10/06/2014

New Malaria Videos to Keep Your Fundraising Efforts Going Until We Meet & Surpass Our Goal!

Introducing three new malaria videos!

​We are thrilled to announce some new ELCA Malaria Campaign materials—three short videos that help to demonstrate the impact of your gifts in Uganda and Burundi. We encourage you to share these videos widely—with your family, congregation and friends. To watch these videos, visit the ELCA's YouTube video page (links are also provided below!).

The new videos come in a variety of lengths and contain a variety of stories and messages… but the most important message is: together with our companions in Uganda and Burundi, your gifts to the ELCA Malaria Campaign are helping to change lives for the better.

Here's a brief overview of what you'll see in each of these videos (but of course, watching the videos is the best way to experience them—so please do so!). 

"Bike message" (Length: 55 seconds)

This short video lifts up a VHT (village health team member) in rural Uganda – a local volunteer leader who has been trained by the Lutheran malaria program in Uganda to bring malaria care to his local community. Bicycles are the tools VHTs use to travel from place to place: making house calls, delivering malaria education, testing and treatment to their neighbors. The video ends with a sincere "Thank you" from the VHT, who is grateful for the donors who help to support the Lutheran malaria program in Uganda. (Click here to watch or click here to automatically download "Bike message" to your computer.)

"The change in our lives" - Uganda (Length: 2 minutes, 41 seconds)

This video explores the impact of the Lutheran malaria program in Uganda on the lives of one family in Damasiko Village, Uganda. Ester Akiror and her husband Paul Ogima live in Damasiko with their three children. "I lost my firstborn to malaria before the Lutheran malaria program began," Ester shares. Since then, however, Ester and her family have been able to learn and adopt behaviors that will keep them safe from malaria. They worked with a trained volunteer named Edulu Emmanuel, who has helped them to access materials such as mosquito nets, test kits, malaria treatment, and the knowledge to prevent malaria in their household. Because they are no longer spending so much money and time on malaria treatment, Ester and Paul have been able to stabilize and grow their household finances, as well.

Since the Lutheran malaria program came to Damasiko, "there is a change in this community," says Paul Ogima. "Now my children can get treatment. That is the positive change in our lives!" Ester adds, "My faith in the Lord has grown. My children are no longer ill." (Click here to watch or click here to automatically download "The Change in our Lives – Uganda" to your ​​computer.)

"It's Possible"- Burundi (Length: 3 minutes, 50 seconds)http://elca.org/News-and-Events/blogs/ELCAMalariaCampaign/261

This is the most comprehensive of the three new videos. It explores the breadth of the work being done by the Lutheran malaria program in Burundi. In this video, we meet Bugera Barnabe, the program director of Lutheran World Federation (LWF)-Burundi. He says that in this part of Burundi, "so many resources go into malaria. If we are thinking of development, this development will never come, at least at the level that we want, unless we deal with malaria." That's the landscape that the Lutheran malaria program in Burundi is addressing.

The video introduces us to Supesi Ntimpirangeza, a village health worker trained by the Lutheran malaria program. We also meet two women who have worked with Supesi to learn about malaria prevention and control in their households: Bahiga and Faraziya. Bahiga shares that her child used to become ill with malaria often, and she didn't understand how to correctly administer the medication. But now, after learning from Supesi, Bahiga feels more confident. "Now we know how to fight malaria," she says, "thanks to the training we received."

Evariste is the Malaria Program Coordinator in Burundi. He offers his thanks to those who have supported the Lutheran malaria program in Burundi through gifts to the ELCA Malaria Campaign: "What I would say to people supporting this program, is that their funds are really helping many, many Burundians." (Click here to watch or click here to automatically download "It's possible - Burundi" to your computer)