Success Story #76

Charles Ssali shares a lot in common with most of the other children his age in Africa.  He loves football (soccer to those of us in the United States) attends Uganda's equivalent of sixth grade and spends time running, doing school work and with his family. 

He has also had malaria. 

Malaria is extraordinarily common for those in endemic countries to be affected by.  Tragically, it accounts for 16% of all under 5 deaths in Africa, almost 800,000 young lives snuffed out by a parasite. 

Thankfully, Charles was able to survive when he contracted malaria at age 4 in 2001.  However, there are millions still at risk.  As a result of his experience and the grim facts, Charles has become passionately involved in the fight against malaria. 

He is now a youth ambassador for the United Against Malaria campaign and champions the cause of sleeping under bednets, like he does every night now so as to avoid his painful experience with the disease. 

Charles is also a part of the Friends of Football organization in Uganda.  Friends of Football encourages involvement in soccer through clinics and competitions, but it also provides its members anti-malaria tablets every six months and they must take the tablets as a condition of their participation.  Programs like these, that meet people on the ground are crucial to success and effective because they use existing networks to reach people. 

Through these programs and interventions, Charles's story has become a success and a tool in the fight against malaria, where it could have been a tragedy.