“In America, the Developed World, we take for granted being able to go to bed at night safely, without the fear of a deadly disease attacking us while we sleep. Making this film really opened my eyes,” Justin Perkinson, writer and director of Under the Net, told Upload VR in an interview.
In a 10th anniversary event, the Nothing But Nets campaign from the UN Foundation showcased the VR documentary Under the Net. The campaign is focused on providing protective nets to the people of Africa, where mosquitoes pass Malaria to people at night. The disease can be lethal to children.
The origin of the charity is not what you would expect. Sports journalist Rick Reilly, who has a long history of writing stories for Sports Illustrated and ESPN, found out about the threat of Malaria to the children of Africa and realized he could make a difference.
“There was a documentary on Malaria. It said that every 30 seconds a child was dying of Malaria. And it said there was such a simple fix: hang a net over them. The mosquitoes only comes out from midnight to four. And if you can get a kid to six or seven years old, they are probably not going to die of Malaria. I was like, ‘That’s all we need? A net? Nothing has to be cured?’ This is a no-brainer charitable act,” said Reilly.
Read the full article at Upload VR.