Tony Blair Faith Foundation

As part of the World Malaria Day, I signed up to be part of the Faiths Act project of the Tony Blair Foundation to lead the campaign in my country Ghana. World Malaria Day fell on a day (Easter) that it would be difficult to get all support from all faiths, so the Christian faith fixed another date which was agreed by those of a Muslim faith. I did the community mobilization and had some community members with the interest of the Chief Imam, and the Pastor as well as the Chief of the community to hold the community durbar, where the purpose of the meeting was explained to them. The durbar brought together traditionalist, Christians, and Muslims for the community, women, men and children were all present. I had an interpreter who is a Muslim and female and can also speak the local language, since I could not speak the local language of the people; I had to use her to interpret to the people.

Questions were asked and answers were given to them.

I laid emphases on the need to come together to fight our common enemy such as poverty, preventable diseases such as Malaria.I also spoke of the need to come together as one people to achieve the MDGs 4, 5 and 6. When these goals are achieved then we can equally achieved goal 1. Since a sound health is wealth creation, they all accepted the challenge   to make sure that pregnant women and children should sleep under bednets.

The program started with an open prayer from a Muslim and ended up with a Christian prayer.

The chief and the people thanked me for coming to them with such an idea, and also asked me where to get the bednets, which I directed them to the Health institutions, and also informed the health authority.

Andrew Seglah Andrew held a Faiths Act for World Malaria day event in the upper west region of Ghana, 4th May 2011 at 9am