Nothing But Nets

The UN has identified an urgent need to send life-saving bed nets to everyone who needs one in the Central African Republic (CAR) by the end of this year. We’re happy to announce that singer and actress Mandy Moore and PSI (Population Services International) are joining us and our UN partners to fill this need.

We have a special opportunity for you to learn more about this project, from Mandy herself! Join us on August 12 at 2pm ET for an exclusive chance to ask Mandy (and us) your questions during an interactive Facebook Townhall discussion. It’s easy – you’ll log in to Facebook, head to the Nothing But Nets page, and join the live conversation with Mandy and our malaria experts.

Scientists at the University of Arizona have made outstanding progress on stopping malaria in its tracks.  Led by scientist Michael Riehle, the scientists have had incredible success developing malaria-free mosquitoes.

How does one make a malaria-free mosquito? This works two ways: First, we know that malaria is caused by a parasite that the mosquito carries. The mosquito transfers this parasite to humans when she bites them.  So, the scientists were able to create mosquitoes that can no longer be infected with malaria and cannot transfer it to humans. Second, only mature mosquitoes can carry the malaria parasite. The scientists were able to create mosquitoes that do not live long enough to carry the disease.

Now they just have to spread these new and improved mosquitoes to the entire mosquito population. Easier said than done! Using only the modified mosquitoes can take up to 10 to 20 years, according to the article.  Despite this timeframe, "researchers are optimistic that genetic engineering of mosquitoes will be an important piece of the malaria-prevention puzzle."

Until then, let's keep spreading the buzz to send nets and save lives so we can reach the United Nations goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015. 
 

A long time ago, my wife Maureen and I experimented with ways to raise money for Nothing But Nets™. In our commitment to battle malaria to the best of our abilities, we tried many things:  at first, we simply went door-to-door dressed in our Sunday finery. When that failed we tried dressing as large mosquitoes and handed out homemade cookies. That produced mixed results, although the cookies were a hit. We still weren't happy with the level of awareness or money we were raising, so we put together a small music festival which was very successful and ballooned into Lilith Fair, but malaria got nary a penny. In quick succession we attempted a garage sale (some success), a pie-eating contest (more success), a dance (rip-roaring success) and a mime show (no success at all). 

We finally came up with a basketball game to raise awareness and money and it was a huge success, certainly more than the mime show. Having set fundraising goals early on, we found we had exceeded them before the game was even played.

The connection between the newly crowned World Cup Champions of Spain and the continent of Africa goes beyond South Africa hosting this year’s tournament. As España’s soccer team was busy fighting to be the world’s best on the field, a group of former Spanish basketball legends and celebrities were busy playing in a game of their own where the proceeds would support Nothing But Nets™ in their global fight against malaria! The 2nd annual “Partido Contra La Malaria” celebrity basketball game took place at the La Plana sports hall in Barcelona where Team Vida (Life) played against Team Deporte (Sport).  
 
In addition to the renowned former men’s basketball players, other participants included Sergi Bruguera, former champion of Roland Garros; Mireia Belmonte, Olympian and European swimming Champion and Jordi "Chiqui" Sans, international and five-time water polo Olympian. The teams were also mixed with four Spanish women’s national team players, Lucila Pascua, Anna Cruz, Laura Camps and Silvia Dominguez. It was undeniably a very exciting and competitive game, with the final score, in the high 80s. But the points that were scored were insignificant compared to the satisfaction that all the participants felt in contributing to the fight against such a deadly disease.

I had the amazing opportunity to go work with 2010 AMERICAN IDOL runner ups Tim Urban, Katie Stevens, and Aaron Kelly a couple weeks ago before they started up their summer tour around the U.S.  I traveled to Auburn Hills, Michigan, to spend the day with the IDOL contestants and film a short public service announcement for the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets™.  AMERICAN IDOL will be showing this video at every one of their concerts this summer!  (See if they’re coming to a city near you: http://www.americanidol.com/tour)

Tim, Katie, and Aaron were so fun to be around and so wonderful to take part of their rehearsal day to shoot a video with us about malaria. By the end of the shoot, they were all wearing Nothing But Nets™ wristbands and talking about how they wanted to go to Africa to help make a difference. Thank you to AMERICAN IDOL for caring about the cause of malaria and helping Nothing But Nets™ engage thousands of concert-goers this summer to donate $10 to send a net and save a life. Check out the video below:

With the Boy Scouts, Concerts, and the Colorado Rapids, we had a great time in the mile-high city. Though three days of straight rain had us feeling like we were back in Seattle, we kept on trucking—and on the one day the sun came out, so did the camera crews! Here’s a clip of Mozzie and crew on the evening news!

Co-authored by Dave Burton

Part 1: Sunday, July 11
On Friday night, United Against Malaria hosted a reception for all of the partners to wrap up a great collaboration over the last year, ending with the World Cup final games this weekend. It was a great opportunity to meet the different partners, and hear about their involvement. A true highlight was listening to the stories of Kingsley Holgate's expeditions up and down the rivers of Africa distributing bed nets.

From there we headed down to the concert. This was a truly proud night for malaria. Our malaria PSAs had the full attention of 12,000 people, who also heard personal stories from two soccer players and a passionate and beautiful presentation from South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka. It was great to see the United Against Malaria logo up on the screens throughout the concert - a fantastic tribute to how far this partnership has come. We also heard from singer Andrea Bocelli and a children's choir.

Co-Authored by Dave Burton

From the very humorous comment made by the KLM pilot leaving Amsterdam that "We will be able to get going as soon as the last of the vuvuzelas are loaded," to the decked out airport, to the international flags lining all the major roadways, it is clear that World Cup fever is everywhere.

We are now down to the final two teams in the tournament, and the talk turns to who everyone is now rooting for. No matter your favorite, being here in South Africa is a source of great pride for the country, and a fantastic chance for the world to focus its attention on the continent of Africa, both for its enormous beauty and its struggles.

Tonight, during the finale concert, we will have the opportunity to share important stories about malaria throughout the performances. I hope that along with football fever, team loyalty, and a great time, people are able to see that now is the time to get involved and make a difference. We are united against malaria. Send a net. Save a life.