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Open Letter to His Excellency President Obama

From: Judy Miriga

Your Excellency President Obama,

I write this email to you with very heavy heart for your urgent attention and help.

My mother's life is in danger. It is 4 days now that I have not heard about the whereabouts of my mother. She has since been frequently sick from 2010 when my mothers" bed was heavily sprayed with mosquito insecticide and I made an open letter appeal to the Coalition Government Leaders where I submited my complaint and immediate intervention on the matter. My mother has had a good health over the years with bouncing energy before she fell sick from the spraying. After the spraying she has had frequent headaches with eye sore and since then I registered her with Health Insurance so she can receive good medical attention to recover from the same. I must say that since then, my mothers begun to go down and her health started deteroriating. I depend on My brother Gordon, friends and relatives at home who keep me posted about her health.

Few days ago sometimes on Friday last week, I received an urgent message that my mother was very sick with swollen leg and was in a lot of excruciating pain. I was forced to urgently sent additional money for her to be taken to hospital. I was surprised to learn that there was a conspiracy to obstruct my brother from taking my mother to the hospital as her leg had gone worse and my mother was crying very painfully. I called the Chief of my village and I found that she was aware about the incidence but informed me that my mother was already in Nairobi. Sending members of the family to locate her whereabouts there was no way anyone was able to locate my mother. After further investigation and more importantly what shocked me was that, the people who hijacked my mother on the way to hospital were still seen hovering around between Migori, Uyugis and my village and mother is nowhere to be seen. I gathered by Saturday that mother's record at the hospital where I listed her to receive medication, she had not been seen. by the time I am writing this email, mothe has not been seen anywhere. Today, I had my brother Gordon report to the police in the Chief Camp and I followed by phone calls to confirm that the Police station at the village Camp have the report on record.

I found out that there are strange arrangement to bring strange people at our home who are going to poise as Somali guard to be stationed at our home during this time of fluid election terrorism......pockets of attacks that are heard from many Tana River, Police Killings, attacks in Pokot, Mandera, Garissa, Turkana, Rift Valley, night barglary with cow theft in the villages such like in Nyakach and other areas in Gem. I fear organized crime may be in the offing by harboring terrorists, ribels or organized gangsters to terrorize the community using our home as a place of hiding terror gangs during the election time. I also found out that my house was vandalized, doors broken and my firm invaded by tresspassers without my consultation. I found out that people are cultivating my firm without my concent with arrangements to sell my land to foreign investors illicitly and illegally. This is the same with my father's home where my mother recide and we suspect that my mother is being terrorized so she can die quickly for them to take the land. My brother Gordon has also been threatened and he fears to speak out and report the happenings. In other words He has been silenced and is being intimidated. I fear for my brothers life too......

The attachements are incidents to confirm that the goings ons in Kenya is not safe or secured as people prepare to go for election. There is no security and there are fears that there could be foreign terror gangs planning to attack and terrorize our village ahead of the election and I fear my mother could have become a target.

Memory of 2007/8 is not over from our minds yet.

I will be greatful if you can help with intervention to locate my mother safely and further press for remedy so peace can set in our home again.

My mother's life is very valuable to me and I am at pain when her whereabouts is still unknown in such an excruciating pain and that she has to go through this torment at her age. For whomever is engaged in this act of wickedness and evil must be wholesomely condemned by all peace loving good people. I am saddened and lost for words.....

Kindly help !

Sincerely,

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA

http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

- - - - - - - - - - -

From: Judy Miriga
Sent: Fri, July 9, 2010 12:24:46 AM
Subject: Open Letter to President Kibaki and PM Raila

Dear Mr. President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila,

I hope this email finds both of you in good health, and wish PM Raila quick and full recovery.

The reason for writing this email to you both is I have an urgent problem which I need intervention of your good Office.

In the recent past, my mother had been invaded and beaten in the night while people were asleep. Many other times when mother goes to Church, people entered into the house and frequently stole things or just roughed up the house so when she comes back, she notices someone has been into the house. Three times within this year, some people supposedly sent from Government Office, came and marked the house, then later, other people came in with insecticides and sprayed the house allover the house and turned the bed upside down and sprayed the supposedly mosquito insecticides. When I called home, my mother’s voice was not clear and she complained she has been sneezing terribly with too much itching of the eyes, that every time she goes to sleep, she sneezes uncontrollably. My baby brother also got affected and is unable to see clearly he is home complaining of eye itchiness and sore. I find this act to be very strange.

Some few weeks ago, my brother was rescued and fished out from falling into the borehole and said he could not remember how he fell in there at the market place. He had severe bruises and was hurting badly.

Few months ago, my only uncle died in a mysterious circumstances, and KPA Officials in Kisumu were involved in suspicious activities meant to embezzling his benefits without following proper procedures.

I fear to overlook such activities because of many strange happenings in and around Kenya, so I must keep a watchful eye on my mother and brother with the rest of family members since my father had died and my uncle was the last to die amongst all my uncles and the family is very vulnerable.

I have in the past put my life on line since 1992 during the repeal of section 2A and the struggle to demand for change for better life to all Kenyans, I am not an enemy of Kenya but a friend, who have interests of the people of Kenya at heart. I should not therefore be treated as an enemy but a friend and a Veteran who want the best for Kenya and Kenyans. I plead for the lives of my mother and family that they should not be harmed by those who may take advantage of fluid situation in Kenya.

What makes the last case more odd, suspicious and curious is that, since I was born, I have never heard anyone coming to the village homes to spray mosquito insecticides inside the house, not even in areas within the surrounding of the homes. If anything believable, what is acceptable is spraying outside the houses in the bushes. The Notice for information to the community is in usually made through the Chief Camps, but this one is strange.

I fear that my mother and brothers as well as other relative's lives at home are not in any endanger by the inhaling of such toxic substances which can possible harm their lives. I fear because it is an uncommon practice and very strange to me. I fear therefore that my family members are not targeted in any way or by those who might pretend to have been sent by the Government but are after sinister motives to terminate lives of my family members from existence. I have tried severally to contacted the MP Member of Parliament for Oyugis Hon. Minister Oyugi Magwanga without any success. I believe the Chief is helpless if much help in not coming from the Member of Parliament. I also noticed that the community at home are fearsome and cannot clearly speak up and say what may become of the problem, I can feel the fear that they are not open.

I need your urgent intervention and I therefore request for your kind information and assistance to safeguard my mother and family from harm, and I trust this request will meet with your favorable kind response on the matter.

Sincerely,
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA

http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

c.c. MP Oyugi Magwanga
Chief Carolyne

- - - -

Kenya: As Polls Loom, Tensions Mount in Slums

4 December 2012

Nairobi — After Kenya went to the polls five years ago, Victor Situma and his family were among some 600,000 people who fled their homes as, in many parts of the country, a bitter dispute over who had won the presidency degenerated into widespread inter-communal violence.

His house and shop were looted and vandalized. In all, more than 1,500 people were killed. Two years ago, he returned from his rural home in the western Kakamega District to Mathare, one of Nairobi's largest slums. But father-of-six Situma plans to move his family back west soon.

The next elections are due in March 2013. A raft of posts - from the presidency to ward representatives - is up for grabs. Candidates and parties tend to revolve not around policy but geographic region and, by extension, ethnicity. The run-up to the polls has already been marred by several incidents of violence.

"I will vote here in Nairobi because of my job. But I will take my family to western Kenya so that even if there is violence, I die alone. I don't see any guarantee that the election will be peaceful," he told IRIN.

"I don't know who will win the elections, but you can still be attacked, because politicians are already saying 'our people must get this post or another', but the poor people we live with here believe in what they say and will take their word for it," he added.

According to Olga Mutoro, policy and governance officer at the Peace and Development Network Trust (PeaceNet), Situma's fears are far from uncommon.

"In the slums, suspicions among people from different ethnic communities are growing, and many are beginning to segregate according to their tribes in order to give themselves a sense of comfort" she told IRIN.

Rispa Wambui, 35, also no longer feels safe in Kibera, another major Nairobi slum, where she has lived with her family for 15 years.

"Many of my neighbours are not from [my] tribe, and I know whatever the outcome of the coming election, they might attack me. I don't want to wait for that to happen. I am looking for a house to rent in a place where my people are many. It is the only way I can feel safe," she said.

Foreshadowing violence

"We are witnessing pockets of violence across the country - much of it with political motives - and this could be a pointer to what the country might witness when electioneering moods set in properly," Saida Ali, executive director of the NGO Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), told IRIN.

(Page 2 of 2)

"People who live in informal settlements experience few security patrols, and many are also vulnerable to political manipulation due to their low economic status," she said.

According to government data, 71 per cent of Kenya's urban population lives in slums. "During the [2007-8] post-election violence, traditional myths about the existence of 'ancestral homelands' - considered to be binding to specific ethnic communities by blood - were transferred to Nairobi's suburbs and violently enforced," the Nairobi-based Peace Research Institute wrote in a recent report.

"Ethnic identities were checked by vigilante groups at zone boundaries [in slums], inter-group clashes occurred mostly along such boundaries, and the slum-dwellers adjusted their daily movements with regard to the location of ethnic zones (e.g., by avoiding zones held by members of opposing ethnic communities)," the report added.

Gender-based violence

Experts say that as fears of electoral violence grow, so do fears of gender-based violence.

"Women bear the greatest burdens of violence, and this is what happened even in the 2007 and 2008 conflict," said Atsango Chesoni, the executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, an NGO.

"It is during the elections that people take the opportunity to defile women," COVAW's Ali said.

Mutoro of PeaceNet says empowerment programmes are needed to help people ward off political manipulation.

"People need to be sensitized on national unity and, at the same time, given the skills to be able to address their grievances without necessarily finding comfort in their tribal groupings," Mutoro said.

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. ]

Poll shows fears of Kenya election violence linger
Reuters – Fri, Oct 5, 2012

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of Kenyans expect a presidential vote in March to be marred by post-election violence, an opinion poll showed on Friday, raising fears of a repeat of unrest in 2007/8 when more than 1,200 people were killed after a disputed ballot.

Kenya's March 4 poll will be closely watched and any serious violence is likely to be viewed dimly by the United States which has urged Kenya to hold free and fair elections and to be a role model for Africa.

However, a Gallup opinion poll released on Friday suggested fears of unrest linger. The survey - conducted between July and August - showed that 23 percent of Kenyans aged 18 or older (and who are therefore eligible to vote) expect election violence to recur.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga leads the race to replace retiring President Mwai Kibaki, the same poll showed.

The prime minister and Kibaki were the main rivals in a disputed 2007 presidential poll, when then opposition leader Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing the vote.

Not all Kenyans are so gloomy about the prospects for next year's election though.

The same survey showed that many are hopeful that the vote will be better organised than the 2007 election with 73 percent of those surveyed saying they thought police would ensure public safety during the vote.

Sixty seven percent also said they had confidence in the judicial system, a potentially significant statistic since Kenyan authorities believe the 2007/8 poll violence might have been avoided if people had had more faith in their legal system's ability to settle disputes.

Most Kenyans were confident the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which replaced the previous electoral commission blamed for botching the 2007 vote, would manage the polls effectively.

Pollsters interviewed 2,400 Kenyans across the country face-to-face.

Two prominent presidential hopefuls, former cabinet ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, are due to face trial at the International Criminal Court for their alleged role in the post-election violence.

--- On Fri, 9/7/10, Fred Miriga wrote:
From: Fred Miriga
Subject: Re: Open Letter to President Kibaki and PM Raila
Date: Friday, 9 July, 2010, 10:43

Dear Mr. Amenya Gibson & Tobias Odongo,

I have read both your letters replying to Judy's complain on Insecticides which is sprayed in people's houses including her mother's house in Ringa Kojwach, Kasipul Kabondo Location with surprise. It is strange to look at such behaviour as normal. I am brought up in Nyanza and I know from Colonial time to date that Mosquito that spread Malaria breeds in stagnant waters, dams, swampy areas etc all those are never found inside residential houses. They are outside the houses may be in the Compounds, outside homes, in the thickets, shrubs and swamp near rivers pond and stagnant waters in man made holes, valleys or such like depressions.

Tobias you are very close to the High most personalities in Kenya that such a dangerous thing cannot happen targeting to kill and finish people of Nyanza and you keep quite.

That exercise has killed so many children in Kano, South Nyanza and it is still killing more faster than Malaria. Investigation is going on and Kenya Government will pay dearly for allowing USAID to eliminate Luos in Nyanza.

It is up to the Government to come up with programs that will accommodate all students and children of Kenya equally but NOT selectivelly and thereby putting Students and young people of Kenya in Groups where others are enjoying while other are suffering. This is why we have President who should lead by examples, treating all Kenyans as His people. Ministers should make sure that all services is spread equally in all parts of the Ccountry and MP to make sure that His Voters [Community] have equal share in the Government Cake without marginalisation like what is happening in Nyanza presently and in the eyes of our enlightened MPs. Why do they earn Salaries and Raise their Salaries more than a half yearly for NO service done in representing the interest of Voters.

Any Trading Business coming from Overseas must consult, involve by seeking approval of the community with its leadership MPs and the Local Chiefs of the area. Our MPs in Nyanza should not get any SALARY thereof is such things are going on without their knowledge or raising concerns. They do not implement Government Policies as is required where they are suppose to consult with the people who send them to Parliament.

Two examples are;-

1. Government Burned the use of Chloroquine in Kenya almost 10 Years ago, but in Nyanza you still find Chloroquine used in Government Hospitals and Dispensaries.

2. Government passed that anybody diagnosed to have Malaria Parasite in his/her Blood will receive free Treatment in Government Hospitals and Dispensaries. This does not work in Nyanza.

If Nyanza MPs cannot follow such basic needs for their VOTERS then WHY! WHY!! WHY!!! should they earn SALARY? WHY should they come back again for the SECOND time to ask for VOTES when 1/2 or1/4 of the Voters are already dead of curable dicease in the name of MALARIA?

However we would like the Provincial Director of Medicine in Nyanza, District Medical Officer, Kasipul Kabondo and Nyando Districts, District Public Health Officers Kasipul Kabondo andNyando District and Area Chief of Ringa Kojuach and Awasi to tell people of Nyanza how many Children have already died in their areas and what action they have taken to Treat those already affected by the Sprey of Insectcide.

My last Question and concern is the Moi University Students headed by Mr. James Shikwati Director & Student President in Free Enterprise after Malaria Summit that took place in 2008 they were adviced to sprey the incectcide on the Wall internal but NOT on Beds.

When entering the Houses they themselves dress in a protective full-gear, covering their Mouths, eyes, ears, heads and the whole body against any drop and smell of the Insecticide. What Protection do they give to those who live in the HOUSE against the toxic and the Insecticide Smell which may last for days if not weeks? Is this not harmful to Human Health?

Do you agree with me that the Program may be good but the intention and Application is wrong, which is now resulting in DEATHS and SICKNESSES.

Fred Wuodoganda On Fri, 7/9/10, amenya gibson wrote:

From: amenya gibson
Subject: Open Letter to President Kibaki and PM Raila
Date: Friday, July 9, 2010, 6:01 AM

Hi Judy

Unless your case is peculiar I will be glad to to inform you that spraying of insectcides is an initiative that was started by SIFE program Student in Free Enterprise under James Shikwati of IREN

It has helped mostly university students to be engaged while on holidays

They target mostly malaria prone areas where they spray water ponds suspected to have breeding ground for malaria.

On Thu, 7/8/10, Nethan David wrote:

From: Nethan David
Subject: Re: Open Letter to President Kibaki and PM Raila
To: "Judy Miriga"
Date: Thursday, July 8, 2010, 7:09 PM

Judy.

What is this? How can this happen to Senior Citizens of your mother's status? I hope it is not any of the politics of the yesteryears where devastating effects were being inflicted on relatives of voices of reasons simply because they called a spade a spade !. But why ?

I hope the prophets of doom have not infiltrated the hitherto peaceful rurals of Oyugis and Kasipul/Kabondo as have been in other areas!. The frequency of events is even very worrying in deed!.

I think what these people do not know is that your position is so dear to them since you have all along been championing the destiny of Kenya in such a pragmatic and bold manner to the effect that several mountains have been moved to let Kenyans have a breathing space by way of the passage of the New Constitution on 4th of August 2010.

What they do not know is that you are one person for whom all Kenyans of goodwill should have knelled down and pray so that the passage of the New and progressive Constitution bring with it the desired benefits associated with the Kenyans in the Diaspora's expected connectivity with Development back home.

Out there, you are the voice of Kenya for Kenyans who need things from that Country, and people Must see it as such. There is no any other friend of Kenya better than the Head of Diaspora Secretariat, voicing the needs of Kenya in the land of plenty with a view to making Kenya harvest lots of undiscovered benefits now enshrined in the New Constitution. This Judy, the bridge between Kenya and all Kenyans in the Diaspora, a situation replica of that of the Ambassador at large, the resting shelter for new and disorientated Kenyans looking for opportunities. In my honest view, a person like this should have proper security for members of her/his family back at home to enable a peaceful working for the country. Your letter to the His Excellency The President is a welcome idea. If the area Member of Parliament is Too High to listen to Serious Kenyans, then what else can somebody do?

The New Constitution has it that the Civil Society Organizations will work in Partnership with the Government in effecting development programs in Kenya and Judy Miriga is standing at the Gate. Or is it her position at the gate which is the problem?

Time has come when if you know you can not be there you support who is, so that you reap the benefits and not the other way round. Times for envies and destructive jealousies are over, and people should sober-up. The area Chief is certainly answerable since he/she is the eye of the President down there. All questions and answers are certainly available at that office. Or are they trying to say that by spraying pesticides on the old lady they are doing Judy any good? Can that same person do the same to his/her own mother of that age?

This is a laughable comedy surely ! How come since 1963 ,today, the government! of all the people, the Government of Kenya is spraying mosquitoes in the Homes in Luoland!? Curious in deed. I have never seen such a thing in my life, even building a clinic in the villages, leave alone providing medicines in the community dispensaries.

Accidental incidents are understandable, but when incidents gets repeated as is the case here looks like there is something afoot!. The Chief, Councillor and the Member of Parliament should tell the people in the Diaspora what is their problem with their spokesperson and, indeed able voice in the wilderness.

The incident should be investigated and also there must be a proper connection with the past two so that a person is charged and it is made public for Kenyans in the Diaspora get assured that justice is done. Let no side shows mask the issue at hand of Passing the New Constitution on 4th August.

The new constitution will be the catalyst for the tempo for acquisition of enormous development opportunities for thousands of Kenyans through the office whose occupier you are now making restlessly uncomfortable. Be realistic and behave people !.

I rest my case.

Raphael Atore
President: Network for Development of Youth Inc.

On Fri, 7/9/10, Tobias Odongo Ogodo Ogodo wrote:
From: Tobias Odongo Ogodo Ogodo
Subject: Re: Open Letter to President Kibaki and PM Raila
To: "Judy Miriga"
Date: Friday, July 9, 2010, 4:08 AM

Hi Judy,

How are you doing there ? I hope you are doing very well. Have just red your email now and you are complaining about the work the Government is doing by spraying houses with insecticides. This is being done in every home in Kenya becouse it has been found by reaserchers that highland mosqutos is the highest killer diseased in Kenya and you know very well that Kasipul do bourdered Kisii highland. This is happening everywhere here in Kenya and not at your home alone.

From: Judy Miriga
To: Judy Miriga
Sent: Fri, July 9, 2010 12:24:46 AM
Subject: Open Letter to President Kibaki and PM Raila

Dear Mr. President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila,

I hope this email finds both of you in good health, and wish PM Raila quick and full recovery.

The reason for writing this email to you both is I have an urgent problem which I need intervention of your good Office.

In the recent past, my mother had been invaded and beaten in the night while people were asleep. Many other times when mother goes to Church, people entered into the house and frequently stole things or just roughed up the house so when she comes back, she notices someone has been into the house. Three times within this year, some people supposedly sent from Government Office, came and marked the house, then later, other people came in with insecticides and sprayed the house allover the house and turned the bed upside down and sprayed the supposedly mosquito insecticides. When I called home, my mother’s voice was not clear and she complained she has been sneezing terribly with too much itching of the eyes, that every time she goes to sleep, she sneezes uncontrollably. My baby brother also got affected and is unable to see clearly he is home complaining of eye itchiness and sore. I find this act to be very strange.

Some few weeks ago, my brother was rescued and fished out from falling into the borehole and said he could not remember how he fell in there at the market place. He had severe bruises and was hurting badly.

Few months ago, my only uncle died in a mysterious circumstances, and KPA Officials in Kisumu were involved in suspicious activities meant to embezzling his benefits without following proper procedures.

I fear to overlook such activities because of many strange happenings in and around Kenya, so I must keep a watchful eye on my mother and brother with the rest of family members since my father had died and my uncle was the last to die amongst all my uncles and the family is very vulnerable.

I have in the past put my life on line since 1992 during the repeal of section 2A and the struggle to demand for change for better life to all Kenyans, I am not an enemy of Kenya but a friend, who have interests of the people of Kenya at heart. I should not therefore be treated as an enemy but a friend and a Veteran who want the best for Kenya and Kenyans. I plead for the lives of my mother and family that they should not be harmed by those who may take advantage of fluid situation in Kenya.

What makes the last case more odd, suspicious and curious is that, since I was born, I have never heard anyone coming to the village homes to spray mosquito insecticides inside the house, not even in areas within the surrounding of the homes. If anything believable, what is acceptable is spraying outside the houses in the bushes. The Notice for information to the community is in usually made through the Chief Camps, but this one is strange.

I fear that my mother and brothers as well as other relative's lives at home are not in any endanger by the inhaling of such toxic substances which can possible harm their lives. I fear because it is an uncommon practice and very strange to me. I fear therefore that my family members are not targeted in any way or by those who might pretend to have been sent by the Government but are after sinister motives to terminate lives of my family members from existence. I have tried severally to contacted the MP Member of Parliament for Oyugis Hon. Minister Oyugi Magwanga without any success. I believe the Chief is helpless if much help in not coming from the Member of Parliament. I also noticed that the community at home are fearsome and cannot clearly speak up and say what may become of the problem, I can feel the fear that they are not open.

I need your urgent intervention and I therefore request for your kind information and assistance to safeguard my mother and family from harm, and I trust this request will meet with your favorable kind response on the matter.

Sincerely,
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA

http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

c.c. MP Oyugi Magwanga
Chief Carolyne

Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS)
Indoor residual spraying (IRS) is the application of small amounts of insecticide to the interior walls of houses to kill or sometimes repel malaria-transmitting mosquitoes. IRS is a highly effective, proven malaria prevention strategy that saves lives.

The Use of DDT
The President’s Malaria Initiative launched an indoor residual spraying campaign in Zanzibar, impacting 210,000 homes and helping over 1 million people. Source: USAID/Tanzania

The use of the insecticide DDT for IRS is very different from the massive agricultural applications that led to the ban of DDT in the United States and other countries, both in terms of the amounts of insecticide used and the potential risks to the environment. If used correctly for this purpose, it poses no known risk to human health. Malaria, on the other hand, kills more than 1 million people each year, the vast majority of whom are African children.

USAID adheres to strict environmental guidelines, approval processes, and procedures for the use of DDT and all other World Health Organization (WHO)-approved insecticides in its malaria control programs. We work with WHO and national partners to build country-level capacity to ensure the safe and judicious use of all insecticides, including DDT, used in malaria control programs.

DDT is one of the WHO-approved insecticides for IRS. Its use for IRS to prevent malaria is an allowable exception under the Stockholm Convention – also known as the Persistent Organic Pollutants Treaty or POPs Treaty – when used in accordance with WHO guidelines and when safe, effective, and affordable alternatives are not available. The Stockholm Convention aims to eventually end the use of all POPs, including DDT.

DDT is more effective and less expensive than many other insecticides in many situations; as a consequence it is a very “competitive” choice for IRS programs. Interest in IRS, with DDT specifically, has increased in WHO, national control programs, donors, and other partners, with recent examples of successful applications, particularly in southern Africa.

The determination of which of the WHO-approved insecticides to use for USAID’s IRS programs is made in coordination with the host-country malaria control program, with the primary objective of preventing as many malaria infections and deaths as possible in the most efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable way, and in accordance with national policies and capacities.

USAID has never had a “policy” as such either “for” or “against” DDT for IRS. The real change in the past two years has been a new interest and emphasis on the use of IRS in general – with DDT or any other insecticide – as an effective malaria prevention strategy in tropical Africa. For example, in fiscal year 2005 USAID supported less than $1 million of IRS in Africa, with programs utilizing insecticides purchased by the host government or another donor. For fiscal year 2006, in the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and in other bilateral programs, USAID will support more than $20 million in IRS programs in Africa, including the direct purchase of insecticides. This dramatic increase in the scale of our IRS programs overall is the greatest factor in DDT’s recent prominence in USAID programs.

Plans to Support IRS

In fiscal year (FY) 2005 USAID provided approximately $1 million support to IRS in Africa, in most cases utilizing insecticides purchased by the host government or another donor.

For FY 2006, USAID is providing more than $20 million in support of IRS activities in eight African countries, including the direct purchase of insecticides, spraying equipment, protective gear, environmental assessments, training of spray personnel and information, education, and communication for local residents.

USAID is currently supporting IRS with DDT in Zambia.

This year, pending completion and satisfactory results of all necessary entomological and environmental assessments, USAID plans to support IRS with DDT in Ethiopia and Mozambique (including purchase of the insecticide); and also in Madagascar (using DDT purchased by another donor).

With FY 2006 funding, USAID is supporting IRS with insecticides other than DDT in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Angola.

In FY 2007 the PMI will add four new countries, Malawi, Senegal, Rwanda, and Mozambique. It is expected that funding for IRS will be part of the malaria control activities supported by the PMI in all of these countries.

From Stone Throwers to Wealth Creators

Who is a university student in Africa? Many times, university students in Africa are viewed to be an unruly mob. ‘Any time I drive past a university compound, I feel a sense of uneasiness, I know students for stone throwing and violence’, a motorist was quoted recently. Things are changing in Kenya. Despite the hard economic times that students especially in public universities undergo; a new group of young and energetic individuals has emerged with a mission of changing the way thing work in public institutions. That is why, the recent victory of Moi University, in a national entrepreneurship exposition surprised many analysts.

Students in Free Enterprise [SIFE Kenya] in conjunction with the Inter Region Economic Network [IREN Kenya] hosted the 3rd national university business and entrepreneurship exposition at the Panafric Hotel on Saturday May 28, 2005. In this event, Moi University Eldoret, were crowned the 2005 SIFE Kenya National Champions after beating 10 other universities in a highly competitive league. Moi University will proceed to Toronto (Canada) in early October to represent Kenya in SIFE World Cup an international exposition that will attract university teams from 42 countries world wide.

Moi University SIFE (MU-SIFE) was launched on 13th April 2004 under the umbrella body of SIFE Kenya. SIFE Kenya is a network of university teams aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and establishing linkages between business ventures, institutions of higher learning and communities. MU-SIFE has experienced a massive growth from a team of 13 students to 159 drawn from all disciplines in the institution. Located 40 Kms away from Eldoret town, Moi University was the second public university to be established in 1984 through the Mackay Commission as a college of Technology. It has a current population of 12000 students from the initial population of 64 spread out in 4 campuses.

Among the notable projects that MU-SIFE team is currently involved in are, Blooming Falls, that teaches small scale farmers vegetable production, Fertile attraction, that teaches farmers how to make cheap fertilizer, Biashara Nawiri that equips small and medium enterprise (SME) owners with entrepreneurial skills and their initiative of turning Kesses Dam into a recreational center. The team is also working with the Bindura children’s home teaching entrepreneurship with the aim of making the home financially independent. They also have the Green Power Project that aims at providing an alternative cheap and locally available fuel to replace the use of charcoal among others. Moi University SIFE is also remembered for having raised Kshs 65,000 towards the famine relief efforts through The Standard-KTN appeal last year.

In their Blooming Falls project, the team has been able to totally transform the life of a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Tarus. Mr. Tarus works as a security guard while his wife is a vegetable vendor. She used to walk for almost 35 KMS in search of vegetables for sale. This is because farmers in the locality mainly concentrate on maize and wheat farming. They used to plant maize on their 2 acre land and their annual income was Kshs 20,000. MU-SIFE managed to convince the couple to plant vegetables on one acre of their farm. The results are remarkable. Their daily income now stands at an average of Kshs 300 estimated at Kshs 72,000 annually. With this, their family is fed, clothed and their children send to school. In the past, this was impossible. According to Mr.Tarus, he used to take emergency loans from his employer just to be able to feed his family. His neighbors having seen the transformation have vowed to follow in his footsteps once their current maize crop is harvested. He now plans to expand his vegetable farm to the other acre. “If any life has been changed according to the SIFE spirit of changing the world, then I am the first one changed.” Mr. Tarus said. To the couple SIFE is god send and their lives will never be the same again. The SME owners have also formed a Sacco and some of them have opened accounts with Post Bank Kenya.

University students have most of the times been portrayed as unruly and living in utopia. The MU-SIFE initiatives have therefore taken their administrators by surprise. This was evident from their comments during a meeting facilitated by the Vice Chancellor’s office and the MU-SIFE team. According to Dr. Sang, the Chief Administrative Officer, the SIFE team portrays a different type of students. Dr. Sang had to be reassured that the neatly dressed, organized young people he was seating with were actually his students. Prof. Gudu, (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Planning and Development) said that the students work was very impressive. “Initially I had no idea what SIFE was all about until I got hold of their annual report. I go through a lot of reports daily and dismiss quite a number of them due to their theoretical nature. But here are students who have actually gone out into the field and done something tangible and on top of that produced a high caliber report” Prof. Gudu remarked. “What we have always had on paper the SIFE team has beaten us to it by implementing programs on the ground,” observed Dr. Rono, Head of sociology Department during the official handing over ceremony of the team’s trophy and certificates.

“The program has also been beneficial to the students both as a team and on individual basis” said Diana Ntinyari the team’s Vice President. “We have learnt how to work as a team noting that we come from diverse backgrounds. As a business management student, I have been able to put my theoretical knowledge to test. On top of that I have learnt how to plant Sukuma Wiki and other vegetables!” She added.

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), founded in the United States in 1975, is a positive grassroots student movement active on more than 1700 university campuses in more than 40 countries. The principle of SIFE is simple. Through teaching others, SIFE students gain a practical understanding of how market economies work. They gain the opportunity to make a lasting difference in their communities and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills. Through outreach programs, SIFE students are helping the community confront issues such as illiteracy, an under-educated workforce, economic naivety, the dangers of deficit spending and government over-regulation. ‘We at SIFE are investing heavily in the future of Africa, that is, the African youth. I welcome any one with a vision for this continent to join us in this quest.’ said James Shikwati, SIFE Kenya country Director.

By Jacqueline Sungu
SIFE Kenya Program Manager

GMAP - The Global Malaria Action Plan

World leaders and the global malaria community gathered on occasion of the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit on September 25, 2008, in New York to endorse an ambitious Global Malaria Action Plan – GMAP.

The GMAP provides a global framework for action around which partners can coordinate their efforts. The GMAP presents (i) a comprehensive overview of the global malaria landscape, (ii) an evidence-based approach to deliver effective prevention and treatment to all people at risk and (iii) an estimate of the annual funding needs to achieve the goals of the RBM Partnership for 2010, 2015 and beyond.

The GMAP outlines the RBM Partnership's vision for a substantial and sustained reduction in the burden of malaria in the near and mid-term, and the eventual global eradication of malaria in the long term, when new tools make eradication possible. To reach this vision, the targets of the GMAP are to:

Achieve universal coverage, as recently called for by the UN Secretary-General, for all populations at risk with locally appropriate interventions for prevention and case management by 2010 and sustain universal coverage until local field research suggests that coverage can gradually be targeted to high risk areas and seasons only, without risk of a generalized resurgence;

Reduce global malaria cases from 2000 levels by 50% in 2010 and by 75% in 2015;

Reduce global malaria deaths from 2000 levels by 50% in 2010 and to near zero preventable deaths in 2015;

Eliminate malaria in 8-10 countries by 2015 and afterwards in all countries in the pre-elimination phase today; and

In the long term, eradicate malaria world-wide by reducing the global incidence to zero through progressive elimination in countries.

To achieve these targets, the GMAP outlines a three-part global strategy:

control malaria to reduce the current burden and sustain control as long as necessary, eliminate malaria over time country by country and research new tools and approaches to support global control and elimination efforts.

The GMAP is a living document: as approaches and tools evolve to fight malaria, so will the plan.

Malaria: Overview on Infectious Diseases

Photo: Dr M Gavrioushkina, RBM Secretariat

RBM tackles parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs
6 July 2010, Geneva, Switzerland : - 45 representatives of diverse RBM partner organisations gather in Geneva for a two-day meeting to discuss solutions to the problem of emerging resistance to antimalarial drugs as part of the annual meeting of the RBM Case Management Working Group.
View Agenda and List of Participants of the Fourth Meeting of the RBM Partnership Case Management Working Group (CMWG)
More info on CMWG
Click the link.......

http://www.rbm.who.int/

View updated PMI country profiles as of April 2010.

Saving Lives

Every 30 seconds an African child dies of malaria. At least 1 million infants and children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa die each year from the mosquito-borne disease.

A Global Leader in Fighting Malaria

USAID has been committed to saving lives and fighting malaria since the 1950s. The Agency works closely with national governments to build their capacity to prevent and treat the disease. USAID also invests in the discovery and development of new antimalarial drugs and malaria vaccines.

In addition to its ongoing malaria programs, the Agency also manages programs through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), a $1.2 billion, five-year initiative to control malaria in Africa announced by former President Bush in June 2005. PMI is a collaborative U.S. Government effort led by USAID, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the Department of State, the White House, and others.

The goal of PMI is to reduce malaria deaths by half in 15 target countries in Africa by reaching 85 percent of the most vulnerable groups — children under 5 years of age and pregnant women — with proven and effective malaria prevention and treatment control measures: insecticide-treated mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying, lifesaving antimalarial drugs, and treatment to prevent malaria in pregnant women.

The 15 PMI focus countries were brought into the Initiative in a phased fashion:

Beginning fiscal year (FY) 2006: Angola, Tanzania, and Uganda

Beginning FY 2007: Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Senegal

Beginning FY 2008: Benin, Ethiopia (Oromia Region), Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, and Zambia
The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) is using several different methods of making insecticide-treated bednets available to the Senegalese people. So far, PMI in Senegal has used these various methods to satisfy 614,977 people’s preferences for bednets.

Read more...

PMI funding in FY 2006 was $30 million, rose to $135 million in FY 2007, to $300 million in FYs 2008 and 2009, and will increase to $500 million in FY 2010.

In each of the focus countries, PMI works closely with ministries of health and national malaria control programs and supports their national malaria control strategies and plans in coordination with other national and international partners, including the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank Malaria Booster Program, UNICEF, World Health Organization Global Malaria Program, and nongovernmental organizations, including faith-based and community groups, academia, and the private sector.

The Agency also provides support to malaria control efforts in three other nonfocus countries in Africa – Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Southern Sudan – and to two regional malaria control efforts in the Amazon Basin of South America and the Mekong Delta region of Southeast Asia. The latter two programs focus primarily on issues related to the identification and containment of antimalarial drug resistance.

USAID’s Strategy for Combating Malaria

USAID is a member of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, a global initiative made up of more than 90 partners whose goal is to halve the burden of malaria by 2010. The Agency’s expanded response to malaria supports the international goals and targets of the Abuja Summit [PDF, 68KB], the Millennium Development Goals, the White House Summit on Malaria, and the Global Malaria Action Plan.

The Agency’s malaria program focuses on five key areas:

Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS)

Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs)

Malaria in Pregnancy

Diagnosis and Treatment

Pesticide Management

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