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Manic Mande: Malaria Mence! One story of how Peace Corps Volunteers are doing their best to Stomp Out Malaria!
March 10, 2012
By Lauren Kraft and Samantha Levin
The beginning of the hot season had descended on Mali. By the first week of March, many people were retreating to the shade of Mango trees to pass the time. But not Peace Corps volunteers who live and work along the road running south from Bamako to Kangaba! They were out in force, in partnership with African Sky, doing their best to stomp out malaria!
This fearsome gang travelled by bike and left no mosquito in peace. Cruising from the markets of Djoliba and Bancoumana to the maternity of Kangaba, the volunteers of Manic Mande bikedover seventy kilometers over four days, setting up tables at high population centers in order to educate and empower the local inhabitants. Utilizing their local language skills, they gave informative animations, conducted question/answer sessions (with sweet rewards for correct answers), cooked neem cream (an inexpensive insect repelling cream made from locally available resources) and distributed small jars of prepared cream to adults who could independently explain how it was made after the demonstration. “I was really excited by how excited some of the women we were talking to were about the cream. They were so receptive to the demonstration, it was awesome!”, Mikala Jones, a recently sworn-in volunteer and bike tour participant, told Lauren Kraft.
The table was adorned with a small microscope and blood slides for those who wished to take a closer look, banners with educational information, and a large green mosquito net hung over the area.
Over the course of five days, through the blood (slides), sweat, and tears (from cutting onions, of course), the gang became a Malaria Menace! Each day, through the teeming throngs of schoolchildren, the stars of the event emerged. The first day, right before packing up, Aramatou Djale returned to the table, where she had spent the morning observing the neem demonstration. She revealed that afterwards, she had returned home and prepared a batch herself, which she proudly presented to the volunteers. Women immediately surrounded her and asked her a series of questions of which she was more than happy to answer.
The volunteers left Djoliba to move on to the next village confident that Aramatou , and women like her, would continue to carry on the Stomp mission.
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