Malaria is a very bad sick

Marching trough Tatum to create awareness

Many people know that the 1st of December is World Aids Day. But did you know that 25^th of April is World Malaria Day? I think in the Netherlands it is not really commemorated. With a reason of course, there is HIV in the Netherlands, but no malaria.

Yearly, almost 600.000 people in the world die from malaria. Most of these are children below than five years old, living in Africa. This means that every minute, a child in the world dies from malaria. In Cameroon, malaria causes 40% of all deaths of children below five.

Compared to other regions in Cameroon, the prevalence in the North West Region is quite low. But still, malaria is an issue. Therefore, we decided to commemorate World Malaria Day with our Health Scouts. Together with our partner organisations Afoni Children of Hope Foundation and Rural Development Foundation we organised a day in Tatum.

Knowledge for Children invited the Health Scouts of four schools in and around Tatum and also the Mayor of Tatum was represented by his fourth Deputy. Unfortunately, the population of Tatum did not really come out. We were already warned by Afoni Children of Hope Foundation who are based in Tatum that it is very difficult to bring the people of Tatum together for events like this.

Two mosquitos trying to bite children under the net

But, the children of the four schools showed that they are very well aware of malaria and know how to prevent it. We marched through Tatum while the pupils were singing a song about malaria. We dressed up two children as mosquitos and made them bite other children. When we reached the grand stand, some children were hiding under the mosquito net to show that the giant mosquito could not reach them.

It was interesting to see how much the pupils know about malaria and how to prevent it. A nurse came from the Health Centre to talk to the pupils and even the class one children knew very well what we were doing (malaria day!) and what to do to prevent malaria. They all know how to use a bed net, they know they have to keep the environment clean, clean away bushes and wipe out puddles of water to prevent mosquitos from breeding.

Health Scouts of IPS Tatum singing and dancing

The children were showing all of this in sketches, songs and dances. One Health Club was acting out a community which showed wrong behaviour; using donated mosquito nets for fishing, to protect crops in the farm from birds, to carry beans from the farm etc. The second Health Club showed a community which is being sensitized in which parents help each other to understand the use of net. In the first sketch, the last Club showed a community which is sensitized very well, where people sleep under the net and clean the environment. Children also read poems, sang songs and danced. Two secondary school students read poems as well.

We are very proud of the Health Scouts. Not only because they showed that they really know what to do, but also because they are able to sensitize other people through their sketches and songs. Although their parents didn’t come for the event, I hope they will listen to their children as they really know what to do to prevent malaria. 

Junior Health Scouts of GS Tatum Dancing