Stomp Out Malaria

World Malaria Day is on April 25th but in Peace Corps world, April is World Malaria Month because one day just isn't enough :) Malaria is a huge problem in Mozambique and I've seen it first hand in my town. Since I've been at site, I've seen many of my coworkers and neighbors gotten sick from malaria. Most of them that I know have overcome it after taking the treatment but I've visited 2 people who had a more complicated case of malaria. At this moment, one of my coworker just returned from the hospital yesterday from a complicated case of malaria.

So in honor of World Malaria Month, I gave a palestra about malaria to my REDES girls. We talked about what is Malaria, how it is transmitted, who is more vulnerable to malaria, what the symptoms are, as well as how to prevent it and treat it. We also talked about the importance of knowing the symptoms of malaria and completing the treatment. I created a malaria game for the girls to play the following week to test their knowledge on malaria. I did a test run and played it with my coworkers first to see if they liked it- they loved it! :)

Playing the game with my coworkers

Playing the game with my REDES girls

Winner!

The Malaria Game How-to's:

Game pieces

-Dice: I used sonobe unit to form the cube: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Sonobe-Unit
-Playing pieces: I used different type and color cloth pins. The players can write their name on a post-it to attach to the pin.

This is a simple two to eight player game wherein each player races to the end. Players roll the dice and move their game piece to the corresponding number of spaces. There are four different type of categories the players can land on: questions, event, mosquito bite, and hospital. Questions, event, and mosquito bite are card-drawing spaces.

Questions: Player pick up a card and read their question about malaria. If their answer is correct, they can stay there. If they are wrong, they have to go back one space.
Example: What type of mosquito transmits malaria?

Event: Player pick up a card and read their scenario and then either move forward or backyard depending on what it said.
Example: You repaired your ripped mosquito net, go forward one space.

Mosquito bite: Player pick up a card and read their scenario and then either stay there or miss a turn.
Example: You didn't use the mosquito net correctly, you have malaria. Lose a turn.