Rachel Carson

If someone told you that you should not aggressively fight this disease (i.e. by spraying DDT), but rather that you should hide under a mosquite net...what, as an American would be your reaction?  Please, in this blog, include a map of the distribution of malaria deaths worldwide, and a commentary about the choices that a parent would make (i.e. protect the ecosystem versus keep my child alive).
      
As a Haitian American, I have been on both sides when it comes to using DDT to fight mosquitoes. Growing up in Haiti, every Friday, a truck would drive around neighborhoods with the repellant. It can be agreed upon that this system is not the safest approach to the ecosystem. However, it works for the community. We had two choices to make; one is to not use the repellant and have an increase in death associated with malaria, or put a restriction on the spraying and risk the increase of death related malaria. To a third world country, this choice is not a difficult one to make regarding eradicating malaria.
       To an American, this might be a different story due to a difference in culture and the labor market. A high power nation like the United States has the resources available financially to fight against bacteria while protecting the environment as well. To other countries with less economic stability, this is a choice to be made; one between protecting humanity or the environment. In conclusion, a parent in third world country like Haiti would put more values on their children's protection more than the ecosystem. In America, as mentioned, due to having the luxury and the means of protecting both (children’ health and the ecosystem), parents are not faced with the same decision as the ones from a poor country.