Irmo High Student's Project Helps Combat Malaria in Nigeria

Submitted by Lexington-Richland District 5. 

For most high school seniors, the last year of grade school is filled with final lectures and classes with beloved teachers, spending quality time with friends and preparing for graduation. But for one recent District Five graduate, senior year would also prove to be an opportunity to leave a legacy and help people in need more than 5,000 miles away. 

Irmo High School’s Ezinne Ogbonna led a project this past school year, aimed at addressing the problem of malaria in one African country. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, the 2013 graduate saw effects of the disease firsthand and decided to focus a class project on collecting insecticide-treated mosquito nets, a simple and effective preventative against the mosquito-borne infectious disease. 

“I knew we were planning a trip to Nigeria and my mom asked me if I wanted to do anything. A lot of websites said that mosquito nets were the number one way to prevent malaria, so I decided to do this,” said Ogbonna, a National Achievement Scholarship recipient. 

As part of Irmo High School’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, Ogbonna was required to fulfill advanced academic requirements as well as the program’s CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) projects, which encourage students to take what they learned inside of the classroom and apply it to real-world problems. With the help and encouragement of friend Margo Town, Ogbonna collected more than 100 nets through donations from student groups and local organizations. Ogbonna, Town and IB Coordinator Diane Padula spoke about the project at a July 2 St. Andrews Rotary Club meeting in Columbia, thanking members for their support and contributions. 

“This project has captured the heart of the IB program,” Padula said. “It’s quite different than any of the other programs in the district. It’s more than the courses you take and the papers you write. It develops the whole person. Ezinne and Margo came together, and their friendship made this happen. When complex problems arose, they came up with solutions. It was a great project and life lessons for the two girls and their friends.” 

Ogbonna said being a student from another country and culture gave her a different perspective, and the IB program provided an even broader outlook on international issues and helped her to think globally. Last December, she delivered the mosquito nets to people in her father’s village in Nigeria and volunteered at a local clinic. She will attend Johns Hopkins University, where she plans to study public health and pursue work with an international humanitarian group. 

“Ezinne is a driven student. She’s going to fulfill an obligation to her family and to her country,” said Padula. “She’s a great student because she’s able to make curricular connections that kids often don’t make, but the truly observant ones do. She gets her mind set on something and she takes command and does it.” 

“I feel like a lot of people only focus on their lives and their issues," Obgonna added. "I just want people to be open-minded and consider more than what’s going on right in front of them and what people are going through across the world. It causes you to appreciate what you have a lot more.”