Real Heroes versus

Rita Mosquito

Real Heroes versus

Rita Mosquito

Healing a Hurting World — Helping

Friends Fight Malaria

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Copyright 2011 Episcopal Relief & DevelopmentAll rights reserved.

Text by: Cynthia Coe

Photos courtesy of the following for Episcopal Relief & Development: Harvey Wang, page 15, 16, 19, 20, and 22

John Robinson, page 17Mike Dubose, United Methodist News Service, page 18

St. Chad’s Episcopal Church, Diocese of the Rio Grande, page 24

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Meet Rita Mosquito.

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Rita may look small and

dainty. She’s a quiet girl and never makes a sound. But don’t be fooled.

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Rita is dangerous.

She eats blood. She stings. She spreads disease. She can even kill people.

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The Real Rita

Rita lives on the continent of

Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, and her name to those really in the know is “anopheles.”(Psst…rhymes with “enough of peas.”)

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Rita doesn’t mean to be bad or to harm anyone.

She just has some baggage.

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Rita carries around tiny little parasites called

plasmodium falciparum. This unwanted baggage can make you throw up, give you fever and chills,

and leave you in bed unable to move.

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MalaRiaRita’s microscopic

stash of parasites is silent and deadly. You don’t know she has dropped them into your body until you feel very, very sick. This disease is called malaria.

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Rita sucks the blood of someone with malaria at night, picking up the unwanted baggage of the plasmodium falciparum parasite.

The truth is…Rita is a vampire.

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Then she bites other people and drops the

parasite into them, too — giving them malaria as well.

Rita can be a real pest!

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But Rita can be

stopped from her sickening, even deadly mission…

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…by Real Heroes.

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These Real Heroes do not have superpowers. They don’t dress in silly clothes or have crazy names.

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But these Real Heroes are out to change the world!

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Real Heroes know that Rita Mosquito can be stopped by very special force fields.

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These force fields can protect children of all ages, entire families, and even entire villages. These force

fields are called…

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BED NETS!

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Even petite Rita Mosquito cannot get through the fortified threads of a super-duper, properly installed,

insecticide-treated bed net!

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Who are these Real Heroes who use these force fields to keep Rita from spreading disease and death all

over sub-Saharan Africa?

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These Heroes are ordinary people who take bed nets to communities where Rita lives and who show

families how to use them to stop Rita’s bite. They educate communities about malaria, which makes them healthier and stronger.

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These Heroes are kids across Africa who take shelter under bed nets at night and keep Rita from biting

them and spreading her parasites while they sleep.

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These Heroes are people from all over the world who help buy these nets for friends in Africa who have to

live with Rita.

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These Heroes can even be...YOU!