Malaria Awareness
Next, we moved into the courtyard to receive a briefing from the coordinator of Senegal's national malaria-control program. Malaria kills more people in Senegal than any other disease -- yet it's a treatable and preventable illness. We were able to eradicate malaria in the United States about 50 years ago. Bed nets and mosquito sprays are highly effective at preventing malaria transmission, and through the President's Malaria Initiative, life-saying nets, sprays, and medicines have already reached millions of Africans. At the hospital, I presented patients with bed nets provided through PMI. Protection from mosquitoes is essential for people with HIV/AIDS, since they -- along with pregnant women and young children -- are especially vulnerable to the disease.

Back to School
After the Fann hospital, we headed off to the Grand Medine primary school. Grand Medine was one of the first schools in Senegal to benefit from our government's Africa Education Initiative. Launched in 2002, AEI is a $600 million program that will provide scholarships to 550,000 African girls, and train more than 900,000 teachers, by the year 2010.

At the school, I met with five young women who are receiving the scholarships. They come from rural villages in Senegal -- many without electricity or running water. Education for women is rare. One of the girls, Nango Dang, hopes to become the first girl in her village to go to college. And since her village, Thicky Serere, has no nurses or doctors, she plans to study medicine. Then, she wants to return to her village to serve her people.