Nothing But Nets

Editor's Note: This blog post was co-written by Nothing But Nets team member Negin Janati and Kate Dodson, UN Foundation Director for Global Health. If you missed Part 1 of this story, read it here!

Sagude looked down to put his arm around his eight-year-old son, then looked back up to us and said "I understand you've come a long way to get here. I know you're from America, and that we have American generosity to thank for our healthy community. So I would just like to say thank you. Your support has not gone unnoticed."

At three months on the job, I’m the newest member of the Nothing But Nets team. I’m constantly inspired by my team, the rest of my UN Foundation colleagues, and the people I talk to each day who keep this campaign running: our Nothing But Nets supporters.

Whether you started sending nets after reading Rick Reilly’s Sports Illustrated column in 2006 or, like me, you’ve just come on board recently, one thing hasn’t changed -- how easy it is to help. $10 sends a net and saves a life. This means truly anyone can become a Champion in the fight against malaria -- from the kid with a lemonade stand, to the CEO who can make a 6-figure gift. Every donation counts towards our goal of covering a continent with life-saving nets. 

Editor’s Note: For the 5-year anniversary of the Nothing But Nets campaign, we’ve asked our team to look back at their favorite moments of the last five years and will post their blogs here leading up to our anniversary on November 14th. Send us your Nothing But Nets story and we might feature you too!

I’ve worked for the Nothing But Nets campaign for about two and a half years. I started my job shortly after finishing graduate school, and I felt lucky just to be employed! I quickly learned I was lucky to be part of this campaign for so many reasons. As a former Model United Nations delegate, I enjoy the opportunity to contribute to the work of the UN. I also get to work with amazing Nothing But Nets supporters who help protect children across Africa from malaria -- a cause I deeply care about.

On October 31st, the world will welcome its 7 billionth child -- the 7 billionth reason to take action in the fight against malaria. Did you know that around half the world is at risk of contracting malaria? Even though we have the tools to stop the spread of malaria, the deadly disease still kills a child in Africa every 45 seconds. 

With 7 billion people on the planet, the need to send nets and save lives has never been more pressing. Thankfully, hundreds of thousands of Nothing But Nets supporters across the U.S. and the world agree! For almost five years now, supporters, partners, and Champions have helped send life-saving bed nets to help protect million of families across Africa from malaria…and we’re not stopping until every family can sleep safely. Together -- with your help and the help of your NETworks -- we can be the generation to end malaria deaths for good. 

Will you join us? There are billions of reasons to join the movement to end malaria! 

P.S. - Just for fun, check out this great video about the world at 7 billion from our friends at National Geographic: 

For the past few days, I’ve been travelling around Ethiopia to see global health in action. Alongside Kate Dodson, the UN Foundation’s Director of Global Health, and seven congressional delegates -- leading policy staff for Congressmen representing districts across the U.S. -- I’m getting the opportunity to meet with the doctors and officials who plan and distribute life-saving health interventions like vaccines and bed nets, and to sit with the mothers and infants who live longer, healthier lives because of these tools.

This week, Nothing But Nets traveled to one of our favorite cities: Seattle. We were part of the Malaria Forum hosted by one of our longtime partners, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which brought together global health experts from around the world. With so mandy smart and committed people together for the first time in several years, the Forum was bound to make some buzz-worthy headlines -- and it certainly did.
 
On Day 1, our partners at Roll Back Malaria released a fascinating new report on the great progress we’ve made to date. "Over the last decade, the rapid scale-up of a variety of malaria control interventions has saved an estimated 1.1 million lives in Africa alone, and reduced deaths from malaria by 38%." Additionally, Roll Back Malaria found that several nations are well on their way to being malaria-free. (Read the report here.) 

Hear from Bill & Melinda Gates on the progress the world is making in the fight against malaria in this video:

Editor's Note: The Union for Reform Judaism, a longtime Nothing But Nets partner, recently stepped up to help kick off our latest appeal for nets in the Horn of Africa. They’ve made an incredibly generous pledge of $20,000 -- that’s 2,000 life-saving nets for refugee families! Please enjoy this guest blog post from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. (Originally published here)

Today begins the holiday of Jewish holiday Sukkot, which we celebrate by building a sukkah, or temporary dwelling, that serves as a means to commemorate the Israelites' journey through the desert as they awaited entry into the Promised Land. Through the sukkah we better understand the vulnerability of living within frail walls and under a porous roof. Yet while we are able to take down these structures after seven days, many around the world involuntary live in their own "sukkot" everyday - in tented refugee camps.

Recognizing this, four years ago on Sukkot, the Reform Jewish Movement launched a partnership with the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign, with a pledge to raise $500,000 for the purchase and distribution of malaria-preventing bed nets. Bed nets are a simple, life-saving solution that can curb the spread of malaria by up to 90 percent. A net costs just $10 to purchase, deliver, and educate the recipient on its proper use. Through this campaign, we're reversing the trends of global poverty, one net at a time, one family at a time.

Today, I’m on my way to the Horn of Africa. Over the past few months, it seems all eyes have turned toward this region, where the worst drought in decades has led to widespread famine -- forcing hundreds of thousands of families to leave their homes and move into refugee camps for basic necessities like food, water, and shelter.

Yet there is one more thing these families need: bed nets. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has asked Nothing But Nets to help send 150,000 life-saving nets to the refugees in the Horn of Africa as quickly as possible. Paul Spiegel, Chief of Public Health at UNHCR, told us: "Malaria is a leading cause of death among refugees. In addition to food and water, we need bed nets to keep these families safe."

Refugee camps are crowded and typically located on swampy plots of land, creating an environment where malaria-carrying mosquitoes multiply quickly and easily spread the disease between people -- but access to insecticide-treated bed nets can help curb the spread of malaria by up to 90 percent.