Student Leaders Against Malaria (SLAM)

The SLAM project promotes malaria awareness, education, and advocacy efforts among children, and works to broaden their horizons through information and communication technologies (ICTs) and in-person, community-based, youth-generated initiatives. In malaria-endemic regions of the world, this project uses a variety of interpersonal communication approaches in an effort to build relationships and opportunities for children who are familiar with the challenges of this disease - while at the same time sensitising children from countries without malaria to the devastation caused by malaria. As exemplified by SLAM pilot projects (click here to access these examples on the SLAM website), SLAM goals and objectives can be tailored for different age groups, and "they are very much inspired by the creativity of specific groups of students and their SLAM mentors."

To detail this strategy, initial SLAM pilot projects have involved students in the United States partnered with students in Africa; these exchanges were facilitated by ICTs. For instance, a December 6 2005 video webcast featured presentations by Dr. Cindy Korir (MFI's African Liaison) regarding a pilot SLAM programme started in Kericho, Kenya. This project aimed to educate school-aged children about malaria, and encourage them to pass along that information to others around them (parents, neighbours, and other children). In this attempt to assist children in becoming leaders in their community and to demonstrate the potential for their education to have an impact on basic malaria control measures, a number of computers were provided to each of the 3 participating schools (located in the tea plantations of Kericho). MFI also facilitated interaction with students from a SLAM elective class held at The Galloway School in Atlanta, Georgia (in the United States, or US) and with students from after-school SLAM clubs in Detroit, Michigan (US). Children from both schools became pen pals and interchanged information they learned about malaria. Video clips were also exchanged. Organisers state that "[t]he next step in this partnership is to solidify the position of a project coordinator to manage the project's growth, and then engage an expanding number of school communities, involve an increasing number of children, and develop a global sense of belonging, unity and purpose among SLAM participants."

As is evident by the above-cited example, the participation of young people - particularly in a school-based context - is central to SLAM. To cite another illustration, the 7th grade SLAM group at Alexander Dawson School in the state of Colorado (US) created a PowerPoint presentation that they presented to peers of various ages. ICT was used here to educate students, to raise awareness about malaria, and to notify people about community-based fundraising events such as a coin drive in Botswana (wherein students brought money to school to help raise money for mosquito nets).

Health, Youth.