May Allah Most High bless you all immensely for the work that you are doing – Mashallah it is soo refreshing and encouraging to see a group of Muslims being at the forefront for postive social change – Alhamdullilah! Inshallah I hope that the hordes of lazy Muslims (like myself) are motivated by your drive to get up and do something as well!

In regards to the Malaria campaign, I had a comment/question:

It is commendable that Muslims are recognizing and uniting to prevent and treat this scourge, Mashallah. To my knowledge, Islamic Relief is battling Malaria through the use of treated nets and medications. Although this is necessary and possibly most effective, (the medications especially for those infected), I wonder if there are other more long-term solutions to the Malaria crisis. Specifically, I came across a website of a family that uses the most common and natural protection against Mosquitos: Lemongrass/Citronella plants.
The website: http://www.journeytoforever.org/edu_homer.html

In the past in many small villages in India, every house and hut had a miraculous plant within arms reach: Aloe Vera. Every family had a pot of this hardy plant in their home, and most minor or moderate cuts or burns were immediately treated by cutting off a small piece of the leaf and rubbing the gooey inside gel on the affected area, healing it and naturally removing the threat of infection and disease. Plants and herbs have always been God’s natural pharmacy for mankind!

In the same way, why is it not possible for every home in Mali to have a very inexpensive pot of Lemongrass available? The smell of even one pot will be enough to drive the mosquitos away from a room, and, for those needing extra protection, cutting off a small piece of stem and rubbing the gooey insides on a person’s arms and legs will drive away the most stubborn mosquitos. It does not make sense to use manufactured nets (which can rip and whose repellent-coat will eventually fade) when a God-given plant exists which is renewable, reproducible, long-lasting and cheap – it might be even more effective than the nets!

I realize that this is probably a simplistic solution to a very complex and widespread problem, but I was just thinking of a possible long term solution once the campaign ends and the nets are no longer available.

Regardless of which technique is used, I do believe Muslims United for Change and Islamic Relief’s efforts are an excellent initiative and keeping with the highest Islamic spirit, and May Allah Most High give Muslims the tawfeeq to be the ones to wipe out Malaria – Inshallah!

Your sister in Islam,
Ambareen Syed,
Toronto, Canada
ummaservice@yahoo.ca