 year old. $11 between life and death.

Godfrey the manager of the hotel we stayed in, came down with malaria while we were there, he missed 2 days of work. It was the fourth time that year he’d had an outbreak.

Sharon, Catherine and Fa Fa all girls from the same orphanage as Patrick sick with Malaria while we where there.

Rose, a woman who was our interpreter and guide to the six IDP camps we gave beds to, so sick one of the days we went to camp, we had to pull over twice so she could vomit. We had to rearrange our schedule for the next few days, so she could recover from this outbreak.

To most Americans, Malaria is a disease that happens in far off exotic countries, inflicted by a mosquito bite, so how bad can it be? Malaria kills ONE CHILD EVERY 30 SECONDS in Africa. Malaria impedes the economies of these developing countries, sick adults miss work, the economy slows, the forward moving motion of change, slows, sick children, miss school, miss opportunities to improve the living situation they are in, until a malaria vaccine comes on the market or malaria is eradicated, a $10 bed net can make the difference between life and death.

The purpose of this blog today isn’t to guilt you into buying a bed net, though if it worked sweet! The purpose of this blog today is to bring awareness to the reality of Malaria and how it effects millions of people a day and the importance of eradicating this disease sooner rather than later.

183

Five days from today I will be on a plane from San Diego to Chicago to Brussels to Africa, yes I’m going to San Diego on Saturday, 2 days before I leave for Africa….as my friend Cameron put it “think of all the miles”….he got me at “think of all the miles”. How could I not? It’s not the craziest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s probably in the top 10. Why not fly 5 hours in the opposite direction of Africa for less than 48 hours.

But today’s blog isn’t about my trip to San Diego, it’s about how Sweet Sleep still needs funding for 183 beds, in order for us to place 450 beds in Gulu this Christmas. In the past few days my heart has been warmed by a few stories:

-The two former Moldovan orphans who now live in the states and have raised over $1,000 in less than a week with the help of their schoolmates.
-Jen’s best friend’s kids sending enough money of their own for two beds.
-My dear friend Dionte, a dean at a high school in Chicago, has created a competition, the teacher who raises the most money by this Friday, has to wear an elf costume to school.
-My friend Lynda, who set a Facebook birthday goal to raise $200 for Sweet Sleep and so far has raised $220 with just three donations.

I’m always amazed by the creativity, the passion and the determination of people when they recognize a good cause and want to support it, in anyway they can and for that I’m very grateful.

I’ve known about “invisible children”, “night commuters” and “child soldiers” for the past few years, whether it’s articles in papers, reading the back of books, or watching a show on Oprah. However, it wasn’t until this past winter, that I got a really good look at what these children in Uganda, Sudan and the Congo have experienced. I went to a viewing of a documentary by Invisible Children (www.invisiblechildren.com) they hosted in Nashville and then participated in “The Rescue” in April. This summer I read “Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Baeh a former child soldier from Sierra Leone. Yesterday, I finished Aboke Girls, a true story based on the abduction of 139 girls from a Catholic school in Uganda in 1996. Sister Rachel followed right after the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) rebels and negotiated the immediate release of 110 of the girls, the rebels insisted on keeping 29 of them.

As I’m reading this book, I continuously have to tell myself this story is real, these children have endured, participated and witnessed atrocities that we can not begin to imagine. Thousands of Chidlren in the past 2 decades taken from their homes at ages as young as 5 or 6, forced to march through the jungle, desert, carrying heavy artillery, water, food, etc. Beaten and broken down in order to succumb to the demands and orders of the “commanders”, commanders themselves children who have taken on this role as a way to survive. Storming villages to rob for food, guns, and abduct more children to continue to build this military faction Joseph Kony has created in his sick and twisted mind. Being forced to maim and murder their own families, strangers and/or fellow child soldiers or be killed. I will spare you the in-depth details, it makes me physically sick to my stomach.

This entry could spin out of control, because what has happened over the past 2 decades in Northern Uganda is complicated and messy. The psychological effects these children have endured are enormous and repatriating them back to their world is a huge task. But what I keep reminding myself is we aren’t going to Gulu to solve all the problems, but we are going to solve one problem for 450 of those kids this trip. We are going to give them a place to sleep, to rest their weary bodies and minds from years of trauma. Where they can start to recover, move forward, go to school, be reunited with their families after enduring so much in their short young lives.


How can you help us be a part of this solution? Tell your friends, your family, your boss about your friend April who won’t SHUT UP about her trip to Uganda and if Sweet Sleep would just reach their goal, she’d get to telling the good stories.

A complete bed: mattress, linens and treated mosquito net costs $88.00. If $88.00 is out of your price range this Christmas, what about $50, $30, or even $8.

• Malaria kills more people in Uganda than HIV/AIDS. Treated nets are $8 each.
• Mattresses for 183 children so they will be able to sleep up off of the ground for the first time in their lives. Mattresses are $50.
• Can you imagine not having a blanket to warm you during these chilly nights or sheets to sleep in? 183 more children still need to be able to be warm and snuggly. They can for just $30.

You can make a gift right now by going to www.sweetsleep.org/donate or you can send your contributions to Sweet Sleep, 308 Timmons St, Nashville, TN 37211with “AJG 1209” in the special comments box online or in the memo line of your check. All gifts are 100% tax-deductible. If you still need a great idea for a Christmas gift, you can even make this a donation in honor or memory of someone and they’ll receive a card from Sweet Sleep telling about their special gift. You can read more about this at www.sweetsleep.org/givethegift.

You can also continue to follow along on my blog at www.gulleysadventures.blogspot.com

Blessings to you all for your continued support, prayers and love.

Big Hugs and lots of kisses,

April

Sweet Sleep Bed Installation Kampala, Uganda July 2009

It's booked Dano!!

Woohoo!! Today I booked my ticket to Uganda!! I am sooooo excited!

About 2 months ago Jen (my roommate and founder of Sweet Sleep- www.sweetsleep.org) asked if I'd like to travel to Gulu, Uganda with her. I said "Absolutely! As long as I'm not offered any work during that time". About a month later I was offered work and I told Jen I would have to take the work over the trip to Gulu.

Two weeks ago, the client I would be working with mentioned the program was going to be pushed back a couple more weeks. As she was telling me this, I decided if the program was a complete cancel, it was a sign that I was to go to Uganda with Jen. Last week, I received the email that the program was pushed back further and they would not need my services for the pre-planning portion of the program. While, I was sad to lose the income, I almost bounded out of my seat, because I knew I was supposed to go to Uganda with Jen.

I sent Jen an email and said "hey I'm going to Uganda with you!" I then sent her an itinerary, telling her that if I was flying all the way to Africa I was flying on my preferred airline, which is American. Though we leave the states on separate flights, we actually meet up in Brussels, so we'll fly from Brussels to Entebbe, Uganda together. We both get our miles on our preferred airlines, it all works out!

We are going to be doing some really important work during our 3 week trip. Our current mission is to give over 400 beds/mosquito nets to the children of Gulu. As well as partnering with a couple of different organizations to determine how else Sweet Sleep can provide beds to more children in Gulu for their upcoming 2010 mission trips.

I of course will have camera in hand capturing every moment I can. I also have decided to take over with us a few donated point and shoot cameras to allow the children to shoot with, I'm very interested to see what transpires from this experiment.

Many of you know I do not want children, I've said that for decades....however, there's always been one caveat. I'd consider adopting a kid from a foreign country, I wanted to do it before Angelina and Madonna made it popular. I'm already fighting off the urge to bring a whole brood home with me....keep reminding me about how much my life would change would ya!!?!
I can't wait to hug on these kids. I know I am going to be forever changed after this trip, I can already feel it.