Saving Lives: How it happens, from start to finish – posted on 8/22/07
How does Nothing But Nets actually save lives? In the case of Chad, it began with you four weeks ago.
We asked you to raise $400,000 to help send nets to 200,000 uncovered people in Chad. You did it quicker than we could even have hoped. As the money came in, we started buying and shipping nets—Long Lasting Insecticide Impregnated Nets (LLINs)—from warehouses in Africa, Europe and Asia, to ship through Africa to Chad. This is not an easy act—40,000 nets weigh close to 20,000 lbs. Transporting the nets means navigating pothole ridden dirt roads across huge distances –like traveling from Washington DC to Denver—at a speed of about 25 mph. In other words, it takes weeks, not days.
By next week we’re hoping that half of the nets purchased will be in the capital, N’Djaména. But while the nets are traveling, we’re simultaneously setting up local distribution, getting aid workers to local villages to help hand out the nets and educate people about how to use them properly. I’m happy to report that we’ve gone through this part of the process as efficiently as I’ve seen in my career.
Saving lives is our motivation, but success is what keeps driving us forward. Support from a bake sale in the Blue Ridge Mountains is going to save a family in the arid pointed foothills of Abeche, Chad. And this is what makes Nothing But Nets unique—allowing anyone from around the world to save the life of someone in need.
As we hand out nets over the coming weeks, I look forward to tracking and reporting on their progress.
– Kevin Starace, Childrens Health Officer, United Nations Foundation
An Overview of the Crisis – posted on 7/16/07
Chad—a landlocked nation in north-central Africa—is sometimes referred to as “the dead heart of Africa.” Rated by the United Nations as the fifth poorest nation in the world, the vast majority of the Chadians rely on raising livestock and subsistence farming, and four in five live below the poverty level. But recently, their situation has become more dire—as the fighting in Darfur has spilled into their homes. Armed movements, including fighting spreading from the Darfur region of Sudan (neighboring Chad to the East), have forced over 200,000 Chadians from their homes in recent months, and send them flooding into refugee camps on the Chad-Sudan border, particularly around Goz Beida, a major refugee host area.
Displaced from their homes, these Chadians face a growing threat…from a tiny mosquito. In June the rainy season arrived – with malaria following right behind. As the climate gets wetter, disease transmission will rise sharply and continue on through November.
The sudden influx of Chadians into refugee camps has left tens of thousands of people highly vulnerable to malaria. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Mentor Initiative have turned to the United Nations Foundation and Nothing But Nets for help. The challenge is urgent—without outside assistance, officials estimate 25% of these internally displaced people will die from malaria. To save lives, we need to send 40,000 nets in the next six weeks.
For information on the background to the crisis, and the current situation on the ground, please read The Refugee Crisis in Chad- An Urgent Appeal for Nets
Educate yourself— Read more about the situation on the ground in The Refugee Crisis in Chad- An Urgent Appeal for Nets
Tell friends, familes and coworkers about the urgent needs of for nets by starting a Netraiser Team and inviting them to join
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