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buy a book. save a life.
Seven months ago I introduced our community to a book that means the world to me. The book is End Malaria: Bold Innovation, Limitless Generosity, and the Opportunity to Save a Life.
As I said in my original post, I'm a social worker and an activist - I wouldn't say, "Buy a book. Save a life." unless I believed we could literally save lives.
I'm part of END MALARIA because I believe in it.
Every 45 seconds a child dies from malaria and it's very easy to fix - it's a matter of will. Are we willing to do it? Our goal is to end malaria in Africa by 2015. I think it's possible.
Here's the bottom line:
I'm one of 62 contributors who were asked to write a short piece about the topic of Great Work – how to do more of the stuff that matters and less of all the other stuff that fills up your day.
The book costs $25 and $20 is going directly the cause - that’s 100% of the Kindle price, and 80% of the hard copy. The remaining $5 covers production costs.
None of the contributors or the publishing house are taking any money from sales. Amazon makes NO profit.
$20 buys two nets. We've raised $300,000 so far and we're moving closer to our 2015 goal!
The book is only available through amazon.com.
End Malaria is edited by the awesome Michael Bungay Stanier and published by Seth Godin’s publishing house, The Domino Project.
I'm proud to be part of this and I want to invite you to be a part of making malaria history! Buy a book or 20. The essays are powerful and inspiring. It's a wholehearted WIN!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Reader Comments (10)
Thank you for this. As a family who serve in missions, our work has taken us to Africa and part of loving with our whole hearts means we have to respond to the very real needs there.
My husband began going to Liberia in the early 90s during the awful civil war there. We sent relief supplies and people to help bring hope to this very broken people. Our hearts were deeply broken by all the unbelievable in humanity that we saw there. Every person was deeply touched by some devastating loss, either from a gun or a machete or starvation or disease.
We sent food and medical supplies, and my husband and son shared the Gospel there. They showed the Jesus Film, just the simple story of God's love and forgiveness.
At the time we lived in New Hampshire and partnered with medical facilities there to send medical supplies on the containers that we sent.
My husband came home from his first trip to Liberia with his heart changed forever. Several days later, I woke up to his violent shaking and delirious talk. He had malaria. The doctors in NH had never treated someone for malaria and were reading books in the ER to try to help him.
He relapsed many times over the next 9 years, until finally he was treated by a missionary doctor who works for the University of Pittsburgh. These bouts with fever and weakness affected his life but did not deter him from returning to this country many times. The people of Liberia came to love him in a deep way because he continued to return even after malaria.
Then in 2002, he took our oldest son with him. It was a moment of peace before Charles Taylor finally took the country over, and devastated Monrovia. My husband and son and their team shared about forgiveness and hope and the love of God for them.
I picked my husband up at the airport and i recognized this illness again. In spite of taking preventaive medication, he had malaria again. This time, it was more serious. He was hospitalized and cared for by the same doctor who had treated him before, but this time, he was not responding. For five days he had no response. His amazing doctor told me... "we are giving him every drug that will kill the malaria parasite, and every night my wife and i are praying for him."
While in the hospital we got a call from Africa. Our son had been taken to the only treatment center for malaria and was gravely ill. They were concerned for his life. His kidneys and liver not responding and he was turning yellow, a very high fever. An amazing thing was that the very relief supplies we had sent to help the people there were being used to save my son. "Donated by the Hitchcock Clinic" was taped to the IV pole bringing fluids to my sons body and giving him a chance to live.
So i had a son in Liberia and a husband in Pittsburgh both fighting for their lives from this dreaded disease. Our team there was so afraid when they saw my son, and began to pray the most earnest prayers for him. A real miracle happened after that prayer time, and he began to respond and in a hour was up and washed and had a full recovery. My husband responded after 5 days and had a total recovery.
They have both returned to this nation, and say that the needs of the people compel them. That the love of God constrains them to return and give what they can to this people who have been so broken by disease, and man's inhumanity. Our hearts are planted in Africa. So thank you for this work you lend your live and influence to. It takes courage to respond and I have known this first hand.
Debra