Meet Kelli and Craig. As co-leaders of the World Vision End Malaria advocacy campaign, they are the voices that tell what World Vision is doing to address malaria…in the field, on “The Hill,” and out in the communities that care.

Greetings! I’m Kelli Day, Advocacy Campaigns and Outreach Manager at World Vision. Based in the Seattle area corporate headquarters, I co-lead the End Malaria campaign, focusing on outreach and public advocacy.

With a background in corporate and non-profit America, I have specialized in non-profit development and grassroots advocacy. In 2006, I co-founded a small non-profit organization with staff in Zambia and Ghana to help passionate nationals develop into leaders, and build programs that address the critical issues in their developing communities. It has become my life mission.

My time on the ground in many African villages and urban communities has brought to life the issue of malaria for me. A close friend of mine in Zambia developed cerebral malaria, and was unable to afford a visit to the clinic or medication. I was devastated to learn that he suffered through the high fever and chill cycles of malaria for six days before he was able to get help!

On another trip to Africa, our group passed a village where children were playing with their mosquito nets, using them to catch kapenta, the small Zambian fish which is a food staple found dried and piled high in Zambian marketplaces. Children fishing with the very bed nets that could mean the difference between life and death for them!

Troubling. and yet World Vision, with caregivers on the ground in the many communities we serve, is addressing the issue. With bed net distribution programs and in-home training, families and communities are protected, AND taught the proper usage and handling of bed nets.

We also see malaria as a justice issue. In the U.S. malaria was ended over 50 years ago, and yet the rest of the world is still dying from it. 2,000 children a day! And it’s entirely preventable!

That’s what fuels my passion for this cause. When I’m not running public malaria campaigns, I divide my time between my home in Washington state, and wherever the red dirt roads take me.

Craig Jaggers is the Policy Advisor for Health and Education at World Vision. He works in the Advocacy and Government Relations team based in Washington, D.C.  You will hear more from him soon!