Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality across the globe, and this disease was responsible for 8.8 million deaths in 2015. Luckily, researchers have been working tirelessly for decades to come up with better ways to combat cancer in all of its insidious forms. Though a cure is yet to be found, new treatments like proton therapy have been administered to more than 64,000 people with cancer worldwide.
Another debilitating disease that impacts millions of people around the world is malaria. Malaria is much easier to contract than other diseases and has ruined the lives of countless families in struggling African countries for decades. But thanks to technological and medical advancements over the years, efforts to fight malaria across the continent of Africa have cut the rate of infections in half since 2000.
Though contracting malaria isn’t as common as it was a few decades ago, there is still a strong chance that individuals will become ill in affected countries. Despite the risk of coming down with this debilitating disease, however, many families, travelers, and researchers won’t let it deter them from visiting the beautiful countries of Africa.
As far as families are concerned, 37% of American families believe that vacations make them happy, making it the activity that makes them most happy. And for the adventurous vacationers, Africa is a wonderful area to visit. Each year, almost 65 million tourists from around the world visit Africa.
According to Good Herald, there are plenty of amazing areas to visit in Africa that U.S. families can certainly appreciate.
Perhaps the most popular African destination is the Cape of Good Hope, also known as Cape Point, where families can enjoy beautiful beaches, thrilling heights, and the wonders of the Fly Dutchman Funicular. In addition, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Fish Hoek Beach, Robben Island, and the Blyde River Canyon Nature reserve are all popular destinations for U.S. family vacationers.
However, not everyone who visits Africa is interested in safaris and sightseeing. Like the researchers searching for cures for both malaria and cancer, another main reason people make frequent trips to Africa is to help struggling communities and provide charitable services to those in need.
Like his father, who, in 1947, broke the color line in American sports by becoming the first African American baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB), David (Jackie’s son) Robinson is living his life to help struggling families in Africa.
David Robinson has lived in Tanzania for more than 30 years. He is part of the charity organization Books for Africa, which helps deliver books to schools in Africa as well as raise money for struggling communities.
After last year’s walk across Zanzibar, Robinson was able to raise money and distribute over 5,000 books to six African schools.
“If you can put a book in the hands of a child now, in a short time that child is going to become a leader of something: his family, his coop, his village,” said Robinson. “And in a short time you’ve taken the potential, the capacity and enhanced it to the level that it has to be if we’re going to become global citizens.”
