A Senegalese boy happily shows off his bed net purchased with AMF funds.

Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease—mostly found in Africa—and caused by mosquitoes. If you took all the kids in the world who die from malaria every day, they could fill seven jumbo jets. For just $5, someone can purchase a bed net treated with insecticide and save two to three lives.

Malaria was discovered in 1880, but it all started for me in fifth grade when I read an article in Time For Kids magazine about it. Later, as my bat mitzvah approached and I needed a project, this immediately came to mind. I researched different organizations and decided on the Against Malaria Foundation, or AMF. With this group I could participate in many different events, but I chose “Madness Against Malaria.” I registered my team on Sept. 21, 2007.

Madness Against Malaria is an international fundraising campaign set up in brackets and, as my sports-fanatic dad says, “It’s like the college basketball championship tournament.” Teams are put in groups of two, with the teams raising the most money moving on to the next round. I named my team “Peacing it Together,” after the international camp I attended last summer, and soon the donations started piling in.

I selected AMF because it gave me so many activities to choose from, and it made my project a lot more fun. It was also the only organization I saw that sold bed nets for less than $10. Another cool thing about AMF is that it shows you exactly where your bed nets are going.

Raising money for bed nets is part of my efforts toward tikkun olam, or repairing the world.  For my bat mitzvah project, I wanted to help people not just in the United States but in other parts of the world. Because I am concerned with world peace, I started my project on Sept. 21—International Peace Day.

My goal has been to raise enough money for 1,000 bed nets, or $5,000. So far I’ve raised enough money for 697 bed nets. I have just 303 more to go! When I reach 1,000 though, I don’t plan to stop, even if it’s after my bat mitzvah, which is the weekend of International Peace Day this September. 

Another goal of mine was to make it past round one of the Madness Against Malaria competition. Then, my goal changed to making it to the “Sweet 16” round. Next I wanted to get to the “Elite 8,” and before long I realized I had made it to the “Final 4.” I didn’t know what to think! When I found myself in the “Mad Bowl,” or final two, I was ecstatic. I had challenged families, universities and a corporation—teams from the U.S., Nigeria and Italy—but I was about to face my biggest challenge yet: a major university’s school of public health, with 500 people working for the fundraising team!

The competition recently ended, and although I didn’t win, I still am extremely happy about all the work I’ve done for people—mostly children—in Africa and other parts of the globe. The people who benefit from the bed nets are the real winners.

People in my community, around the country and in other parts of the world have contributed to my campaign, but the two largest single donations came from money raised by my 9-year-old brother Aaron’s Aleph class at our synagogue and from money Aaron and his public-school classmates raised from a bake sale. It makes me really happy that other people want to help so much.

One thing I did to make the competition more interesting is that I offered $2 for every donation of $18, or chai, that I received. I offered this for all multiples of $18. Many donors took me up on this challenge.

The most upsetting thing for me about malaria is that the disease is preventable and treatable, yet so many people still die from it because they cannot afford the prevention methods, such as bed nets, or medical-treatment methods. If everyone gave just $5, think about what a difference it would make!

For more information on malaria and bed nets, or to donate to my Peacing It Together team, go to MadnessAgainstMalaria.com/PeacingItTogether.

Aliza Glatter is entering eighth grade in Dresher, Pa. When she’s not studying, she enjoys dancing, acting, singing, playing clarinet, reading, keeping up with friends around the globe from her international camp and Camp Ramah and hanging out with friends locally. She also enjoys being part of CISV, an international peace organization, and Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing!, a Jewish program for teen girls.