On Friday, August 6, USAID/Senegal was pleased to be a part of the effort to distribute long-lasting, insecticide-treated mosquito nets with the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets Campaign and NBA Cares programs in Rufisque, a suburb of Dakar. Teams of NBA (National Basketball Association) and WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) players, USAID staff, US Peace Corps volunteers, government health workers and media crews ventured out into the town after a short ceremony emphasizing the importance of sleeping under a mosquito net in order to prevent malaria.
The visit was especially significant for those players who were born on the African continent. NBA Vice President for Development, Amadou Gallo Fall (originally from Senegal), talked to residents in their native Wolof language, followed by NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo (originally from Congo), who spoke in French.
USAID’s President’s Malaria Initiative, which has a nationwide bed net distribution program here, provided technical assistance and coordinated logistics among the various groups. The organizations spent the rest of the weekend running their “Basketball without Borders” program, a four-day camp, which received 65 of the top 19-and-under basketball players from across Africa. This was the first time these events were held in Senegal.