Canada based African socio-cultural organization and health care advocates Drum Against Malaria (DAM) has honoured the Special Assistant to the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Special Duties, Ms. Phionah Barungi with DAM Cultural Ambassador award for East Africa. The award was bestowed on Barungi during the one day commemoration for World Malaria Day held in City Hall, Halifax NS, Canada last month. 

Speaking on the reason for the award, DAM Founder, DR. Ukpai Olugu said Barungi has been dogged in promoting health awareness around Africa and also bolstering the image of Uganda around the globe. He said: ” She has taken her drive for greater inclusion of the African continent to Canada where she made case for awareness on Malaria and other terminable diseases plaguing Africa.”

Barungi, who was on a visit to Canada, harped on the need for more attention to be paid to create awareness on malaria, a seemingly common disease that kills many children in Africa every second, insisting that Africans cannot champion the fight all alone, hence the need to take the message to Canada whose technological advancement, political orientation and humanitarian policies can further help to salvage Africa and save her innocent children from the clutches of the deadly disease.

The malaria awareness campaign was organized by Drum Against Malaria {DAM) an offshoot of Challenge AIDS and Malaria in Africa (CHAMA). It is an advocacy group against malaria that has been in the forefront of the war against Malaria in Africa for nearly two decades, using African culture to create this awareness.  The founder, Dr. Olugu Ukpai , explaining his passion to help eradicate Malaria in Africa through culture, said he lost his 16 months old baby girl to malaria due to misdiagnosis while he was away on study trip to Canada. He later turned his pain to passion in saving lives from being lost to malaria needlessly. The effort has saved many lives from Nigeria to Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, etc where the humanitarian efforts of passionate volunteers have resulted in over 900 free surgeries, free schools and orphanages as well as empowerment for the vulnerable ones, especially single mothers.

The drum as symbol of African culture is the emblem and medium of awareness that has been accepted by the Canada community to create this awareness, a case of passing important message through African entertainment.

The presentation of the DAM Cultural Ambassador award to Barungi attracted top echelon of the Canadian lawmakers like the Mayor of Halifax Mike Savage, Barbara Adams, Suzy Hendasen and others.

Barungi will be the DAM’s face on the war against Malaria in East Africa through awareness and education.