Saving Lives: How it happens, from start to finish

How does Nothing But Nets actually save lives? In the case of Chad, it began with you four weeks ago.

We asked you to raise $400,000 to help send nets to 200,000 uncovered people in Chad. You did it quicker than we could even have hoped. As the money came in, we started buying and shipping nets—Long Lasting Insecticide Impregnated Nets (LLINs)—from warehouses in Africa, Europe and Asia, to ship through Africa to Chad. This is not an easy act—40,000 nets weigh close to 20,000 lbs. Transporting the nets means navigating pothole ridden dirt roads across huge distances –like traveling from Washington DC to Denver—at a speed of about 25 mph. In other words, it takes weeks, not days.

By next week we’re hoping that half of the nets purchased will be in the capital, N'Djaména. But while the nets are traveling, we’re simultaneously setting up local distribution, getting aid workers to local villages to help hand out the nets and educate people about how to use them properly. I'm happy to report that we’ve gone through this part of the process as efficiently as I've seen in my career.

Saving lives is our motivation, but success is what keeps driving us forward. Support from a bake sale in the Blue Ridge Mountains is going to save a family in the arid pointed foothills of Abeche, Chad. And this is what makes Nothing But Nets unique—allowing anyone from around the world to save the life of someone in need.

As we hand out nets over the coming weeks, I look forward to tracking and reporting on their progress.

- Kevin Starace, Childrens Health Officer, United Nations Foundation