Stop #4: World Vision's Spirit of Christmas tour team lands in Lusaka, Zambia

Since November 19, World Vision and thousands of people around the world have been traveling the globe in search of the Christmas spirit as part of the Christian humanitarian agency's "Spirit of Christmas" tour.

The month-long tour features interviews and stories with children and families in the United States, Ecuador, Cambodia, Zambia and Ethiopia. World Vision's team will be highlighting both the heartbreaking circumstances of the poor and the inspiring impact even small donations of a few dollars through World Vision's Gift Catalog can make in helping families around the world care for their children.

Here's the latest from the team's fourth stop in Lusaka, Zambia.

Our latest stop on our Christmas journey has taken us a small village in Zambia. With all of the talk about AIDS and other diseases that can't be cured, sometimes we overlook those illnesses that are simple to treat -- but without proper prevention and medicine, can wreak havoc on the lives of children and families around the world. Malaria is one that falls into this category.

In many parts of the world malaria has all but been eliminated. However, in Zambia, it remains the number one killer of children under the age of five and poses a major health problem for the rest of the population. Today, we were able to spend some time with a family whose lives were practically controlled by the cycle and conditions of malaria.

"Malaria could not end in our household," Rachell Chuya, a mother of five, told us. "It was like we were just exchanging [it]. When my husband suffered from malaria and he got healed the next person [to get it] was me. When I got healed, the next person was our children... Nothing worked [to stop malaria]," she told us.

Rachell Chuya rests in the shade with some of her children.

Rachell knew the answer to her problems could be found by purchasing mosquito nets to protect herself and her children when they were sleeping -- the mosquitoes' favorite time to feed. But, even though the nets are relatively inexpensive (less than $10), they were not an option for her.

"It has been a challenging thing to decide whether to buy a net or to buy food for the children," she told us. "Of course you choose food because the little money you have you just have to buy food for the children," she said.

Rachell and her husband have to buy food for their family during much of the year because they are only able to grow crops during the rainy season. But these crops don't even stretch far enough to feed their own family let alone provide surplus to sell. Rachell was really stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"It is difficult when a child is suffering from malaria," she told us. "As a mother, you are stuck. You get home and you have nothing you can do, all that comes to mind is, 'I am waiting for my child to die.'"

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that kills nearly 1 million children every year. Research has shown that bed nets provide one of the best ways to protect children and adults from malaria.

Two years ago, thanks to generous donations to the World Vision Gift Catalog, Rachell and her family received three bed net from World Vision. The nets provided enough protection for Rachell and her family to sleep safely and remain protected from the menacing mosquitoes. However, not all families are as lucky as Rachell's.

I can't imagine being faced with such a difficult decision -- either fend off hunger and starvation now and risk dying from malaria or buy a net and risk not having any food to give your children. Neither option is acceptable.

To learn how you can provide bed nets for families like Rachell's, visit http://www.worldvisiongifts.org/bednets