By Tabatha West, World Vision US
In August 2011, nearly 25,000 media, retailers, and exhibitors huddled inside the Salt Palace Convention Center to talk about the great outdoors.
World Vision was honored to join the conversation. We even brought a little piece of the outdoors with us; hundreds of little pieces, actually…and multiplying. This created a huge “buzz” at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, Utah.
World Vision's End Malaria display at the Outdoor Retailer Show in August, 2011
Hundreds of mosquitoes were on display at our End Malaria booth. While these mosquitoes weren’t carrying any diseases, they were instead bringing a strong message: over 2,000 children die every day from malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes.
World Vision’s End Malaria booth was set up in a prime position at the convention center to build partnerships and raise awareness among manufacturers, adventure trade companies and outdoor retailers. Our booth focused on the world’s deadliest predator, the mosquito, and the devastating impact that they have incurred on children worldwide.
Before viewing the booth, our audience of mainly kayakers, cyclists and climbers saw the mosquitoes as a nuisance. In reality, a mosquito’s harm is much greater than that. The tiny insect is more than just annoying because it could potentially be a lethal injection.
World Vision’s mosquito display captivated thousands of individuals as well as alerted them of the very preventable danger of malaria that affects millions of children worldwide.
With boots on the ground in nearly 100 countries worldwide, World Vision is also poised to make significant impact to eradicate malaria through the distribution of insecticide treated bed nets, malaria test kits and treatment. We want to harness the passion of outdoor industry retailers, manufacturers and travelers to join us in our coalition to End Malaria by 2015.
Are you in?
