Kingsley Holgate's Afrika Outside Edge expedition arrived in Mombasa, Kenya Wednesday, April 23, 2008, for a week of World Malaria Day events in conjunction with Vestergaard Frandsen's East Africa office. Vestergaard Frandsen representatives and distributors from Nairobi were present to greet the expedition upon arrival. Together, they spent the following three days visiting orphanages and hospitals in Mombasa, Lamu, and Likuni, where PermaNet® long-lasting, insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed. In total, 1,150 PermaNet® were donated by Vestergaard Frandsen and British Airways to prevent malaria in high-risk populations such as children under five, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems.

"Vestergaard Frandsen is proud to celebrate both the arrival of the Africa Outside Edge expedition and World Malaria Day," states Fred A. Mwale, Area Manager, Vestergaard Frandsen East Africa, who attended the events. "Unable to afford nets themselves, these small-scale PermaNet® distributions will undoubtedly make a large impact on malaria-prevention in the recipient institutions."

While many of these private orphanages and hospitals struggle to stay afloat and have very limited funding for nets, their orphans and patients die needlessly of malaria. No one knows this better than Betty Achieng, director of Glory be to God Children and Orphans Home in the Kisauni area of Mombasa. This home for nearly a hundred AIDS orphans and abandoned children suffered the loss of two of their young orphans last year from malaria. Until the PermaNet® distribution April 25th, the home had to rely on torn and patched untreated nets to provide protection from deadly malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

"I thank God for these nets, which will save the lives of our children," cried Ms. Achieng upon receiving the nets. "They have already lost their parents; they shouldn't have to watch their friends die, too."