Letter from Shira, our Founder & Executive Director

April 2010

Greetings from Zambia!

Well, we made it through the rainy season, and we’re coming up to the season that I love most in Zambia when it starts becoming dry and cooler. Apparently, this past season was the worst rain season in two decades, making our malaria project timelier than ever.

A big focus the past few months has been our mosquito net installation project. While in 2009, we focused our work in orphanages in Lusaka, our work in 2010 is focused around a door-to-door campaign in the community. After meeting with health officials, we decided to target Chawama, a community hard-hit by flooding and malaria. Tiyanjane Theatre Organization, one of our education partners, is based in and well-connected to the Chawama community. They’ve been very valuable in assisting us with the one-on-one education we’re doing with mothers and caretakers. To date, we have installed 155 mosquito nets and 75 net curtains in 91 homes in the Chawama community.

I’ve attached a photo that shows two of our favorite recipients, both of whom have benefited from our distribution and education programs. Shinizi (on the left) is 6 years old and Georgina is 3 years old. Both live in Chawama with their sister, brother and grandmother (they are what are referred to as “double orphans”). We first met them in 2007 during one of our community education sessions, and their family was the first to receive a mosquito net distribution in our Chawama-based program.

I’m signing off now but want to thank you for reading this message and for believing in our work. I can assure you that all of the girls and boys we help greatly appreciate your support and we hope to continue to count on you as a partner in our outreach!

Shira Rohde, PhD
Founder & Executive Director
Flip Flop Foundation

Shinizi & Georgina (Feb 2010)