“I understand you’ve come a long way to get here. I know you’re from America, and that we have American generosity to thank for our healthy community. So I would just like to say thank you. Your support has not gone unnoticed.” – Sagude Rafera in Gonbore, Ethiopia, October 2011.

Dear friend,

Tonight, thousands of parents will lie awake, worried if their children are okay.

After leaving their homes because of extreme drought, famine, and conflict in the Horn of Africa, families are facing another deadly threat: malaria.

Refugee camps are typically crowded and located on swampy plots of land — the ideal environment for mosquitoes to multiply and carry malaria from person to person. It’s easy to understand why malaria is one of the leading causes of death in refugee camps.

There’s a simple solution: Insecticide-treated bed nets. Right now, more than 2 million refugees are at risk — and there are not enough bed nets to go around in camps.

It’s easy to help: Send life-saving nets to families in the Horn of Africa and we’ll send one of our holiday cards to your loved ones to let them know you’ve made a gift in their honor.

One bed net can protect a family of four from malaria for up to three years. In areas with high net coverage, bed nets can curb the spread of malaria by up to 90 percent.

It’s a solution that works: I saw it firsthand when I met Sagude Rafera on a recent trip to Ethiopia, one of the countries affected by the crisis in the Horn of Africa. For fathers like Sagude, bed nets mean he can sleep knowing his 8-year-old son is safe from malaria.

Every parent wants peace of mind — and you can provide it today with a simple bed net.

Refugees in the Horn of Africa need nets now. Please don’t wait: help two families get the bed nets they need ($20) or provide enough nets for a refugee camp’s health center ($100).

Thank you for helping. Happy holidays!

– Kate Dodson
Director of Global Health, United Nations Foundation