Bed bugs and Malari

We’re about 75% done with the bed bug project in the southern village of the orphanage (20 houses). I have a group of five dedicated boys who wake up early each morning to help me with the spraying and caulking of the houses. Most of them are in the English class that I teach, so we use the time working together to practice their English and my Creole. The work we’re doing is not easy but we keep it interesting by exchanging jokes and proverbs all day to help pass the time. I like to surprise them with ice cold Cokes and snacks on the long days. Once we finish with the bed bugs, I’d like to get started with the malaria prevention program, getting screens put up around the houses, bringing in the treated bed sheets and putting up the rock buffers around the children’s homes. The total cost of implementing the program will run about $350/house. We’ve got a total of 35 houses to fix up with two houses sponsored so far. Please let me know if you’d like to sponsor a home.

Malaria is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. In areas of high malaria transmission, such as Haiti, the population develops partial immunity to the parasite. However, children remain most at risk for malaria because they have not yet developed immunity, which happens over time from repeated bites from infected mosquitoes. Many children in malaria-endemic countries such as Haiti are anemic, with a low level of red blood cells. An anemic child is more at risk for malaria and for developing severe anemia. Malaria destroys red blood cells, leaving an already anemic child with little, if any, resources to fight the disease.

Forty-one percent of the world's population live in areas where malaria is transmitted (e.g., parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, Hispaniola, and Oceania). Each year 350–500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, and over one million people die, most of them young children. In 2002, malaria was the fourth cause of death in children in developing countries, after perinatal conditions (conditions occurring around the time of birth), lower respiratory infections (pneumonias), and diarrheal diseases. Malaria caused 10.7% of all children's deaths in developing countries.