Twittering Mosquito Nets: NABUUR Online Volunteers Combat Malaria with Tweet-A-Net

(Guest blog post by Tweet-A-Net coordinator Maria Zandt)

25 April – World Malaria Day. Appeals to donate mosquito nets pop up every minute on twitter. Amongst big campaigns such as Malaria No More or Roll Back Malaria, a couple of Nabuur volunteers twittered “Tweet A Net”. Malaria is still endemic in 95% of Uganda and accounts for 70,000-110,000 child deaths annually in Uganda.

Three local representatives from Wakitaka, Mawoito and Jinja Central teamed – up with Nabuur (an online volunteering platform) volunteers to raise funds to buy mosquito nets for the children in their villages. And indeed, when ordinary people put their unique expertise and energies to extraordinary use, virtually anything is possible. Tweet A Net used social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to reach donors and spread the campaign’s message - that for just 2 euros - less than the price of a latte – you can protect a child from malaria.

Tweet A Net raised between 1 April and 25 April 415 mosquito nets (831 euros or 1104 USD). 115 people became fans of its facebook fan page, various organisations and individuals retweeted the daily Tweet A Net messages on twitter; special thanks goes to Jennifer and Romina. Other volunteers, as Ginger, spread the word amongst their friends and colleagues. Betterplace.org, a platform hosting the Tweet A Net fundraising page, offered Tweet A Net to become a guest blogger on their blog. Thanks to Nabuur storyteller Kirsti, a wonderful story about the impact of mosquito nets in the villages was written.

Thanks to the generous support by 27 different sponsors, 415 mosquito nets will soon be purchased by Emmanuel, Tonny and Paul in Jinja and then shared equally amongst their three villages. The mosquito net distribution will be used to raise public awareness and teach families how to prevent and combat malaria. Tweet A Net is still looking for interested organisations who could provide the community with information on malaria and its prevention.

Donations can still be made at http://www.betterplace.org/projects/3436-1000-mosquito-nets-for-uganda-t....