Jae-Ho Jung
Junior, International Economics and Business

Nowadays I work as a UN foundation supporter. Everyday about 3000 Africans die due to malaria, so we send disinfected tents. If all Africans had access to disinfected tents we could reduce the death rate from this disease by 70%. The cost of a disinfected tent is only 10$. I didn't know this before I worked as a UN Foundation supporter. This situation is much more serious than the new influenzas that have recently come up. We really need your help. However, we don't need money because you are still student. We just want you to be aware of the situation and spread the word. That's enough. These days I am so happy. Because I work to help Africans, and with enough help they can live with hope.Summer would not be summer without the usual attack of our blood-sucking friends, mosquitoes. Putting on a pair of short shorts sit still for an hour, and in mere minutes your legs will be laced with angry red bumps. Not only will your plans for a perfect beach body be ruined, but the next week or two are bound to be agonizingly itchy. You may attempt to fend off these nuisances using liquid mosquito repellent, repellent incense, or a good old fly swatter. However, whereas for most of us mosquitoes are but minor annoyances, many African families are being torn apart due to these tiny insects. In fact, the malaria-induced death toll in Africa is 3000 a day. 3000 people are equivalent to the total death toll of 9.11. To make things worse, most of these unfortunate victims are young children. Most people are not aware of the seriousness of Africa’s malaria problem, and are also unaware of how easy it is to contribute to the solution. For simply ten dollars one mosquito net can be purchased and distributed to an African family in need. That is, by giving up just two of your daily morning Starbucks doses, you can save an entire family from malaria. In 2006, sports writer Rick Reilly published a column in Sports Illustrated addressing this issue and urged readers to pitch in. His article made a huge impact and triggered the launching of the US nationwide campaign Nothing But Nets. Hosted by the United Nations Foundation and sponsored by various organizations and celebrities such as the NBA and the Jonas Brothers, Nothing But Nets has sent over 3,000,000 nets to Africa since its launching. The following is an excerpt from Reilly’s original article. We need nets. Not hoop nets, soccer nets or lacrosse nets. Not New Jersey Nets or dot-nets or clarinets. Mosquito nets. See, nearly 3,000 kids die every day in Africa from malaria. And according to the World Health Organization, transmission of the disease would be reduced by 60% with the use of mosquito nets and prompt treatment for the infected.We gotta get these nets. They're coated with an insecticide and cost between $4 and $6. You need about $10, all told, to get them shipped and installed. Some nets can cover a family of four. And they last four years. If we can cut the spread of disease, 10 bucks means a kid might get to live. Make it $20 and more kids are saved. One last vignette: A few years back, we took the family to Tanzania, which is ravaged by malaria now. We visited a school and played soccer with the kids. Must've been 50 on each team, running and laughing. A taped-up wad of newspapers was the ball and two rocks were the goal. Most fun I ever had getting whupped. When we got home, we sent some balls and nets. I kick myself now for that. How many of those kids are dead because of the wrong nets we sent?Beginning in April 2010, the Nothing But Nets campaign will find a new home in South Korea, for the first time outside of US borders. The Korean campaign is named “Net’s Go!” and will be based in Seoul and Daegu City. Sponsored by the United Nations Foundation and KICEA(Korea International Cooperation and Exchange Organization), the campaign is to hold its most important event of the year on April 25, World Malaria Day. Fundraisers and other promotional festivities will be held in major spots in Seoul and Daegu. For more information on the campaign, you may refer to the campaign’s official website, www.netsgo.or.kr, or send donations directly to Post Office Account 014159-01-004570 Junyong Choi (KICEA).