Emily

Why should you, as an advocate of Africa, receive the $5,000,000 prize awarded by the [|__Mo Ibrahim Foundation__] ? Why I, an advocate of Africa should receive the $5,000,000 prize awarded by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation because I will use the money wisely towards the people of Ghana. Ways that I will be using the money wisely is I will use the money to help people’s health and keep them healthy and alive. One of the biggest health concern in Ghana is malaria, millions of people encounter malaria. Most of them are children, and they don’t always survive. I will use the money to help the people of Ghana with malaria, by providing them Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and malaria vaccines. The nets will keep out the female Anopheles mosquitoes and the vaccinations will also prevent the bites a well. If the number of people who have malaria decrease, then malaria will no longer be huge problem in Ghana.

Character: Aba- A child who has a sister with malaria. Aba is one of the female names that is given to a child who is born on a Thursday. Children who are born on Thursday, like Aba, are quiet in nature and incredibly observant. They are generally listeners, not talkers, and analyzes situations very well. Aba’s sister Ama is sick with malaria and will most likely die within a few weeks. Aba is eleven years old, while her sister, Ama, is only seven years old.

Country: Ghana has a population of about 24 million people. Ghana mainly consists low plains and small plateaus. It is the home to the Lake Volta, which is the world’s largest artificial lake. The climate is considered tropical, which means that it has a wet and dry season, but it is mainly warm and dry in the southeast, hot and humid in the southwest and hot and dry in the north. Ghana is surrounded by Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo and it the capital of Ghana is Accra. Ghana is currently one of the strongest economies of West Africa because of their rich natural resources. Rich natural resources include gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, and limestone. Ghana also has an agriculture market that produces cocoa, rice, and peanuts. Ghana is different, while other countries tend to focus on mining, lumber, food processing and light manufacturing, Ghana, focuses on the agriculture side when it comes to the economy.

Background: Aba is only eleven years old and she has to take take of her seven year old sister, Ama, who is dying from malaria. Ama was aware that she had malaria when she started seeing the signs of malaria. The signs are shivering, sweating and chills. Ama’s condition was so severe that it was too late to try to save her life. All Aba can do is watch her sister die slowly and painfully due to malaria. Her parent were both merchants made a good amount of money that could the family and sometimes get treats like ice cream or candy when they have money saved up. Aba’s parents died when they were murdered only a year ago. Aba has her very old grandmother who she also takes good care of. Aba takes care of her very old grandmother and her sister, there no one who looks after Aba, she is forced to look after herself. Aba is currently not working anywhere, and she has never had a job outside of taking care her grandmother and her sister. Aba grew up well with two loving parents along with her grandmother. Once her parents were gone, Aba was alone and had to start her adulthood a little bit earlier than most kids. Aba continues her search for looking for job to try to find some food for her sister, grandmother, and herself to stay alive.

References: UNICEF is an organization that is determined to try to build a world where rights of every child should be realized. UNICEF nurtures and care for children, when no one else will. Aba believes that every child should have a voice and should be heard, and they should not be scared to say how they really feel. With the help of UNICEF, every child’s voice could be heard and they should feel safe, they what they want to say. Another organization is that reflects Aba’s ideas is the Children’s Defense Fund, this organization is non- profit. The Children’s Defense Fund help remove children from poverty, protects children from abuse and neglect, they also ensure access to to health care. The ensured health care is what Aba is most excited about. Providing health care, can stop the spread of malaria or even prevent children from getting malaria. This organization could prevent children from getting malaria because they can provide special Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN). These special nets can reduce child mortality by 20 percent. Another method of preventing children from getting malaria is to get vaccinated. According to study shown, after 18 months of getting the vaccination, the risk of getting malaria was lowed by one third of the population. The third organization that can be referenced is March of Dimes, this organization that is dedicated to improve the health of babies. Ways that they improve the health of babies is that they prevent birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. This organization is a reference because they can make new born babies healthy, some babies may be at risk of getting malaria from their mother. With the help of this organization, babies can be born healthy and safe from any other infections or diseases.

Safety and Rule of Law: Accountability is a factor to why people in Ghana are getting malaria. malaria is spread when a single-cell parasitic protozoa Plasmodium; transmitted to humans via the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. The people of Ghana count on the government and organizations to get the resources that they need to survive and be healthy. Some resources that could be helpful are Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and vaccines to prevent the people of Ghana from getting malaria.

Participation and Human Rights: The people of Ghana need their rights such as human rights and freedom of expression. Human rights are given to every individual when they are born, and everyone has them. The people of Ghana should also be able to have the freedom of expression without be feared that someone may kill them. They should be able to express themselves how they want and feel good and happy about it. Having human rights and freedom of speech could eliminate the spread of malaria because if the Ghana’s government listens to how the people feel then it could be stopped. The government could try to invest in some Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and vaccines to prevent the spread of malaria in kids and adults living in Ghana.

Sustainable Economic Opportunity: In this category, budget management is a problem in Ghana because the government doesn’t do a very good job at it. The government’s budget management isn’t terrible, but it could be improved. Once the budget management is improved, the people of Ghana’s lives could be saved. Most know that money is needed for many things, such as food, water, shelter, and clothes, but most forget about health care. Health care seems to be pushed to the side, and they forget to help others who are sick and need to be treated and helped immediately. Those who are pushed to the side, normally end up dying, when they their life could have been saved. Malaria is one of the reasons why so many people in Ghana die every year. Malaria could be prevented by vaccines, but the budget management don’t spend too much on vaccines for malaria. Instead, money is spent on food, water, shelter, and clothes. The budget management should be better, by giving more attention to those with malaria.

Human Development: Health is a main concern in Ghana, because hundreds of people die because of a disease such as malaria or some other illnesses out there. Every year 3.5 million people catch malaria every year. Every year 20,000 children die from malaria and 25% of the children are under the age of five. More than quarter of all children in Africa die because of malaria, over a million of people die every year because of malaria. The health in Ghana needs improvement, so that the number of children who die every year will be decreased. The number of children who die from just malaria every year is significantly large, malaria is just one of the many diseases and infections in Ghana that is catchable.

Works Cited

"About UNICEF: Who We Are." UNICEF. UNICEF, 23 May 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. .

"Children's Defense Fund." About Us. Children's Defense Fund, 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://www.childrensdefense.org/about-us/>.

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