There is a common phrase we use in Faiths Act that helps define what it is we are trying to accomplish.  We say we are working to be a “force for good” in the world, inspiring our communities to come together to have an impact on a disease that so desperately needs our attention- malaria.

Faiths Act is a global multi-faith movement in over 140 countries that mobilizes people of faith to take action on the Millennium Development Goals –malaria in particular.  Faiths Act is a project of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, and there are 33 Faiths Act Fellows working in the US, Canada, India, the UK and Sierra Leone to build partnerships across faith lines in their communities to show the world how faith can and often is a positive global force in the 21st century.  Last year, through volunteer projects, fundraisers, and school visits, Faiths Act inspired hundreds of faith communities to raise awareness and funds to combat malaria, educated 40,000 people about global health, and raised over $300,000.

As a Faiths Act Fellow, my goal is to work with my co-fellow to mobilize our local community to respond to global needs.  As a person of faith who has seen and experienced malaria firsthand, I feel the calling from my own faith to help those all around me and seek justice for those who are living in extreme poverty.  By partnering with my neighbors of different faiths, I’ve learned that this call to help those who are suffering is common in each of the world’s major religions.  We can draw on our shared concern to save lives and together accomplish more in the fight to end malaria.

So what equals a net for me?

While I can think about the monetary value and what I can give up in order to fund the purchase of nets, I find it inspiring to focus on the potential a net can provide.  When I think about the pregnant woman and her two children in Sierra Leone that can live malaria-free, I know that malaria net has incredible value.  When I think about the family in Ghana that can go to sleep at night feeling safe from the threat of mosquitoes, I remember how we must be that force for good.

On the Faiths Act curator page, you’ll find resources created by Faiths Act and our Faiths Act Fellows to help inspire your community to take action on malaria as part of the ACT:S “What Equals a Net” challenge. While you are on our page, don’t forget to visit Faiths Act on the web to help donate a net with a click!  For every 10 new followers we get, Sumitomo Chemical will donate a mosquito net to Malaria No More UK to help prevent malaria.

Carolyn Worthge is a Faiths Act Fellow working at The ONE Campaign.