Letter to Senator Sam Brownback, United States Senator - Kansas

June 6, 2005

Senator Sam Brownback   

331 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Senator Brownback:

We would be honored if you could panel our vitally important conference in July.

The Liberian nation and people are suffering terrible, unsustainable losses of human life, human resources, capital investment and economic growth, because of malaria, one of the three worst infectious diseases and causes of death in our global community. An estimated 4,500 Liberian children die each year. At this rate, our nation has buried 700,000 infants and children since its founding 158 years ago, or 3.5 times the number of Liberians who died during our barbaric civil wars. We are tired of seeing our children die daily from a disease that is readily preventable.

You cannot see their faces, as you read this letter. But if you lean back and close your eyes, your mind will take you back to Africa, to the nightmare of homes, tents and clinics where women and children shake with fever and convulsions, vomit when there is nothing left in their stomachs, and cry out from the pain and thirst. You will see the hollow eyes and anguished faces of husbands and parents, who must watch helplessly as their loved ones cling to life in the torment of their malaria, lapse into comas and permanent brain damage, or are laid in their graves. That is why we have come to you.

Liberian History, Education & Development (LIHEDE), a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization, will convene a national conference July 29-30 in the Student Union Ballroom of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. “Combating Malaria: A lesson for the rest of Africa” will bring together infectious disease experts, government officials and other people, to discuss malaria control programs that could be just as effective as those that eradicated this disease in the United States and Europe 40 years ago. We expect to attract more than 200 hundred Liberians and friends of Liberia, including more than forty Liberian organizations.

The symposium is co-sponsored by Bennett College for Women, North Carolina A&T State University, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, World Bank, Firestone Rubber Corporation and Congress of Racial Equality. It goal is to map out appropriate strategies and a human rights declaration for malaria abatement in Liberia and, ultimately, throughout Africa.

We would be honored if you would serve as a supporter/panelist– and hope your busy schedule can accommodate this. You know mosquitoes impact in Africa-Liberia, and your insights would add so much to the conference.

The symposium will also feature panel discussions on these issues, featuring Liberian community leaders, academicians, professionals and former government officials: Bishop Bennie D. Warner, (former VP of Liberia),  Cll. Philip Z. Banks (former Interim Head of State), Rev. Joseph Gbardyu, Mr. T. Nelson Williams, Sr.,  Joel Jones, MD, Minister, Malaria Control Division, Republic of Liberia, Mr. Arthur Watson, President of Union of Liberian Associations, the Rev. J. Emmanuel Z. Bowier, Mrs. Mydea Reeves-Karpeh,  Dr. Abraham James, Dr. Francis Karpteh, MD, Abu Marsellay, MD, Dr. Cyril Broderick, Ms. Nicole Williams,  Lawrence A. Zumo, MD, Eugene Sawyer, MD,  Dr. Robert Desowitz, Eugenia Cooper, MD, among others. 

Thank you very much for considering our request. We look forward to hearing back from you, and would be happy to address any questions you might have.

Sincerely,

Syrulwa Somah, PhD, Executive Director, LIHEDE

somah@ncat.edu or info@lihede.org

Cc: Dr. Nyan Flomo, Chairman Symposium Committee

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