I just finished reading Little Bee, which is not based on a true story, but is about a couple from London who find themselves involved in the oil war in Nigeria when asked to save their own lives or those of two little girls. I won’t spoil the story for you, but it certainly makes you think about how lucky we are to live in countries where oil, famine, and disease don’t plague us. How lucky we are that we don’t have to choose between our lives and another human’s life. How lucky we are that food is plentiful. How lucky we are that we can sleep without worrying we might get sick.

About a year ago, I met people at Malaria No More because Mosquito Squad (client) was curious about partnering with them and I was doing a first-round of due diligence before making introductions. Before the first meeting, the partnership seemed likely – Mosquito Squad fights mosquitoes at home and Malaria No More fights the mosquito-borne disease, malaria, in Africa.

Then I sat and talked with their director of business development, who told me about the quest of Malaria No More to end malaria-related deaths in Africa by 2015. I remember, at the time, thinking that was a nearly impossible goal. As we talked more, I began to realize that the “death” (so to speak) of malaria-related deaths is pretty feasible. And then I realized the partnership was more than likely – it was imperative. (more…)