Urgent Plea for donations towards Malaria Nets in Zambia

For every mosquito net donated to Against Malaria, Baraka will match it!

Hello All,

Incessant rains in the Chikumbi region of Zambia have provided the perfect breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and donations for malaria nets are urgently needed. One malaria net costs only £2.50, and we are hoping to secure enough donations to blanket-cover the whole region, an effort that has been helped by the Against Malaria Foundation, who have kindly offered to match every net donated through Baraka Community Partnership.

Where is Chikumbi?

Chikumbi is a rural district of 11,700 people in 13 villages located 30 km north of Lusaka, Zambia’s capital. Baraka knows the area well as we have carried out Community development here for two years. Malaria is a huge problem in the area: 90% of the population are affected in some form. Until our project began in January 2010, the district had received virtually no anti-malaria support and has little access to treatment or drugs.

Our Goal for Chikumbi

We are going to drastically reduce malaria here by covering every sleeping space with a net. Similar action in other communities has had a dramatic effect: by effectively starving the mosquitoes of a blood meal, the malaria-carrying mosquito population is dramatically reduced or dies out. In a similar project in Uganda (9 villages), 357 monthly cases of malaria was reduced to 7, a 98% reduction!

We need your help urgently as we are planning our next trip to Zambia soon. We have successfully distributed nets in one village, but we need to broaden our exposure to other villages.

Statistically speaking, it takes only £12.50 to save a life being taken by malaria- do you have this?

Please visit http://www.againstmalaria.com/Fundraiser.aspx?FundraiserID=5457 to make your donations.

Many thanks for your time and generosity,

The Baraka Team

Baraka Community Partnerships February/March Update

Baraka has had a busy couple of months, with lots to update you on since our last post!

First and foremost we are delighted to announce that Exodus have decided to officially launch our projects in Chikumbi and Chawama in Zambia as part of their Responsible Tourism Holidays- check us out at: http://www.exodus.co.uk/responsible-travel/our-projects/zambia-project.

The partnership will help increase awareness about our work and hopefully generate further interest for future volunteers and donations; something that we have already witnessed in Morocco after that project was launched with Exodus.

Zambia

This month saw the completion of the much-needed Borehole in Katuba, signifying Baraka’s expansion into the rest of the Chikumbi region. The Borehole itself will hopefully reduce diarrhoea-related diseases in the village and lessen the burden of woman and children walking to and from other, farther, water sources. A picture of the borehole can be seen below...

In other news, school attendance in Kasalu has increased yet again, to 115 students, an impressive 10% increase since we first started there. This is a feat that was no doubt helped by the installation of school desks and cupboards that had been previously funded by Baraka, and the donation of a solar panel and convertor by Exodus, so as to offer evening education. This solar panel also provides Kelvin with the opportunity to earn extra money towards project-related expenses, through the recharging of mobile phones.

Additionally, this month hopes to see the distribution of the next round of malaria nets. The physical distribution of the nets has been aided by the training of two villagers in Malaria and health awareness. They have already started to visit with other villagers, advising them on good health practices. Within the next couple of weeks they will be visited by the district health inspector who will evaluate their work and distribute the appropriate materials to diagnose malaria.

With the help of Kelvin, we have identified several other projects that merit the help of Baraka and its donators in Chikumbi...

• an entrepreneurship training programme for girls
• a footbridge to cross the Mwembeshi stream which will aid pupils and villagers in their everyday lives. As Kelvin points out...

“When the rains are heavy school children from Kasalu village and other surrounding villages stop going to school for fear of getting drowned or washed downstream by the strong current”

• The completion of the school in Katuba
  

Morocco

Next month will see Baraka’s first sold-out volunteer trip with Exodus, bringing £750 to the project in Morocco immediately, with possibly more for the long-run.

One of the operations that we will be doing out there is a medical clinic for the village for both treatment and education, which will be run by one of our board members, Liz Varughese, with the help of three nurses who are volunteers from the Exodus group. It will be the first time anything like this has been done in Tijhza, and we hope to identify some long and short run projects to help with healthcare in the village.

In other news, the village will finally see the building of the new water tower which is due for completion by the summer. It will help the village during the hot summer months when there is often a shortage of water. Also, the football goals which were contributed by Baraka have been installed on the village pitch.

Baraka have identified several other initiatives to help the Tijhza village, among these include tree planting, a pre-school, child/woman’s club and bee keeping.

For more information about Baraka Community Partnerships and volunteering opportunities please visit our website: http://www.barakacommunity.com/