Preview: World Malaria Day

World Malaria Day blog

   There are now approximately seven weeks left before the 2010 World Malaria Day celebrations. A lot can happen in seven weeks. For instance, the training for this fellowship lasted seven weeks. In that time, we moved across three continents, clocked hundreds of hours in valuable training time and laid out plans for an entire year's worth of work.

   Seven weeks from now, Faiths Act Montreal intends to raise the profile of multifaith collaboration in this city. Things are kicking off on Sunday, April 25th, World Malaria Day, with a soccer tournament being hosted by The Human Promise, a local human rights organization made up of high school students and early college students. These young people, over the past few years, have raised thousands of dollars to support sustainable development initiatives in the Sudan, the DRC, etc. This April, they'll work to fight malaria. The tournament will bring together diverse youth from around the city in a spirit of cooperation to do their part in putting an end to malaria.

   For those who might be a little stiffer in the joints (myself included!) we're organizing a film screening the following day, Monday, April 26th. This will be a fundraising evening. At the moment, we intend to show the film "When the Night Comes", a documentary about the plague of malaria. Time and location TBD.

   That whole week the Canadian Faiths Act group is running a larger campaign in which faith communities from across the country will pledge their support in the eradication of malaria. In their congregations, they will pledge to raise a certain amount of money in support of the purchase of insecticide-treated bed nets.

   The next seven weeks leading up to World Malaria Day will be an intense time of preparation and planning, but imagine how much will be achieved in the seven days that follow. Imagine how much we can do with seven other fellows in Canada.

World Malaria Day - April 25th, 2010 - Come join us!

Nick Pang
~ Faiths Act Fellow