Following the tragic death of his daughter 10 days before she was due to return back to school in 2009, ElHadj Diop decided to make the fight against malaria his life struggle. “In 2009, we knew nothing of this disease, which was causing 40 percent of the deaths in our commune and harming the education of our children.” Through programs supported by the Global Fund and with the awareness and education efforts of Mr. Diop and health workers on how to prevent and treat malaria, the Thiénaba commune in Senegal now has more than 20 malaria-free villages and its mortality and school absenteeism rates have been reduced to nearly zero.