Pilgrim Africa Programs
MALARIA-FREE UGANDA
Uganda bears one of the world’s highest malaria burdens, with upwards of 100,000 malaria-related deaths each year. In the last 5 years Pilgrim Africa pioneered an innovative malaria control intervention in the Teso region of Uganda, affecting more than 400,000 people.
Pilgrim Africa is currently working in partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Health on a massive national scale-up of malaria control efforts, to begin in 2013.
EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
Pilgrim Africa currently operates The Beacon School, a secondary school in Soroti, Uganda. The school was founded by Pilgrim Africa in 2006 as a response to the need for quality education in the aftermath of Uganda’s long running civil war. Today, The Beacon School receives thousands of requests from students seeking to enroll each year, and in spite of being located in one of the poorest areas in Uganda, is one of the top academic institutions in the region.
With over half of the population under the age of 15, Uganda is the youngest country in the world. Seeking to invest in practical opportunities for the next generation of Ugandans, Pilgrim Africa is launching a tertiary institution to train agribusiness entrepreneurs in sustainable rural technologies, and to equip teachers with innovative pedagogical tools for the rural classroom.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is partnering with Pilgrim Africa in designing and building a green sustainable master plan for the campus, as well as helping design curriculum for the sustainable rural technologies program. Physics, Engineering, and Education faculty at Seattle Pacific University are mentoring faculty in Teso University's education department on responsive teaching and problem-based learning.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Recent Success: $800,000 Global Fund Grant
Pilgrim Africa won a large Global Fund grant to help train doctors and nurses in the Karamoja region of NE Uganda in innovative malaria control techniques. This work will begin in the summer of 2013.
Current Need: National net distribution
The Ugandan Ministry of Health has recently asked Pilgrim Africa to partner with them to publicly announce an integrated, national malaria eradication strategy, and at the same time to help launch Phase One: a nation-wide malaria net distribution campaign of 21 million nets, starting in Eastern Uganda.
The launch will be used as a first public platform to talk about and demonstrate Pilgrim Africa's strategy of integrated malaria control (indoor spraying + medical treatment) for the entire nation.
The initial distribution of 2 million nets will take place in 400 sub-counties in Eastern Uganda, protecting upwards of 4+ million people (assuming coverage of at least 2 people per net) and saving thousands of lives. Pilgrim Africa has been asked to coordinate this initial distribution by partners (USAID and World Vision), and to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of net usage.