Malaria day, which didn't go as planned, but turned out to be a HUGE
success was a blast! One of my fellow
PCVs traveled to my village to help me host a day filled with activities at the
village primary school and to host a Malaria Awareness parade from the school
to the village market. We played a few
Q&A games with the kids on the facts of malaria (transmission, signs and
symptoms, treatment, prevention, etc); held an art contest where the children
were provided with various supplies and were asked to create a positive message
about malaria; and taught the children a song (in Kinyarwanda) about the
prevention of malaria that would be chanted during the parade. We also had the children make a pledge to
sleep under their mosquito nets and encourage those around them to do the same. After repeating a short phrase (the pledge),
the children signed their names on a small piece of African cloth and then tied
each of their cloths together to create a long chain, symbolizing their unity
in the fight against malaria. Just
before we left the school to begin our parade, myself, my colleague, and my
counterpart surprised the winners of the various malaria activities with prizes!! Brand new notebooks, flashy pencils, candy,
free mosquito nets; and the kids loved them ALL! I think the prizes may have been my favorite
part of the day. The march was tons of
fun, but to see the kids' faces when that something new was placed into their
hands was priceless. At one point, I just
watched and thought to myself, I heart my
job. It's frustrating, and
stressful, and progress is slow, but those smiles make it all worth it. In that one instant where the children flashed
their pearly whites, all of the stresses disappeared and I forgot how hard it was
to make the event happen. All that
existed in that moment was me, the kids, and their smiles--and then I smiled.
Next up was the parade, which almost didn't happen, but
