United Methodists commit to nets for Côte d'Ivoire

By John Gordon*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - At least 200,000 families in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, will receive malaria-preventing mosquito nets from the people of The United Methodist Church, said the president of the denomination's Council of Bishops.

Bishop Janice Riggle Huie of Houston announced the denomination's Côte d'Ivoire project on Sept. 27 during the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. Huie attended the gathering in New York as a representative of the people of The United Methodist Church, a founding partner in the Nothing But Nets malaria prevention campaign.

The Clinton Initiative, headed by former President Bill Clinton, recognizes businesses, individuals and other organizations for their commitments to improving global health, fighting poverty, reversing global warming and improving education.

As part of the initiative's third annual meeting, Huie received a certificate recognizing the church's pledge to fight malaria in Côte d'Ivoire.

"The people of The United Methodist Church are engaged to save lives of children in Africa," Huie said. "'Send a net, save a life' is a real-life example of United Methodists sharing the healing love of Jesus Christ in a hurting world."

The presentation was made by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. "Every 30 seconds, a child dies of malaria," said Gerberding. "This action will affect the lives of 600,000 people. So we thank you for your commitment."

A living partnership
The Côte d'Ivoire project will raise $1.5 million to purchase insecticide-treated mosquito nets for areas of the country most affected by malaria. The church's Texas Annual (regional) Conference, where Huie is the resident bishop, hopes to raise $1 million by December 2008.

United Methodists in the Texas conference are partnering with United Methodists in Côte d'Ivoire to distribute the mosquito nets. Huie said members of a conference delegation learned during a recent trip to Côte d'Ivoire that the government considers malaria a top concern.

"Our visit to Côte d'Ivoire inspired us to action," she said. "With United Methodist congregations throughout the country, we have a ready-made distribution system for mosquito nets already in place."

Global health issues are a major worldwide focus of United Methodists, who already have raised more than $1.75 million worldwide for Nothing But Nets since helping to launch the campaign last fall. So far, the campaign has distributed approximately 196,000 nets to Zimbabwe, Congo, Nigeria and Chad.

In addition to United Methodists in Texas and Côte d'Ivoire, other partners in the Côte d'Ivoire project include The United Nations Foundation and United Methodist Communications.

Huie said the support and effectiveness of the Nothing But Nets campaign has opened new opportunities for partnerships with the people of The United Methodist Church.

"This is a wonderful conference and it's been a terrific learning opportunity," she said. "There may be far more willingness on the part of corporations, governmental groups and also non-governmental organizations - ones that I had not even thought of previously, to work in partnership with the church than I first imagined."

'Immensely rewarding'
The Clinton Global Initiative's three-day conference drew 1,300 people, including present or former heads of state of 52 countries. Among those were Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; Hamid Karzai, president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway.

Clinton called the pledges and commitments made during the conference "immensely rewarding."

"I think that I should spend my life now trying to give back to the public and the world in return for the great life that I had," he said. "I didn't lose interest in these matters when I stopped being president."

During the conference, Bishop Huie met with media pioneer Ted Turner, whose donation launched the U.N. Foundation, one of the founding partners of Nothing But Nets along with the people of The United Methodist Church, the Measles Initiative, NBA Cares, Millennium Promise and Sports Illustrated. Huie thanked Turner for his commitment to the humanitarian cause.

Also on the program was Ann Veneman, executive director of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. Veneman said the use of bed nets for children has proven one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent malaria. "For about $10 or less per net, you can provide a child the kind of protection that he or she needs," she said.

Veneman cited new studies showing that the nets campaign is effective.

"The statistics that will be released later this year will show that bed net distribution is being expanded in many of the most impacted parts of the world that are suffering from malaria, particularly in Africa," she said. "There are also some statistics that show where bed nets are being appropriately and adequately distributed, that you're seeing a lowering of hospital visits, health care visits, because you see that people are not getting sick from malaria as often."

Send a net, save a life
The people of The United Methodist Church have a fundraising goal of at least $3 million to help prevent malaria in Africa. At a faith leaders' luncheon in Houston on Sept. 20, Bishop Thomas Bickerton announced the church already has passed the halfway mark and raised more than $1.75 million in less than a year.

Bickerton said the denomination's involvement in Nothing But Nets is part of its larger commitment to combating diseases of poverty.

"We are in the early stages of creating a major global health initiative to raise awareness and understanding of health issues and expand the denomination's health ministries," he said. "Our success with Nothing But Nets has shown us the value of nontraditional partnerships, as well as how we can engage congregations at a grassroots level to make a real difference in the lives of others around the world."

Bickerton was in Houston as part of a yearlong, multi-city tour to raise malaria awareness through a series of events aimed at engaging students, faith communities, business leaders, athletes and sports fans. The tour travels to Detroit in October and Minneapolis in November.

*Gordon is a freelance writer and producer from Marshall, Texas. This story is based in part on a news release by Diane Denton, director of public information for The United Methodist Church.