Midwest to Mozambique: Elias' Story

In Mozambique, and around the world, April is a month dedicated to raising awareness about malaria. As Peace Corps volunteers we participate by giving lessons to our students about the causes and outcomes of malaria, as well as, repeatedly discussing preventative measures. Here in Moz we are lucky enough to have a competition – we participate in activities to “raise awareness” and “educate the masses” and the winning province gets an extra vacation day. (Tete has won twice in a row now) I’m proud of our accomplishments here in Tete, not because of how many volunteers changed their profile picture or updated their status with important statistics about the current state of things, but because we have also found creative ways to make malaria awareness and education an everyday part of service… for Ed volunteers as well! As it should be! In training, we touched lightly on the subjects of HIV/AIDS and malaria… but living in my small community I see the impacts of these diseases every day. Thanks to a handy infographic posted by another volunteer (go check out @woahinsecto on Instagram) I can share with you that “malaria is the number one killer in Mozambique, accounting for 29% of all yearly deaths” and that “mosquitos are the deadliest creature on Earth, responsible for 830,000 deaths per year”. Malaria is a parasitic infection that is both preventable and treatable! However, inequality in access to health care makes it a deadly disease in many African countries.

As part of Malaria Awareness Month, I want to share with you the story of Elias, my two-year-old host brother. I think sharing statistics and the background story of malaria is GREAT. But I also feel it is important to humanize the issue by showing you the smiles of those who have been afflicted. Back in January, babe Elias caught malaria for the 5th time... he started getting very sick rather quickly and after nearly a week, the Centro de Saúde in my town, felt they didn’t have the resources to help. They were encouraged to try the Hospital Provincial in Tete City, the provincial capital, to seek a wider access to medicine. Unfortunately, the city also didn't have the correct medication for his treatment. By this point, Elias had developed an infection in his stomach that had spread to other parts of his body, causing him to be unable to walk or move much at all. As a last resort with no other options, my host mãe, Ludovina, and one of my cousins, Simplicia, went to stay in Malawi for what wound up being 6 weeks! My host mãe and cousin are both domésticas, meaning they don't have formal jobs but maintain family farms to bring in food for everyone (their families are very large and combined the whole family is HUGE). My mãe used all the money the family had to help save Elias and still has a pretty hefty bill to pay in Malawi. My host family and I were all very scared for at least two months - when it seemed likely that he may not get better. Thankfully Elias is doing well and is slowly becoming healthy again! However, they are still making regular visits to Malawi to pick up more medicine to continue combating symptoms that have arisen from other secondary health issues.

This is all to say, malaria kills! A simple, preventable, treatable disease can spiral out of control when people and communities don't have the necessary resources to adequately address the issue. The second “take away” is that every damn day is Women's Day and this Saturday April 7^th is Mozambican Women’s Day... but again… EVERY. DAMN. DAY!

Every woman pictured, and many others who are not, stepped up while my mãe and cousin were away in order to keep the households running and to take care of all the crianças (children). In Mozambique, Women's Day takes on a whole new meaning for me, recognizing that young girls, teenagers, and young women alike all contribute to the success of a family and society. A neighbor commented yesterday, "eh it's just another day, too much to do here at home to celebrate”. The women of Mozambique are so busy they don’t even stop to celebrate the day! (Thankfully 7 de Abril seems to hold some more weight and there are ceremonies in the morning – but I assure you everyone will get back to their regular routines as soon as they can)

While Elias’ story feels “extreme” I promise that it’s not. Babies and young children catch malaria easily and often. I have many neighbors who have children that have gotten sick more than once since I have been in here in Mozambique (that’s more than once in a year and a half!). My Vice Principal's daughter is currently home sick with malaria. Nearly everyone I know in Manje has had malaria at least once. Last malaria awareness month (we participated in October) when I polled my students on how many had they themselves caught malaria – more than 50% raised their hands. When I then asked how many KNEW someone who had had malaria – a whole 100% of them raised their hands. That’s in the ballpark of 300 teenagers who personally know another person who has experienced malaria. This disease is a common and accepted part of life here in Manje, in Tete, in Mozambique, and in southeastern Africa. Many volunteers spend their time raising awareness about malaria: participating in net distributions, reading to young kids about malaria, teaching teenagers how to make repellent, creating plays to share at school events about malaria, writing catchy songs to spread amongst the kids. According to the CDC, “malaria is considered a disease of poverty. Efforts that aim to create healthier, more productive lives for people living in poor malaria-endemic areas also help fight malaria”. If you want to find a way to get involved, please take a moment and browse the links below (after host family photos of course)!

Happy, healthy, goofy Elias

The "back-up" team! Izaida (17), baby Lofa (5mos), & Leonilde (14)

Celebrating International Women's Day 2018 & Elias' recovery!

Ludovina & Elias stopped by for a visit to show off his birthday present outfit!

Leo asked me to take this picture of her and to print it out (it's not incredibly common for families without the means for a nicer quality phone to have pictures of themselves - even though Mozamicans love photoshoots!)

Elias selfie! Farthest left is my oldest host brother Dano & the two in the middle are neighbors!

Organizations that raise money for insecticide-treated bed nets:
CDC Foundation
Malaria No More
Nothing But Nets

Other Resources:
The Fight Against Malaria Article
Roll Back Malaria
Roll Back Malaria Mozambique Information 2010
USAID Malaria

Sadly, the website for the President’s Malaria Initiative no longer exists… Let’s all take a moment of silence for that.

*PCVs feel free to use these "how to guides" with your youth groups!
Mata Malaria Google Drive
How to Guide Natural Repellent
How to Guide Casca Candles

Repellent Ingredients

Students Prepping a Tincture Mix

Luisa with the "after" and me with the "before" - tinctures

Aida adding cloves to the rubbing alcohol

Me adding rosemary to the mixture

What the tincture looks like after two weeks

The soaked herbs ready to be boiled!

The first finished product! The natural repellent costs about 500MT per liter to make (mostly due to the cost of alcohol in the pharmacy) - but a liter can go a long way!