Philadelphia schoolchildren raise awareness of malaria

If only the mosquitoes in many poor countries were as timid as the ones buzzing shyly around the hall at Philadelphia's William B. Mann School.

But because they aren't, because they bite with a fatal ferocity and regularity, the Nothing But Nets campaign spent the morning at the Wynnefield school yesterday, teaching children about mosquito-borne malaria and one strategy for preventing it.

"When I found out [about malaria], I was sad and I thought I was going to cry," said 9-year-old Kaylah Fortson Rannels. "But when I found out you could help and can give them a net, I felt happy to raise money."

The United Nations Foundation created Nothing But Nets in 2006 as a global campaign to help provide insecticide-treated bed nets for people in countries where malaria is as common as colds are in the United States.

Malaria infects from 350 million to 500 million people each year, with more than a million dying from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Young children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa are especially vulnerable.

Mann School joined the effort two years ago, when guidance counselor Chris Trego heard about it from a friend, Downingtown resident Lynda Commale, whose daughter Katherine is a champion fund-raiser for the cause.

Third graders at the school have to do a service project, and Trego figured combating malaria might be just the cause - while also giving students lessons in geography and health.

"They need to be aware of what else is going on in the world," Trego said.

Last year's third graders from Room 308 raised $90 by making and selling bookmarks. Yesterday, they received certificates of appreciation from Malcolm T. Byrd, associate director of Mayor Nutter's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, and Commale. Those children, now fourth graders, reveled in the attention.

"Mr. Kyle Adams," Byrd said, announcing the first recipient of a certificate. The 9-year-old stepped forward from a line of his former classmates and waved until someone nudged him toward Commale, who was handing out the certificates.

"Somebody give it up for Daisha Cooper," Byrd said. "I wonder if Yvette Curry has any fans here."

She did - as did all the recipients, including two teachers.

After the ceremony, the children did activities to learn more about malaria. Members of one group played "Nets Jeopardy" and shot up their hands if they knew answers to questions such as whether people could get malaria from mosquito bites in the United States.

"No," one child shouted, an answer that assuaged any fears that they could get the disease in their backyards.

Another group created skits about malaria. A boy named Darren was one of those timid mosquitoes who bit a child but couldn't get past a mosquito net, played by Kashiya Hall, 11.

There also were messages of hope the students wrote on postcards. Nothing But Nets will deliver them in November, when they visit Ivory Coast in West Africa. The sentiments were short, but poignant:

"I hope you live. Love, Troi."