In just one week, over 1,400 children in the Democratic Republic of Congo were given a better chance to avoid a disfiguring, and sometimes fatal, disease known as monkeypox. And now their parents are clamoring to receive the same information.
Victims of monkeypox, which belongs to the same group of viruses as smallpox, develop a rash that turns into raised bumps filled with fluid. These often start on the face before spreading to other parts of the body. In Africa, according to the Centers for Disease Control, up to 10% of Monkeypox victims die.
The Education Coordinator for INCEF found himself stranded in the town of Monkoto with several newly trained education teams, in an area that has experienced monkeypox outbreaks in the past. They were scheduled to leave Monkoto to begin their pilot outreach in villages throughout the region of Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Logistical problems held up their travel.
Instead of wasting the downtime, they took advantage of the delay to visit six primary and secondary schools in town using INCEF's video-centered outreach efforts. In just one week, they showed films explaining what monkeypox is and how to avoid contracting it or infecting others to 1,414 students. When the children returned home after these sessions and told their parents about the experience, the chiefs of each neighborhood petitioned INCEF (which is there working in collaboration with conservation and health groups on the nexus between conservation and public health) to hold more screenings for the adults.
To learn more about our approach visit our website: www.incef.org, watch our films on YOUTUBEwww.youtube.com/user/INCEF1 or visit http://apps.facebook.com/causes/incef
In 2008, we educated over 64,000 people using films on Great Ape Conservation and the Prevention of Ebola, all at a cost of less than $2.50 per person reached. Your donation could go a long way toward buying outreach equipment (each kit is approximately $3,000) paying an educator's salary, or providing transport. INCEF owns no vehicles and our education teams travel an average of 3,000 kilometers a year, mostly on foot walking from village to village.
Even a small donation of $25.00 can guarantee that we will reach another 10 individuals with our messages.
And every donation will provide lifesaving information to those who need it most. Like the schoolchildren of Monkoto.
Victims of monkeypox, which belongs to the same group of viruses as smallpox, develop a rash that turns into raised bumps filled with fluid. These often start on the face before spreading to other parts of the body. In Africa, according to the Centers for Disease Control, up to 10% of Monkeypox victims die.
The Education Coordinator for INCEF found himself stranded in the town of Monkoto with several newly trained education teams, in an area that has experienced monkeypox outbreaks in the past. They were scheduled to leave Monkoto to begin their pilot outreach in villages throughout the region of Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Logistical problems held up their travel.
Instead of wasting the downtime, they took advantage of the delay to visit six primary and secondary schools in town using INCEF's video-centered outreach efforts. In just one week, they showed films explaining what monkeypox is and how to avoid contracting it or infecting others to 1,414 students. When the children returned home after these sessions and told their parents about the experience, the chiefs of each neighborhood petitioned INCEF (which is there working in collaboration with conservation and health groups on the nexus between conservation and public health) to hold more screenings for the adults.
To learn more about our approach visit our website: www.incef.org, watch our films on YOUTUBEwww.youtube.com/user/INCEF1 or visit http://apps.facebook.com/causes/incef
In 2008, we educated over 64,000 people using films on Great Ape Conservation and the Prevention of Ebola, all at a cost of less than $2.50 per person reached. Your donation could go a long way toward buying outreach equipment (each kit is approximately $3,000) paying an educator's salary, or providing transport. INCEF owns no vehicles and our education teams travel an average of 3,000 kilometers a year, mostly on foot walking from village to village.
Even a small donation of $25.00 can guarantee that we will reach another 10 individuals with our messages.
And every donation will provide lifesaving information to those who need it most. Like the schoolchildren of Monkoto.