VeraWorks' is proud to donate administrative, in kind and monetary resources to support young entrepreneurs trying to improve the well-being of disadvantaged people in Latin America. To accomplish this, VeraWorks works closely with the Zero Poverty for Latin America Foundation. Learn, below, about the impressive efforts of Christina Parel that VeraWorks supports.
Make tax-deductible contributions for mosquito nets in Guyana:
Background on Christina's Story
Guyana Is a Rainforest Battleground
Guyana is in northern South America. It is 83,000 square miles, about the size of Kansas. Bordered by Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname, Guyana has a population of approximately 770,000. The country boasts an extremely diverse population. The origins of its four largest ethnic groups are India (43.5%), Africa (30.2%), mixed (16.7%), and Amerindians (9.2%). It also boasts in the interior huge tracts of pristine rainforest about the size of England that are part of the Amazon basin. This is where the Amerindians live in vibrant but poor communities. In 2005 Guyana reported 39,978 cases of malaria—that's about 5% of the population (!). Almost all of these cases were in the interior. The Amerindian communities are especially hard hit.
Malaria—a Worldwide Killer
Every year more than a million people are killed by malaria worldwide. The majority of those who die are children --approximately 3,000 children die a day from malaria. That's about one death every 48 seconds, the time it will take you to read my appeal. Malaria is especially severe among the poorest because they are often malnourished, live in and around mosquito breeding grounds and can"t get medical attention. Malaria is a huge problem in the forested interior of Guyana.
One Simple Solution—the Mosquito Net
Malaria is a mosquito borne disease. Malaria mosquitoes attack primarily at night, therefore insecticide-treated bed nets are extremely effective in the prevention of malaria and a pillar of any prevention campaign. These mosquito nets can cut malaria by 50 percent or more at only US $7 per net. Because the mosquito nets are relatively inexpensive they are very effective in areas where spraying, drainage or malaria drugs are either too expensive or inaccessible.
Christina's Story
Hi, and thanks for reading my story. Every year adults and children in Amerindian communities in Guyana are afflicted with malaria. I was privileged to spend time with some of these wonderful people last summer. I researched the problem and it's very serious but there is one way we can help—providing insecticide-treated mosquito nets. It's easy and cheap and really works…so I thought you might want to help too.
The Trip
In June and July of 2007, I had the privilege of living in an Amerindian village in the Amazon rainforest in Guyana. I volunteered to teach in a primary school there. My experience was at first overwhelming - I was 16 and had just finished my sophomore year in high school. Also, I thought I had volunteered to be a teacher's assistant, but in a one-room school with some 70 students from grades 1-9 and only 3 teachers, a "teacher's assistant" means a "teacher". I arrived at the school for my first day of volunteering and was entrusted with not one class, but two. Each class numbered abouttwelve students. One class consisted of 6 and 7 year olds and the other of eight year olds.
The Children
I adored them. I"ve never been around young children and wasn"t sure what to expect. But these kids were incredibly respectful, incredibly good and they welcomed me into their lives. They were so like American children and yet so, so different. They loved sports and especially soccer and like kids everywhere much preferred recess to class. There were also the common class stereotypes -- the brain, class clown, the athlete. The boys and girls played soccer together, sprinting tirelessly up and down the big pasture that doubled as a soccer field. Having played travel soccer, I"m sure I could have put together a couple of championship teams. Yet these kids were also so different. Coming from poor, rural families they had so little and they treasured the pens, pencils, and erasers I brought them like an American would care for an ipod or a cell phone. Most lived in one or two room homes with thatch or tin roofs, no books, no electricity and outdoor plumbing. So their life was tough. Teaching them was a real challenge for me and I"m sure they taught me much more than I taught them. But loving them was easy and they reciprocated by being near all the time and trying so hard and drawing me wonderful pictures whenever there was a break from the lessons.
The Village
The village itself was beautiful, located in a savannah surrounded by rainforest, where jaguars and anteaters lived. But this also meant the community was very susceptible to malaria. In the village, I met adults who had suffered malaria attacks over a dozen times and they were not so old. To my students the threat of malaria, of being sick and even losing a family member, was a part of life – an unavoidable threat. People suffer from malaria, but people suffer from other things too. The difference perhaps is that until now they have lacked the tools and resources to combat malaria.
Coming Back
I returned to Northern Virginia to start my junior year in high school but my thoughts were often with the children in the jungle. I hoped that I would never return to the village to learn that my students had suffered malaria a dozen times or lost friends or siblings to the disease. I could not stand that thought so I have chosen to help as best as I can. I was excited to discover that insecticide-treated bed nets are an effective and inexpensive way to protect people at night when the mosquitoes are active and most of the transmission occurs. I also found out that there are several organizations working to distribute bed nets to malaria ridden countries. And there are many people organizing fundraisers to support them. I was inspired and ready to join them. Unfortunately, my students live in a small village in a small country that few people can find on the map and they are not on anyone's priority list. But they can"t afford to wait. And I could not wait either.
The Best Solution— Help from Friends
With my parents" help, we contacted Pro Natura, a UK based non-profit with long experience in Guyana. Pro Natura was setting up a cottage industry near the village to produce treated nets. Not only will this combat malaria it also creates much needed jobs and solves logistical problems. So with Pro Natura's help and your help this is how we"ll help the village combat malaria.
I"m just beginning this project and I already have a lot of people to thank. Thanks Mom and Dad for your encouragement and support. Thanks Dr. Norma Bubier of Pro Natura for your help with the nets. Thanks Professor Roy Ventullo, a frequent visitor to the village, for offering to fundraise for this effort. Thanks Bea Bocalandro for the website and for adopting us as a project of Zero Poverty for Latin America. Thanks to Dana Theus for designing our brochure. And special thanks to my students and their families for your inspiration….
…And a big thanks to each of you for your help! I know you will donate what you can. Please know that 100% of your of you tax-free contribution will go to providing bed nets. Each $7 will provide one insecticide-treated bed net, under which up to 3 people can sleep safely protected from malaria.
Please help.
Sincerely,
Christina Parel
The Zero Poverty for Latin America Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation and contributions to it are tax deductible, as specified by law.