2/20, Madness Against Malaria

Our group listened to Rob Matler describe his experiences in the creation of Madness Against Malaria over the phone (He is English). He said that it all started out when he was watching a documentary about a little girl in England named Terri, who had burns over ninety percent of her body. Rob really felt horrible about how bad her condition was, and decided to raise money for her. He decided to do this by organizing a swim, and in 3 weeks got a total of $400,000 for the girl. All of her future operations were paid for. Now Rob needed a new cause to raise money for, and he found it in the fight against malaria. He set a goal of getting 1 million people to swim for malaria, but only got a quarter of that. He described malaria as being completely preventable, and that a five dollar bed-screen could protect people while they’re sleeping. He said that 20 bed-screens ($100 worth) would save the life of a child.

The way Rob spoke showed a confident character, one who would be determined to fight the easily-prevented malaria. I think I will enjoy working for this cause, and speaking with him more.