Post by Serinda Swan, Actress and Founding Ambassador of Friends To Mankind
It’s extremely hot. Our plane has just landed in the Kakuma refugee camp on the South Sudanese border. I am traveling with the UN Foundation, Nothing But Nets and a group of amazing people, to bring awareness to the severe issue of malaria in this part of the world. Continue reading
Post by Audra Gott, MA, OTR
After surviving war, violence, tribal conflict, famine, loss of a child/sibling, etc…these mothers and children have come this far only to die from one small mosquito bite.
Post by Tim Gray, Editor-in-Chief of Variety, Inc.
When I told an American friend I was going to Kenya to help distribute anti-malaria nets, he said “Malaria?! Nobody gets malaria any more, do they?” Well, not much in America, but in Africa, a child dies each minute from the disease. That’s one of the facts I learned on our trip to the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya.
I have been out of Kakuma for over two days now, but what I witnessed will be seared into my mind for years to come. I saw a whirlwind of emotions during my two days at the refugee camp…heartache, pain, suffering, gratitude and loss. This is a place where less than 35% of children go to school, women sell sex for $1 to purchase body lotion, malaria is rampant and refugees trade their minimal food rations for other necessities like clothes, firewood and water containers. There is not enough clean water for the camp so water pumps are shut off except for two hours in the morning and afternoon.