On 4th October 2014 Ace Africa partnered with Grandmothers Against Malaria Initiative (GAMI) to hold its National Malaria Walk at Jomo Kenyatta sports grounds. Over 1,500 Kenyans, both young and old, took part in this special event including Her Excellency, Mama Sarah Obama.
“Let us work together to fight malaria which is taking the lives of our children away by sleeping under Insecticide treated nets (ITNs). Let us also support the less fortunate groups of people in our society” Mama Sarah Obama, Chief Guest of the day.
The day consisted of various discussions and talks on the awareness of Malaria and how it can easily be prevented within these rural communities in East Africa. The Chief Executive Officer of GAMI, Dr Tom Owino stressed the fact that malaria is a number one killer disease, especially in the areas in which Ace Africa operates. If not well managed at an early stage of childhood (i.e if a child does not sleep under the ITNs) there will be serious consequences for the family. The aim of the day was to raise awareness of this and demonstrate how easily families can live free of this mosquito -borne infectious disease.
The National Malaria Walk managed to bring together people and partners from all over the country with the same agenda in mind; to reduce child mortality rate by 20% in 2017. This can be achieved through encouraging families to sleep under the ITNs, practicing effective healthy habits, such as clearing bushes to make sure there is minimal breeding space for the infectious mosquitos, maintaining hygiene and also reaching out to others with information on malaria among the wider communities.
Thank you to Comic Relief for funding this important Ace event and for your continued support of our programmes.
