Malaria

Tomorrow (April 25) is World Malaria Day. Normally this wouldn't have meant much to me - if you're signed up to as many mailing lists as I am you start to realise that every day is the World Day of something or other - but as I have just moved to a country where malaria is a serious risk, I have started to see it quite differently.

Last week a colleague of ours passed away quite suddenly. He had come to Dublin in February to participate in the Dublin Platform, a conference run by Front Line every two years which brings together over 100 human rights defenders from around the world. G was from Burundi and was a brave, articulate activist working on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights - not at all an easy thing to be in Burundi or indeed in Africa. He set up and ran Burundi's only LGBT organisation and was also worked against AIDS/HIV, that African scourge. He was funny and mischievous, so he stood out amongst the many participants and I have good memories of him (including one slightly scandalous anecdote that I won't repeat here!). He was a young man, and last week he died of malaria, a treatable, preventable disease. Needless to say I was completely thrown on hearing the news.

Only a few days later, one of my colleagues started feeling unwell while we were in Mbale - a terrible headache, nausea, stiffness, fever, weak. The poor thing was a little scared and emotional, not knowing what was wrong with her and being so far away from home, facing a long, stressful journey by bus back to Kampala - and on top of all of that, she had to look after a rather green Irish girl on the trip! It turns out she too has malaria, and is convinced that she contracted it by sleeping without a mosquito net for one night while away on a previous training workshop.

Both of these incidents brought home to me the imminent and serious danger of malaria out here. I've been eaten alive by the mozzies once or twice already (we have a love/hate relationship: I hate them venomously, they love me unconditionally) and since these incidents have been hastily swallowing anti-malarials and obsessively tucking and re-tucking my mosquito net in at night. But not everyone can afford malarials or take them on a permanent basis, and there are plenty of people - including Joan, who I mentioned here previously - who cannot afford nets or repellent, even for their children.

Project Blackout are running a campaign this weekend asking you to change your Facebook profile photo to a black square to mark World Malaria Day tomorrow. Its only a small gesture but it doesn't cost anything or take up much time. You can access the Facebook page here or else copy the picture above.