SHS Students Fight Malaria in Ghana

As a group of Scarsdale High School seniors headed to Mississippi a few weeks ago to help rebuild houses still destroyed after Hurricane Katrina, several others went to Ghana on a very different type of community service trip. Casey Russo, Brett Pearl, and Noah Ahles went to Ghana with teacher chaperones Seth Evans and Elizabeth Karambelkar from June 11th to June 21st. The purpose of the trip was to help people learn how to set up and use mosquito nets properly so as to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes at night, thus reducing their risk of getting malaria.

Malaria is a preventable disease but sadly causes almost 500 million illnesses yearly and kills more than 1 million of those infected. As the organization Netsforlife describes, “When insecticide-treated nets are used properly by three-quarters of the people in a community, malaria transmission is cut by 50%, child deaths are cut by 20%, and the mosquito population drops by as much as 90%...It is estimated that less than 5% of children in sub-Saharan Africa currently sleep under any type of insecticide-treated net.” Bed nets are a simple solution to malaria: if you reduce the contact people have with mosquitoes, you reduce the transmission of malaria.

The students got involved in the trip after Mr. Evans gave a presentation earlier in the year about this amazing opportunity available. The application process for the trip was relatively easy, said Ahles, due to a lack of many interested students. However, just as it seemed it would be in Evans’ presentation, the trip truly was amazing. The group spent most of their time when they were not hanging nets sightseeing and exploring the area. This was the first time Scarsdale High School had offered this trip to students, so a lot of the trip understandably entailed figuring out plans and arranging things as it went along. When the group hung nets, it usually took the entire day in teams of four to hang only 15 nets. While the goal of the trip was for the students to help with the nets, they in fact did much more than that. When they were not hanging nets, they brought medical supplies to a small village called Kwei Kro, went to a health clinic at one of the schools and helped with health screenings, worked with Danielle Butin, founder of the Afya Foundation, as she analyzed what supplies were needed and could be sent over to the area, visited the Cape Coast, where the slave trade in Ghana began, and even visited a rainforest. One unique experience was when the students met a tribal chief and were thanked by a drumming ceremony after the group donated medical supplies.

The living conditions the students were in were very comfortable. The group had home cooked meals three times a day, their laundry done for them, and even had wireless internet. The trip was incredibly memorable to the students. As Ahles explained, “I would absolutely recommend the trip to anyone. It was much more than just a school trip. The different things we got to do besides actually putting up the nets were incredible, and all of the people we met were beyond hospitable and welcoming. I’ve never felt more comfortable or safe.”