Malaria Bites, Bite Back

On Monday, April 26, over 25 individuals of different faiths came together at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom to recognize World Malaria Day and learn more about this devastating disease. At left, Organizers, volunteers and attendees stand with key speaker Melissa Muduuli (fifth from left) in front of a bed net onto which attendees were invited to buy and pin decorated mosquitoes. Over $450 were raised.

The evening featured the Montreal premiere of When the Night Comes followed by a moving talk by Melissa Muduuli, consultant with the United Nations Association of Canada. Moved by the documentary, Ms. Muduuli decided to spontaneously abandon her prepared talk and instead spoke about her own experiences with malaria growing up in Uganda.

The subsequent talk by Ms. Muduuli clearly moved everyone in attendance, as from her heart she tried to share with the group the devastating affects malaria continues to have on her native country and on her personally. Poignant amid Muduuli's narrative was her sadness and frustration at the recent death of a cousin. Calling her family at Christmas a few years ago, she was surprised to hear crying in the background instead of the expected celebration. Pushing her sister to explain, she learned that the family was instead in mourning for her uncle’s son. At the time, her sister was so upset she would say nothing else about the sudden death of the healthy sixteen year old. Later, Melissa managed to learn from her father what had happened. While away at boarding school, the young man had contracted a severe case of malaria. Sent to a nearby clinic, he was promptly given the necessary drugs, in generous quantities, a benefit Melissa acknowledged many in Uganda cannot afford. Despite the administering of the drugs, the young man died because no one saw to it that he was kept hydrated. Something at once simple, yet invaluable for a body fighting malaria and dealing with very harsh drugs. The family was of course devastated by the death, and frustrated that it could have easily been prevented had the clinic staff been better equiped. The story was one devastating example of the structural changes and education necessary in order to eradicate malaria. Furthermore, Melissa hoped the story would illustrate that malaria not only affected the rural poor (as featured in the film), but also educated urbanites such as her and her family. To eradicate malaria would be to help the country as a whole.

Ms. Muduuli concluded with the observation that a man who saved a child in Canada would be described as a hero in all the papers and likely to get a medal from the Governor General. Those who buy bed nets may not get the same recognition, but they have also saved the life of a child, and are a hero. She then urged everyone to be a hero and buy a bednet, and to go home and tell someone else that for $10 they too could be a hero.

Maya Smith

Faiths Act Fellow