The Starfish Malaria Project

About Gunjur

Gunjur is a fishing village in the Kombo South District of The Gambia. The village and the surrounding rural areas are home to 15934 people, of which 2541 are under 5 years old.

Gunjur has a Health Centre which is the initial point of contact for all local people who need health care. Although some people may be transferred for specialist care in the main hospital in Banjur (the capital of The Gambia), many are treated locally. It is therefore fairly easy to collect statistics about the number of people in the area who contract malaria, and who die from the disease.

The Extent of the Problem

Gunjur Health Centre report for 2006 tells us that there were 8329 reported cases of malaria in that year, 3753 of whom were children and 242 were pregnant women.

250 children and six pregnant women died from malaria in the area in 2006.

It's a simple equation...

Nets + insecticide + health education = fewer people catching malaria + fewer deaths

The figures for malaria incidence and deaths will be sent to us annually, so we can monitor the direct impact of this project.

The Story so far...

Two local health education workers have already been employed. They are organising health education sessions about malaria to local families, and will distribute the nets, educate families how to use them, and monitor their impact.

The nets are being be made and bought in bulk quantities in The Gambia and dipped in insecticide before distribution.

The project is being overseen by the local non-governmental organization based in Gunjur – the Trust Agency for Rural Development (TARUD). Money is being transferred to TARUD three times a year on receipt of a satisfactory report and accounts for the previous four months.

The second injection of money will be personally taken to Gunjur by Neil when he visits in January, and handed to TARUD.

What we need

For each of the three years of the project, we are aiming to raise: