In keeping with Malaria Awareness Week, two groups at the University of California, Davis, are planning fundraisers on April 25 and 27 to draw attention to one of the world's oldest and deadliest diseases.
The UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases, also known as CVEC, will host an informational booth from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 25 at the Davis Farmers' Market, located at Central Park, between 3rd and 5th Streets. Informational posters and a bednet, the primary protection against malaria, will be displayed.
The UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association will host a fundraiser from 5 to 6 p.m., Friday, April 27 on the Memorial Union West Quad. Faso Baara, an African drumming group based in Davis, will perform traditional drumming. Displays will include a bednet and informational posters.
At both events, visitors may donate $10 for the purchase of a bednet for an African family.
The events are in conjunction with the international Malaria Day, Wednesday, April 25. The first-ever UC Davis Malaria Awareness Day symposium is set from noon to 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 25, in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall. Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef will deliver introductory remarks at the symposium, and speakers from UC Davis and UC San Francisco campuses will address the severity and prevalence of malaria and the UC commitment.
Master of ceremonies is UC Davis medical entomologist Gregory Lanzaro, director of CVEC, which includes researchers from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the School of Medicine.
Lisa Reimer, a graduate student in Lanzaro's lab, is coordinating the fundraisers. "We hope to draw students, staff, faculty, townspeople, and symposium participants," said Reimer, who did research on Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito that transmits malaria, last summer in the West African nation of Mali. She will continue her research there this summer.
"In addition to raising awareness about malaria, we will be accepting donations to buy bednets for Africa families," Reimer said. The cost is $10, with the funds going directly to the "Malaria No More Fund at Millenium Promise." Donors will receive a button designed by local artist and cultural anthropology student Melanie King. The bednets also may also be purchased through the Malaria No More Web site at www.malarianomore.org.
Faso Baara, formed in 2000 by master dancer and drummer Mamodou Sow of Davis, is a group of international entertainers with roots in Senegal, Turkey, Brazil, Iran, Uruguay and America. Sow, professionally trained in his native country of Senegal, West Africa, studied and trained in dance, drum and stilt-walking at the Ecole des Arts, Dakar, Senegal where he began performing as a member of the school's Ballet Integration African.
Sow has performed with several professional dance companies, including Ballet Echo Africa, Ballet Black Sofa, and Ballet Bougarabou, and has toured Europe as well as Africa. He has taught both dance and drum and performed with various groups in the Seattle, Portland and Sacramento areas.
Akif Eskalen, a Davis resident of Turkish descent, plays djun, djembe and suruba with the group. Djembe players include two Americans Rick Moore of Woodland and Shannon Lynch of Davis; Frenchman Florent Trouillas of Davis; Brazlilian Marco Lemes of Davis; Iranian Saeed Khazaie of Davis; Uruguyan Jose Ignacio Zambra of Davis.
Medical entomologist and CVEC director Gregory Lanzaro said malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes. "It is a public health problem in more than 100 countries, or 40 percent of the global population," he said. "It kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds."
More information on the UC Davis Malaria Awareness Day is at http://www.mrcg.ucdavis.edu/news/malariasymposium.html. Information on Faso Baara is at http://fasobaara.googlepages.com/.