Traveling Mosquito Net

January 12th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Health, Peace Corps | No Comments »

In training, I listened to a presentation about Peace Corps Volunteers getting malaria. Cameroon unfortunately has the highest number of Peace Corps Volunteers getting malaria. About 50 volunteers out of about 170 volunteers have become ill with it each year in the past few years. According to the results of surveys completed by Peace Corps Volunteers, about two-third of Peace Corps Volunteers who had malaria believed that they got the mosquito bite with malaria while traveling. This means that just about all of them didn’t sleep with a mosquito net while traveling.

Because I have already traveled in Cameroon and spent nights in places outside of my host family’s home and own home, I can totally understand the situation. I have been to places such as hotels where there were no mosquito nets and/or it was impossible to hang up the net due to no place to attach the hooks. Plus, the mosquito net that Peace Corps provided us is incredibly heavy and unpractical to carry because it can take up the entire space in a regular size school backpack. Even though I am very determined to ensure that I would not get malaria, I knew that there was no way I could carry the mosquito net around the country. Not to mention, it’s incredibly difficult to take down and set up.

As a travel savvy person who often shops for cool gadgets that make my traveling life easier, I knew that there had to be a mosquito net that is made for traveling. A mosquito net made for traveling means that it’s compact and easy to set up without needing any support from the ceiling or walls. I had imagined that I could find a mosquito net that looks like a camping tent. Therefore, I googled, “Mosquito Net Travel” and after clicking on many links, I finally found one that was just the right fit for me. It was called Two-Person Skeeter Defeater and found on a website called Long Road Traveling Supplies. I sent the link to my family in the US, asked them to order it for me and send it to me in a care package.

I just finally received the traveling mosquito net today. I was amazed by how small and compact the bag was for the mosquito net and wires to support the net. It fits very nicely in my 36L backpack that I use for traveling in Cameroon, leaving lots of room for my other items. I was able to assemble the entire net within five minutes and no difficulties. In fact, I found that assembling this mosquito net was much easier than setting up the mosquito net provided by Peace Corps. The mosquito net can fit on a full size bed and fit two people inside it. This mosquito net is also great for when if I have to sleep on a floor in a sleeping bag which I anticipate that I will have to do at least a few times in the future when traveling to other volunteers’ homes. The mosquito net does stand up by itself really nicely on the floor.

I would totally recommend and encourage other Peace Corps Volunteers and even travelers who are going to countries where malaria exists to purchase the net. I wouldn’t allow malaria to win!