JourneyOnline
EVERY 30 SECONDS a child dies of malaria.
Each year one million people will die of malaria.
Two Victorian pilots, Ken Evers and Tim Pryse, pictured left with Jonathan from Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) (centre), have completed a circumnavigation of the world to raise money for malaria programs.
On the Millions against Malaria journey they visited places like New Orleans, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea taking photos, collecting data and shooting footage for a documentary.
“If we work together we can make a big difference. People in malaria affected countries aren’t asking for millions of dollars, they’re asking for one net,” said Mr Evers.
The goal of the journey was to raise awareness of the global effects of Malaria.
They visited a lot of countries where something as simple as a mosquito net could save countless lives.
Mr Evers said “what we want to do now is a call to arms to get behind people like MAF who are working hard to do something about it; oftentimes unsung and unsupported and that’s got to stop. If we work together we can make a big difference.
People in Malaria affected countries aren’t asking for millions of dollars, they’re asking for one net.”
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and Australian Foundation for the People of the Asia Pacific (AFAP) are the 2 nominated charities for “Millions against Malaria”.
“MAF pilots are my heroes.
Living in PNG and watching the work of MAF taught me the lesson that you can use the gifts you have been given to do the right thing.
And of course in the case of MAF it is using the gifts of flight to help people.” said Mr Evers.
“AFAP provide a lot of the hospital equipment into areas that have Malaria and ensure the clinics have the equipment they need to treat those that have Malaria”
So what’s next? Both men were looking forward to a steak, having been without meat a lot over the last few months. But they’re keen to keep the ball rolling and use their flight and experiences to keep the ball rolling.
They want people in 12 months to not talk about the flight but talk about Malaria and to talk about things like raising money for MAF to get more planes so they can deliver the nets and the hospital equipment in very remote areas.
“If we can make a difference even in Papua New Guinea alone where last year they lost half a million people last year to Malaria.”
Mr Evers said “To fly around the world to save a person’s life then we’d do it…but to save half a million lives you need to act now.”
Photo : Photo courtesy of Matt Gees
