Fire star Diego Gutierrez is in Mali, Africa on behalf of the United Nations Foundation and Nothing But Nets, a charitable effort to provide netting to help stop the spread of Malaria.
Well, I am wrapping up my blogs. I hope you have enjoyed reading my adventures in Africa. Today we went to the market and spent a whole wad of cash. It really wasn't that much, but the currency in Mali makes you feel like you could "make it rain." We are getting on our motorcade in a few minutes, so I have to wrap this up and hurry to the airport. It's cool to travel with a diplomatic delegation. No airport terminals, no lines, no waiting, no hassles, no delays. It's great. If it only could be like that with MLS teams. Yeah, right. We would need another 13 Beckhams.
I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have. I look forward to sharing these experiences with you all once I get back. It has been a privilege.
The old U, S, of A, home sweet home ...
Today we got to do our sports clinics. With us is Ruth Riley from the WNBA. She plays in San Antonio, but has been a real globe-trotter when it comes to global health. She did a basketball clinic for girls in conjunction with the Malian Olympic basketball team. Dwayne and I had a soccer clinic in conjunction with the Malian Soccer Federation.
From the moment we got there you could tell that the kids were excited. There were about sixty kids in different uniforms. Our league sent a tremendous amount of gear and we were able to distribute it to the kids and even to other people who really needed it on the street. I assume that the next time anybody goes to Mali they will be able to spot a Galaxy, Wizards, Fire, Crew, or any MLS t-shirt in the streets of Bamako.
The clinic went great. The kids had a good time, the coaches had a good time, and Dwayne and I really enjoyed it. I guess it was very entertaining to yell instructions, move around the field, and ask questions with a translator at your hip. I'm wondering how Mr. Capello will do it.
We worked on a good warmup, some technical work, a bit of possession soccer, then we finished with crosses and finishing. There were a couple of kids that were very talented, only nobody knows how old they are, not even themselves. See, around here, not even mothers know exactly how old the kids are. Odds are if you are born in the city, you might know, but if you are born in rural areas, they sort of have an idea of how old you are by which season it is (rainy season or dry season), but not always. It is really strange, but given the fact that they have the highest fertility rate in the world (6.6 children per mother), I guess I can see how you get confused. Not to mention that parents most frequently lose babies to malaria, so they really don't know how old exactly anyone is.
The clinic was a complete success, and afterwards we educated the kids on what malaria is, how you can combat the disease, and we taught them how to use the bed nets. Every child walked away happy, with soccer gear, and a bed net to sleep under. I feel pretty good about what we are doing. Soccer is such a great tool to communicate and help people. I know the Man upstairs gave me my talent so that I could do this type of thing. Not only for my own indulgence, but so that I could help people. I really feel privileged to be part of this campaign, part of our sport, part of our league. I feel really proud of what our country is doing for others and I feel privileged to be able to do my part.
It's almost time to go home. I do miss my own kids. They do understand why we are here but it's still difficult to be away for this long. Tomorrow we will have a free day which we will spend in the market buying souvenirs, and gifts. I will see you tomorrow.
First, let me tell you that I slept under a bed net last night. It was the first time that I've done that, and it truly brought a sense of peace under these conditions. Knowing that I was safe from the danger and also the annoyance of mosquitoes was a relief. I also know that not everybody in this country has that luxury. Even worse, some in this country either don't know or don't believe that Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes. We've tried to educate people along this whole trip, and will continue to do so when we do our soccer clinic tomorrow. Let's move on.
We got up early in the morning to tour the village of Selingue and watch their net distribution process. Again, I was very pleased with what I saw. All these people have a genuine desire to keep their children healthy, and are gearing up towards the rainy season. That's when they all say the mosquitoes get bad. I really can't imagine that. We continued giving away little coloring books, crayons and balls. In this trip, we had the distinct honor to be accompanied by Gary Henderson, a great gentleman who is the Director of Global Health Initiatives for the United Methodist Church. Gary is great. His sense of humor and knowledge is what I like most about him. He had a good time playing soccer with some young kids. I think for all of us involved in this campaign there has been a sense of connection and love for the people of Mali. It goes unspoken but you can see it in a very real way. This trip is something that continues to give me perspective every day. Since I've been here, every day is Thanksgiving Day.
We had the chance to go to the biggest dam in Mali. This dam gives Bamako (the capital) and many other cities their energy. We got to go underneath and check out the turbines, the control room, and how it all works. It is a beautiful place in a beautiful landscape. One thing you never lose sight of here is the beauty of the landscape. In the afternoon we got to sort of hang out after lunch at a very beautiful resort. This was not the sort of place you think of when you think of Africa. Think of about twenty huts and an open air restaurant overlooking the water. The kind of place you see in a Bora Bora brochure. It was magnificent. We got a chance to regroup ourselves and decompress before we headed back to Bamako. At night I must admit it was refreshing to get back to the city and get a hot shower. After a long day of travel I can think of nothing better than a hot shower and a nice dinner. Our other group had gone to Segou and apparently had a tremendous trip as well.
I can tell you that words do not do justice for what we are experiencing in Mali. Putting a face to all of the work that we do back in the U.S. feels awesome. I'll be back tomorrow with more. For now, I'll enjoy dinner and a good night of rest. See ya!
I got up very excited today. Today was the official campaign launch announcement by President Toure. We got up early to attend the event at a local school, where it seemed thousands of children wanted to get a glimpse of a very well liked man. While we were there, the President acknowledged all the different organizations involved, and thanked Dwayne and I for our vision and passion. As expected, the President not only encouraged the whole population of Mali to come out and get their children vaccinated, but also challenged fathers to get involved in this process and take their children to the clinics (fathers are seldom seen with children). From there we went on our overnight trip where we got out on the field and experienced the real hardship of the people. The city we went to is called Selingue, and the westerners involved with the campaign had told us it was a beautiful place. We drove two and a half hours to Selingue, and along the way we stopped a few times at different health centers and makeshift clinics.
In reality we were expecting the worse of conditions, since at times it is very difficult to access rural clinics to provide them with what they need. In fact, the bed nets we were delivering had been shipped and flown to Senegal (Dakkar), then transported by plane, truck, car, camel, motorcycle, and who knows what else. Needless to say it is a very difficult process, one that got under way since way back in November (that's just one of the challenges in a campaign like this). At the first vaccination center where we stopped, all they had was a table with the vaccinations and the bed nets. It was outdoors, and you could tell that the group of about 50 women had come from afar. Each one of them had about three children with them, and the whole scene was sort of chaotic. Women were pushing and jockeying for positions in the line, and you could tell they were running short on patience. It was extremely hot, and standing in line with three kids is not easy for anybody (been there and done that). To make matters more difficult, as the children see others get vaccinated, well, they cry as well. Anybody would be short in patience. I think we sort of came in and gave them a novelty to look at though. It is not often that they see people that look like us around. My wife was a hit the whole trip; she had the idea to bring hundreds of coloring books, crayons and little soccer balls to give away to the kids. So as children were getting vaccinated, they were getting goodies to calm them down. That was great to see.
At the second clinic we stopped at, it was complete contrast. We saw a very organized clinic and a patient group of women waiting for their children to be taken care of. They even had two entrance and exit points that made matters much easier. This was what I was hoping for. To see the best of these workers, local men and women, volunteers, students, all working together to take care of their young ones. This is what I wanted to take back home so that people see how their dollars and their efforts are saving people they don't know, helping babies they've never seen grow strong. I was absolutely delighted with this clinic. I made sure our translator expressed to the man in charge that I was very moved and pleased with his operation. I was happy.
From there we went on to our hotel in Selingue. As we waited for the hotel to arrange our rooms, Dwayne and I spotted a small dirt soccer field with some locals playing. We made our way there in a hurry and kicked around with the locals for about ten minutes before we got called back. We had a great time during those ten minutes, and even though we didn't speak their language, the round ball connected us all.
I had a great time today. I saw the operation from two different angles and even got to play soccer! I'll be back with more tomorrow.
We started out the day by meeting with Dwayne and Brandy for breakfast. We later met with the people from the US embassy, who are coordinating our soccer clinic in conjunction with the Malian Soccer Federation. We will be accompanied by four members of the Malian National team. We are very much looking forward to it.
At 12 we went on to a round table which included Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders. This was geared towards brainstorming and developing ways to improve health conditions in Mali. The people face many challenges when it comes to health, one of them being their reliance on cultural methods as opposed to western medicine. At times when they do bring their children in for treatment, it's already too late. We discussed the importance of birth control as well.
This afternoon we went out on our first field visits. We had a lot of anticipation built up and also some anxiety. We truly did not know what kind of impact these visits could have on us. We visited two health centers which had many sick children. We were accompanied by Dr. Stephen Phillips, an HIV and Malaria specialist who is the Global Director of Health Initiatives for Exxon Mobil. Exxon historically has been a massive contributor to health campaigns around the world. They are present in a big way here in Mali, and have donated a film crew which is documenting most of our visits. We are very grateful to them. We envision bringing all of this material back to the States, where it will be produced and prepared for an extensive publicity campaign.
As expected, we were very moved by what we saw. Mali is the fifth poorest nation in the world, yet it has one of the highest fertility rates in the world, with an average of 6.6 children per mother. These conditions make life very difficult for people here, and in reality getting sick with as serious disease is all but deadly. Children are exposed to mosquitoes, and in consequence malaria. We anticipate that the delivery of 2.8 million bed nets will dramatically impact this problem. As I mentioned yesterday, by the time we leave Mali, every child in Mali will be provided with a net. It feels good to make progress, but it is hard to see so many sick children. Much more remains to be done. We will keep working, documenting, and encouraging the people here. I will be back tomorrow with more news. We will be dining with the President of Mali tomorrow. This trip keeps getting more and more interesting! See you tomorrow.
We started the day meeting with some personnel from Mali's Ministry of Health. We have learned how massive and important this campaign really is. My wife Ginna and I feel truly blessed and humbled to be part of this initiative. This is the biggest and most important health campaign that this country has ever undertaken.
There are almost 12 million people in Mali, and about 2.8 million are children. From December 13-19 every mother is to bring her children from 0-59 months to the nearest clinic locations which have been put in place for this campaign. The campaign is led by Mali's ministry of health, but it relies heavily on contributions from other organizations and foreign partners to make it successful. It consists of five different focus points: Measles vaccines, Polio vaccines, Vitamin A, Albendazole (for intestinal worms) and also Anti-malaria bed nets.
We will be delivering over 2 million bed nets; 133,000 were provided by Nothing But Nets supporters. We will be able to hit 95% of the targeted areas. By the time we leave Mali, every child under 5 will be covered by a bed net. I believe that is true progress and a massive accomplishment. This is the result of many people coming together to make the people of Mali safe from many health issues.
As you know, we are here with the United Nations Foundation and the Nothing But Nets campaign. We are specialists in malaria prevention. By distributing long lasting insecticide treated bed nets (LLINs), we can prevent children dying of malaria up to 90%. It is estimated that 3,000 children die daily in Africa because of malaria. Some of the other partners involved in this initiative include The American Red Cross, The Canadian Red Cross, Exxon Mobil, USAID, and the President's Malaria Initiative, among others.
In addition, Ruth Riley is a WNBA player representing her sport and of course joining along side us as well in this adventure are Dwayne DeRosario and his lovely wife Brandy. I think they are beginning to realize the importance and magnitude of this health campaign. We are all sort of stunned at what is happening right around us.
We had a briefing mid-morning, geared towards educating us with all of the statistics and approaches which this campaign is facing. In the afternoon, we had the official launch of the campaign in a massive press conference at Bamako's International convention center. President George Bush is very committed to tackling the malaria problem, and has created the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI).
At the head of PMI is United States Admiral Timothy Ziemer, who is here in Mali. He really is the President's right hand man when it comes to health. I had the opportunity to meet the Admiral at the White House and was very impressed with his enthusiasm and love for this cause. I saw him again at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where we were both speakers, and he had some wonderful words of encouragement for me.
Today again, as I spoke at the press conference, he expressed his gratitude for my passion and for being making it here. Dwayne got to meet the Admiral as well, and is as pumped up about tomorrow as I am. We are to visit some clinics and health centers tomorrow, so I think our eye-opening experience will resume then. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I will be documenting every step and will be sending pictures as well. See you then!
We have arrived in Mali. It was a lovely trip. We actually had a layover in Paris for eight hours. Knowing this before hand, I got in contact with my teammate Baky Soumare so that we could meet for lunch, since that is where he goes in the off-season. He picked us up at the airport and we went to the center of Paris to eat lunch at Luxemburg. We then went to the Eiffel Tower for some sight seeing. It was really good to see him. He was very generous and took the time to pick us up. My wife Ginna and I are really eager to get started with this trip. It has been a long day of travel, but we believe it will be very much worth it.
Dwayne De Rosario of the Houston Dynamo is accompanying Diego on this trip. For Dwayne's blog, click here: www.houstondynamo.com
