Ten Dollar Mosquito Net
I don't agree with everything written in the Time magazine I get in the mail each week. I do appreciate being made aware of what's on the front burner, from their perspective. You may remember that about a year ago or so I wrote a post about the poverty in Africa. As most of you know, I have a soft spot in my heart for that continent........especially the children that live there. In the current issue of Time, Jeffery Sachs writes an article about the pandemic problem of malaria, and how easy it could be addressed. As many as 2 million children could die from malaria this year.....TWO MILLION!! Recent research has found that malaria infection increases the likelihood that an HIV-infected individual will transmit the AIDS virus to others.
Technological advances have enabled companies to produced an insecticide-treated bed net that lasts up to five years. The cost to manufacture, ship and distribute each net is $10. TEN DOLLARS!!! Most Africans cannot afford the ten bucks it takes to buy one, even if they were accessible to them. Because of corruption, most African governments cannot afford to buy these nets either. In the article, Sachs says point blank: "We can each contribute $10 for a bed net". You and I both know he is right......duh.
Here are two organizations that have been started to address this travesty:
http://www.malarianomore.org/ and http://www.nothingbutnets.net/
If you choose to donate thru the Nothingbutnets organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation will match your gift dollar for dollar......net for net. Is that not wonderful! Buy one, and you help two families. Thanks Bill and Melinda!
Sometimes culture drags the church along kicking and screaming, as was the case with slavery and segregation. Church folks should have been way ahead of the game on all of this, and drug culture along with us or behind us. We didn't, and they are calling us to join in. Hey, better late than never. I'm in...............how about you?
"I was sick and you looked after me" or "Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me". Which do you want to hear? Yeah, me too.
5 Comments:
Hey Dave,
Your post reminds me how important it is to realize that God's love needs to be shown in practical ways. It's fun to talk about "ending world hunger" or "eliminating AIDS". But at some point, big things have to be achieved by individual actions. Perhaps if we all did our part, we could make a huge difference together. Thanks for informing us about this opportunity!
I agree and will do what I can do to help. Let's never forget that Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" and the resultant war against DDT -- a chemical that has never been shown to cause a problem in 99% of birds or ANY human -- was banned by the environmental Nazis, thus dooming millions of people to death and disease each year in the name of "Saving the earth." Grrrr.
Nothing But Net...reminds me of the early days in the gym at Harding when I was 'schoolin' ya from downtown playin'hoops. I orderd a tent today. Thanks for the link, bro. I'm with Patrick; but lets do a covert op and find that DDT and zap those suckers.
Keith, glad you ordered a "tent"....but how about the mosquito net they were needing? :)
See, when you get to lying, it messes up your train of thought.
Now everybody knows who was schoolin who.
DU
I thought a net inside of a tent would be even better. What was I thinkin? Thanks again for magnifying my flaws, BROTHER. You do remember my nickname back then don't you; The Busdriver...cause I was always taking YOU to school...
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