Young children and pregnant women are most likely to become severely ill and die after an infectious mosquito bite. Yes, a mosquito bite. 3,000 children die every day. That is over 1 million deaths every year caused by infectious mosquito bites caring a disease called malaria.

Malaria has been brought under control and even eliminated in many parts of Asia, Europe and the Americas. Yet in Africa, malaria infections have actually increased over the last three decades. 40% of the world’s population is still at risk.

Malaria is both a cause and consequence of poverty and contributes to the extreme poverty in Africa. Annual economic loss in Africa due to malaria is estimated to be $12 billion.

MalariaNoMore.org is working to end deaths due to malaria by providing bed nets to every family in Africa that needs one.

The African malaria mosquitoes generally bite late at night or early morning. Mosquito nets can accommodate more than one person – a mother and an infant or a few siblings – for up to three to five years.

You can help save lives by donating a bed net and by spreading the word! Click HERE to buy your net for a family.

It’s hard to sit back and do nothing when beautiful little children and babies are dieing every 30 seconds from a PREVENTABLE and TREATABLE disease.

April 2007 was the 1st ever Malaria Awareness Month. If we all get involved, we can put an end to this deadly disease.

Do you think most Americans are aware of what a huge problem this is? We, at Mothers Fighting For Others, know. Together, we can save families.

When we visited the Athabasca Glacier in The Canadian Rockies, we could see how fast the glacier was retreating. There were stone markers with years on them, showing where the glacier used to be. As the Earth is getting warmer, glaciers all over are retreating. In many areas, this is causing the ocean levels to rise. Waterfront property today may be underwater property tomorrow!

If we reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, we will help stop Global Warming.
Here are a few things that we can do (and teach our kids to do) to help stop Global Warming.

Change a light – Replacing 1 regular light bulb with a compact florescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

Drive less – Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more often. You’ll save 1 pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive.

Recycle more – You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste.

Check your tires – Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage by more than 3%.
Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!

Use less hot water – It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year).

Avoid products with a lot of packaging – You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.

Adjust your thermostat – Move your thermostat just 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.

Plant a tree – A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

Turn off electronic devices – Turning off your tv, dvd player, stereo and computer when you’re not using them will save you thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

I found this list at climatecrisis.org. If you’d like to do more, check out this list of 27 Small Things You Can Do to Stop Global Warming

At StopGlobalWarming.org, you can join the 722,617 supporters of the Stop Global Warming Virtual March, and become part of the movement to demand our leaders freeze and reduce carbon dioxide emissions now.

Two million boys and girls are enslaved in the child sex industry—raped for pay, sold into prostitution, trafficked across borders, and bought as sexual souvenirs by tourists. The average age of these children is 13, however, there have been reports of children as young as 5 months.

Cheryl Perera started the youth run organization OneChild after she learned of the horrors that children are suffering around the world. When she heard about young children in Thailand forced to dance on stage for customers and service more than 26 of them a night, she knew she had to do something. OneChild is dedicated to ending the global sex trade in children and Cheryl Perera is an advocate for the world’s most exploited children.

At the age of 17, Cheryl travelled to Sri Lanka to investigate the issue of child exploitation. She met with child laborers, soldiers, and prostitutes. To get an insider’s look into the child sex trade, she worked with the National Child Protection Authority and posed as a 15 year-old child prostitute in a successful undercover STING operation.

Here are a few ways to get involved in the fight to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

1. Do your research! Check out www.one-child.ca for the facts and stats. The website also provides you with a list of other resources ie. books, documentaries, websites, organizations to check out.
2. Gather your dream team and form a OneChild One Voice Chapter. See www.one-child.ca for a how-to guide to starting a chapter.
3. Hold a fundraiser to help support our Build-a–Rehab Centre project
4. Organize a letter-writing campaign to key players in the global Travel and Tourism Industry ie. airlines, travel agencies and make them aware that you are appalled by the exploitation of children in the sex trade, and are calling upon them to take action. **See www.one-child.ca for a list of actions that the industry can take to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Also, here is a chance to help Cheryl raise more money and awareness. Go to www.brickaward.com and vote for Cheryl. She has been honored by Do Something, Inc. as one of the top 12 young leaders in North America. With your vote OneChild could win $15,000 which would be used to help build a new rehabilitation center for sexually exploited girls in the Philippines. The rehabilitation center will provide shelter, meals, therapy, and education.

Voting for Cheryl could mean a huge benefit for many children now in slavery, abusive situations and in need of help and rescue. Voting ends on April 9th . Watch the CW Network on April 12 at 9 pm to see more of Cheryl and other young people’s amazing work.