Using Our Culture and Sports
For Malaria Control and Prevention in LiberiaA Keynote Address
Delivered at
The Fair Grand Sport Complex in Buchanan, Liberia
by
Syrulwa Somah, PhD
Executive Director, Liberian History, Education & Development, Inc. (LIHEDE), Greensboro, NC
&
Associate Professor, Environmental and Occupational Safety & Health
NC A&T State University, Greensboro, NC
Regional Representative-LIHEDESeptember 11, 2007
Syrulwa Somah, PhD
Superintendent Julia Duncan-Cassell and the local authorities of Grand Bassa County; Senator Gbazongar Finley and members of the Grand Bassa County Legislative Caucus; Mayor Obadiah Y. Zangar and the people of the Great City of Buchanan; Miss Liberia Patrice Juah; Mr. Tolbert Nyenswah, Deputy Director of the Malaria Control Program at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare; Mr. John Brownell, President of the Liberian Association of The United Kingdom ; Mr. Augustus Menyongar, LIHEDE Regional Representative and Chair of the Culture Driven Malaria Program Planning Committee Chair, Grand Bassa; Distinguished members of the LIHEDE Delegation; Distinguished members of the Firestone Natural Rubber Company Delegation; Representatives of various Liberian and non-Liberian organizations present; Fellow Liberians and Friends of Liberia:
I am happy to be back in Buchanan City to visit this famous Bassa High School. I can remember back in the mid-1970s when I attended Christian High School here in this great city, Bassa High School was our rivalry that extended to both academic and athletics. These schools place an added emphasis on emerging victorious in any event that included their rival. So to tell you the truth, I have fond memories of Bassa High School as one of the many spectators joggling through the crowds to witness some of the many events held between both schools those days. But it has been a long time since I was here, so I am glad that I can finally mount the podium at Bassa High Scholl to share my thoughts with you about one of the childhood experiences none of us in this gathering will ever forget, and that is malaria. I am you sure if malaria did not personally affect you during those days and even now, then you know someone in your family—in your household—who has been afflicted with malaria. So very shortly, I will share with you my thoughts about the culture-driven malaria program being proposed by my organization, the Liberian History, Education, and Development, Inc. (LIHEDE).
First, however, please permit me to extend to you the Superintendent, Senator, Mayor, and other officials of Grand Bassa County my sincere greetings and best wishes on behalf of the officers and members of LIHEDE for granting us the opportunity to share with you once more our message of hope about malaria control and the prevention in Grand Bassa County and other parts of Liberia. For the past three years, LIHEDE has effortlessly held conferences in the United States and Liberia on various topics of interest to the growth and development of Liberia. In December 2006, LIHEDE, in collaboration with the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Liberian Ministry of Youth & Sports, and other public and private entities in Liberia, hosted the first National Health Conference in post-conflict Liberia aimed at malaria prevention and control, but mainly to bring to the consciousness of the Liberian people and the world the magnitude of the impact of malaria on the lives of ordinary people in Liberia.
And one of the highlights of the 2006 National Health Conference was an invitation extended to officials of LIHEDE by the US Embassy near Monrovia to witness the historic announcement by U.S. President George W. Bush via satellite naming Liberia a focused country to benefit from the President Malaria Initiative (PMI) funds. As a focused nation, Liberia is expected to receive 2.5 million US dollars in 2007 and 12 million US dollars in 2008 to combat malaria in Liberia. Of course, let me clarify that although Liberia was added onto the PMI funding recipient list in part due to a letter writing campaign initiated by LIHEDE after a LIHEDE malaria symposium on Liberia held in the U.S. in 2005, the PMI funds to combat malaria in Liberia are being channeled through the relevant agencies of the Liberian government and not through LIHEDE.
Second, as you know, the 160th Independence Anniversary Celebration of Liberia was held only 21 days ago in this great city of Buchanan, and the national orator Mr. Kimmie Weeks spoke on the issue of health and education in Liberia, which I believe is still tattooed on your memory. Mr. Week’s emphasis on health and education are key pillars of development in Liberia coincide with one of the core beliefs of LIHEDE that only healthy people can build a democracy, a core belief that is the driving force behind LIHEDE’s malaria prevention, control, and eradication campaign in Liberia. Hence, I want to personally thank all of you—conference organizers and county officials--for making possible this historic gathering in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. It is only through collaborative efforts such as this one that LIHEDE, the Ministry of Health, county government leaders, and the various county organizations in Liberia can work together to prevent, control, and eradicate malaria in Liberia
Third, as I look around this stadium, I can tell you that I am elated to see an excellent group of people so committed not just to the cause of helping to prevent malaria in Liberia, but also a group of people willing to coordinate their efforts in helping to improve the standards of living of people in our war-torn homeland of Liberia. I therefore have no doubts that this consultative meeting here in Buchanan today will also be a resounding success, given the time and effort put into planning this event, and the caliber of concerned individuals present here today to lend a helping hand to the fight against the malaria pandemic in Liberia. And I am overjoyed to see this huge gathering because when in 2005 LIHEDE decided to devote its annual symposium to the combat of malaria in Liberia, many people in the Liberian communities in the U.S. thought we were nuts. But we are glad that LIHEDE’s “We Want No More Malaria in Liberia” campaign of 2005 has taken root. Hence, I am so pleased with this gathering, and I hold deep respect and high confidence in this gathering that I have chosen to exploit the collaborative spirit of this assembly by speaking to you on the topic: “Using Our Culture and Sports for Malaria Control and Prevention in Liberia.”
Indeed, I believe that while we have all resolved to defeat malaria in Liberia, it is only through our collective efforts—our commitment, cooperation, and collaboration—that we can actually prevent malaria in Liberia. I don’t see it any other way. LIHEDE cannot do it alone; the people of Grand Bassa County cannot do it alone, and no single Liberian community or organization can do it alone. We must all cooperate and collaborate to prevent, control, and eradicate malaria in Liberia if we truly want a positive result from our efforts. And this is why I want to thank Dr. Moses M. Flomo from Lofa County, and former head of the National Herbalist Association of Liberia for inventing 10 medical formulae capable of treating various tropical diseases, including malaria. In fact, the Inquirer newspaper reported in Monrovia August 1 that among the formulae Dr. Flomo invented are Floklax, used for treating malaria, typhoid fever, and cerebral malaria. Indeed, if Dr. Flomo’s malaria formula can succeed in curing one Liberian of malaria and typhoid fever, then we are well on our way to promoting a culture-driven malaria program in Liberia.
By “culture-driven” malaria program I mean malaria control projects that tie malaria treatment options to the cultural values and practices of each country or local community targeted for malaria treatment. And this means using sporting events, traditional feasts, campfire gatherings, family storytelling times, religious and secular services, radio and television plays, and other such activities that are unique to the whole of Liberia, the people of Grand Bassa, the people of River Cess, the people of Sinoe, the people of my home county of Margibi, and so forth to educate our people about the dangers of malaria. In other words, I am using “culture-driven” to mean any program or gathering that is either unique to the whole of Liberia or to people in a particular region or political subdivision of Liberia. Hence, we in LIHEDE hold the view that “culture-driven” malaria control initiatives are an imperative for any modern malaria control and prevention schemes in the world, and I have written several articles and concept papers since the December 2006 Health Conference in Monrovia to articulate this view, by relying on a review of current literatures in the health and safety fields for new developments, best practices, and emerging issues in malaria control and prevention in the world.
In fact, the core principles and objectives underlying LIHEDE’s vision of a “culture-driven” malaria control program in Liberia include:
- Undertaking malaria education projects in Liberia that encompass teaching about malaria in Liberian schools.
- Using radio scripts in Liberian vernacular languages to educate and rally the support of Liberians outside the city centers in efforts at combating malaria.
- Establishing malaria free zones across Liberia in the campaign for malaria control, prevention, and eradication in Liberia.
- Building malaria public libraries in Liberia to help to educate the Liberian public about malaria through the use of books, films, videos, and documentaries on malaria control and prevention.
- Hosting annual soccer tournaments to promote malaria awareness in Liberia, and to underscore the collective efforts needed to educate the Liberian public and the African people about the dangers of malaria on the manpower development and socioeconomic growth of Liberia and Africa, since soccer is a very popular sport in Liberia and Africa in general.
- Promoting a Pan-African approach to malaria control and prevention that involves the neighboring countries of Liberia as part of effort that will eventually enable all African nations to work together at the same time through appropriate strategies and tools to combat malaria on the African continent.
Well, as I said earlier, we all have our own malaria story in Liberia. For me, in my hometown of Gibi, many of the 50 or more young boys and girls I grew up together died from malaria. Yes, malaria stole my elder sister and several friends from me. In fact, when my elder sister became pregnant we all were happy and became preparing for our next family member. But malaria had another plan. My sister didn’t recover from the malaria she had contracted. The parasites pierced her placenta. Not only did malaria cause the blood flow to her fetus to stop but it also deoxygenated her unborn. Malaria killed my sister and child because there was no doctor around to perform a cesarean delivery and prepare her body for proper burial. My sister was buried right on the spot. And my mother never recovered from the loss of my sister until she went home to our ancestors land. .
In Gibi, there was never a time that we would not wake to a crying mother who was beating on her chest or rolling on the ground calling for people to come to her rescue because her child was on the brink of death or already dead from malaria. It was not an uncommon sight to see a mother wear her hair loose on her head and loss her appetite for food and water for days, because she was grieving for her child. It was not an uncommon sight to see a grieving adult drained of energy as he or she gets out of bed in the morning with fever and chill. it was not uncommon to get a message from another part of the country, bringing the news of the death of a passing child. I heard people crying so many times and saying, “My son is no more,” “My mother is no more,” and “my sister is no more”! I also heard, “malaria you are not going to take my only child from me,” “Malaria you are not going to do this to me,” “Can anybody help?” But the results were always the same. I was there. I saw the impact of malaria day-in-day and day-out on the faces of these mothers and other family members. Some of the people malaria killed were friends I knew and played hide-and-seek and soccer with. Some were my classmates. Some were my big brothers and sisters with whom I went fishing. Yes, we must act now to prevent malaria in Liberia because Malaria doesn’t only help to kill our democracy and development, but it has also been the cause of agricultural dependence, poverty, instability, and inequalities in Liberia. When malaria steals our children and kills our democracy, it steals our future. When it weakens our nation’s health, it weakens our independence and prevents our prosperity. we must act to prevent malaria in Liberia because, according to 2006 report by the Liberian Ministry of Health, malaria accounts for 21,500 deaths each year, while the cost for treating malaria and malaria-related illnesses in Liberia each year is estimated at US$40 million, a very high amount considering that the country is still recuperating from a 14-year civil war that destroyed almost every basic infrastructure in the country and torn apart thousands of families. Moreover, the World Health Organization lists Liberia as one of two nations with the higher rate of malaria in the world, noting that about 90% of the population of Liberia is exposed to malaria on a continuous basis.
In fact, in Monrovia where majority of the educated population and key national decision-markers of Liberia are concentrated, more than 50% of all hospitals and clinics’ visits by patients are malaria-related, while, according to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia, there are about only four functioning hospitals in Liberia with an estimated 237 physicians/specialists or 0.1 physicians per 100,000 patients. In addition, more than one of every five newborn Liberian children will not live to celebrate their 5th birth day due to malaria, while Liberia currently leads the world in highest newborn crude death rate at 66 deaths per 1,000 births. Indeed, with these kinds of statistics which continued to put much burden on the inadequate resources of both the government and the people of Liberia, it is now time to act and act now to prevent malaria in Liberia to help to lay the foundations for a better nation after the battle against malaria has been won.
Consequently, we must act now to prevent malaria in Liberia because if Liberia’s unemployment rate continues to stand at 85%; if life expectancy in Liberia continues to stand at 41 years for males and 47 years for females; if Liberians continue to live on meager 30 cent per day as noted recently by former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz; if the average Liberian family continues to spend up to 35% of their income on malaria treatment and prevention, and if malaria continues to impact the Liberian workforce and infant mortality rates, then Liberians must understand that to fall short of malaria prevention and control in Liberia today would trigger the post-reconstruction development efforts in this new Liberia to slide into a curve of steep decline. Therefore, my friends, today, not tomorrow, we must act now through our collective effort to prevent malaria in Liberia before it is too late.
Now, let me tell you my friends that malaria is not only a Liberian problem, but an African problem, and partly a world problem. And I say partly a world problem because nearly 40 or more years ago, malaria was eradicated in countries such as the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Israel, Romania, Poland, Caribbean, Panama, among others, thereby making the citizens of these malaria free nations to enjoy a better quality of life and working conditions than their counterparts in Liberia and most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, even though malaria is preventable, it still infects up to 500 million (about half a billion) people and kills about 2.7 to 3 million people worldwide each year. In fact, since 1972, malaria has killed at least 50 million people, which number of deaths amounts to about as many as deaths during all of World War II.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as I speak with you today, it is estimated that an African child will die every 30 seconds from malaria, which means that if we stay at this program for at least five hours, more than 600 children under the age of 5 and their pregnant mothers will have died by the end of this program. Indeed, this is how sad the malaria pandemic is in Sub-Saharan Africa. So what does malaria mean for Africa’s 750 million people, although malaria is a curable infectious disease? However, the answer to what malaria means to Africa’s 750 million people is more death and destruction, unless we take action as a people. And we are taking action right now as we gather here to chart a course for malaria control and prevention in Liberia. Indeed, Liberia is part of Africa, and in the drive toward the prevention of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa we can begin somewhere, and Liberia can be the base from which we can work toward the total prevention of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa.
My friends, as I speak, a little child in Liberia or somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa is unable to walk for months because of malaria. As I speak to you a little child is crawling around on the floor in severe pains from malaria. And as I speak to you some of these little children’ eyes are bulged out like a chameleon, their hairs are dried up, and their stomachs are all swollen because of the malaria parasite has taken over their livers. But worst of all, sometimes families with children or adult members inflicted with malaria don’t have the money and transportation to take their children or loved ones to hospital, and neither does the Liberian government have money to treat every malaria case. And I am a witness to what can happen in such a case of no money, no transportation, and no health center around. I have told you how my elder sister died, and I am sure you have you own story to me about how malaria affected one or more of your family member. And the story of my sister has motivated me join this fight for malaria control and prevention in Liberia, and I believe my sister’s story or your own story can motivate you too to redouble your efforts in making sure that no other Liberian family undergoes the pains and sufferings my parents and I underwent by losing my elder sister to malaria. And this is why I need no invitation to join the fight for malaria prevention in Liberia.
Malaria ought to be the easiest of the Big Three Third World killers to control because AIDS and TB are a lot more complex and harder to address, but this is not the case because we lack the ethical clarity, moral courage and political will power to use the most efficient malaria treatment options made available to us by modern technology. But we in LIHEDE believe that if we cannot eradicate malaria in Liberia due to political and ethical reasons, we can at least control and prevent malaria in Liberia. And this is our plea to you to help us in this fight for malaria control and prevention in Liberia. We in LIHEDE have also realized that fighting malaria in Liberia is a heavy bite for a single organization, so our objectives for these series of community-based consultative meetings are to ask of you and your support, talent and advocacy. The success of this gathering shows that our common goal to defeat malaria will not be delayed and or denied. We need a malaria free new world and a new world vision and solidarity of the unity of humankind.
I am of the convection that with our collective and collaborative effort that involves all Liberians and friends of Liberia, malaria control and prevention in Liberia is possible. A malaria free new world reflects the triune of God in whom we hope intimate purpose and life. All the peoples of our global village belong to one human family. We must be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, which is sacred charge and hallowed conviction to save lives, though we may be separated by lands, oceans, distance, language or culture. That's why I want all of you, whether Bassa, Kpelle, Mandingo, Kissi, Gio, Mano, Krahn, or Gola that getting rid of malaria in Liberia requires the cooperation of all Liberians and friends of Liberia.
For the moral test of any society lies in how we, as a people, treat the most vulnerable of our human members. And the most vulnerable human members of the Liberian society today are those persons afflicted with malaria, a curable disease that has been the killing machine in Liberia for a very long time. It is time for us to act and act now to prevent malaria in Liberia once and for all. Our people afflicted with malaria continued to suffer high fevers for days, and vomit until they have no more strength and stomach left. Malaria has often left our people dehydrated, thirsty, and sometimes too weak to tell day from night. Therefore, we must act now to free our people from the grips of their single largest killer.
Ladies & Gentlemen, malaria has the potential to deplete scarce healthcare resources in Liberia, which is not good for a country just emerging from 14 years of civil war, with unemployment over 85%. Besides, if malaria is not contained in Liberia, it will certainly undermine our new democracy because I believe no democracy can survive when people are dying like flies from a preventable and curable disease. I also believe that every person has a fundamental right to healthcare and a decent standard of living at least to enjoy some of the necessities of life. So I see this fight against malaria in Liberia not just as a LIHEDE fight, but as a collective fight by Liberians in Buchanan, and other cities and Liberian communities across Liberia as well as institutions like Buchanan Hospital, the offices of the County Superintendent, Mayor of Buchanan, and the Bassa Legislators and the government and people of Liberia.
Consequently, I see the fight against malaria in Liberia as a shared vision and moral purpose that recognizes our mutual interdependence as a group of people with the same outlook of life. For a wise person once said that the ability to understand and establish emotional and moral commitments to purposes beyond oneself is the beginning of understanding how to live successfully in a free society, and I believe what the wise person said. I cannot overemphasize that we cannot make any inroads in the fight for malaria prevention in Liberia unless we believe, understand, and commit ourselves to that cause. And I know your patience and understanding so far during this gathering have assured me that we are all in this fight together to establish the proper atmosphere for malaria prevention which enhances the dignity of human health. I thank you.
