Mozambique is a beautiful African country filled with vast stretches of untamed wilderness and a surprising variety of exotic plants and animals. But like many places in our world, such wild beauty comes with a price. We are not only speaking about dangerous predators and harsh environments; but the danger of something you cannot even see that kills tens of thousands of people every year, disease! Esperança and our partnerships are making strides to impact this number with education and outreach to cause a transformation in these communities.
Why Mozambique? Although it is now peaceful, they were plagued by decades of civil war. The fighting and constant flooding caused an exodus of educated, skilled residents and separated families. Those who remained were left to combat a disease that claims 36,000 children every year. Malaria! In America, diseases like Malaria have more in common with our history books than they do with our daily lives. But for developing countries like Mozambique, these diseases are still very serious, very deadly threats.
If you compare the 36,000 lost to that of an average class size in an elementary school, that would equate to 65 schools lost every year. Their passing is not going unnoticed.
Our programs and partnership with Care for Life help to educate and train the people of Mozambique to protect themselves from this deadly disease. Since the disease is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, the fewer bites, the lower the chances of being infected. This brought to light what we now affectionately call Operation Mosquito Net. This program provides people with the tools and education necessary to combat the deadly mosquito with basic precautions.
For as little as $12, we can provide a mosquito net to a family in Mozambique, protecting them from the threat of malaria-infected mosquitoes while they sleep. This also includes the education of additional techniques to combat and prevent the disease. Thousands are saved each year, and we would not be able to do this without you.
