Have you ever had malaria? I have, I clearly remember how it symptoms manifested, first came the weakening in my knees which spread to every part of my body, next the fever and the overwhelming burning from inside me, quickly followed by the excruciating migraines which felt like a tower was being constructed in my head. I remember laying on my bed, unable to move for fear of waking the construction workers in my head and the lack of energy to lift a single muscle.
Imagine my dismay, after being half dragged and carried to the local pharmacy and being told that I will have to take a combination of malaria tablets because the malaria parasite was now stronger than it used to be. Oh my, did I pray, I promised to be a better person if I got better, not to be naughty or selfish anymore. I did get better after a couple of days, but during my bout with malaria I realised good health really is wealth.

I was in Lagos at the time, the commercial capital of Nigeria which represents a small fraction of the 3.3 billion people – half of the world’s population – who are at risk of malaria. In 2010, there were about 216 million malaria cases and an estimated 655 000 malaria deaths, 90% of all malaria deaths occurred mostly among children under five years of age. Now, sitting in my warm room in London, 2,924 miles away, a part of the world that is free from malaria I want to help protect others and ensure they don’t have to experience what I went through, that’s where JCI London’s “Nothing but Nets” campaign comes in.                                                                                                                    

Check out our facebook page Malaria is preventable by bed nets: that’s why members of JCI London including Rafael, Hiwot, Soraya, Lori, Ren, Ricky and many others have come together to fundraise to buy one thousand bed nets in a bid to save two thousand lives and raise awareness of the fight against malaria.

The team want to deliver the nets in person in December to mothers and children in Tamale, a city in the northern part of Ghana, West Africa. We are partnering with members of JCI Tamale, in providing mentoring sessions and series of trainings to locals in the community relating to the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs - Empowering Women, Combating malaria, HIV, education).

In the next few weeks, JCI London will be bringing you a series of fund raising events in a bid to raise funds and awareness for this campaign.

All these events promise to be fun and exciting as many people would be in attendance, you can also get involved by learning more, volunteering or donating, a bed net cost less than £7 (seven pounds) -visit our website or just attend all our events in bid to have a good time, meet people and support a worthy cause.

To get started, like our Facebook page, watch our video 

Invite your friends to do so as well. Our aim is to join forces, save lives, prevent malaria & raise awareness, develop friendships and protect the future.

JCI London Nothing But Nets team

Cheers, Ade. JCI London “Nothing but Nets” campaign team member.