PRESS RELEASE: 30 January 2012 – Five African teenagers have been awarded top prizes in the ‘Me and My Net’ Competition, organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society.

Awarded from more than 2000 entries, Eugene Musinguzi, 15, from Kampala, won First Prize in the Get Creative! category for his comic strip story about a superhero, Netman, saving a young boy from malaria. Awards were also given for the best entries from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. The winning entries can be seen online at www.meandmy.net.

Young people from 25 Commonwealth countries participated in the competition which was launched to provide young people with a way to share their attitudes towards, and awareness of, malaria. Entrants were invited to submit creative ways of encouraging their peers to use bed nets correctly. Information from the entries will be used to help shape future malaria education campaigns.

Adam Flynn, Sumitomo Chemical, was one of the competition judges. He said: “First and foremost, I was struck by the sheer quality of the entries, many of which contained the entrants’ personal experiences of malaria which so obviously shaped the pictures, stories, photos and heart-felt essays. Perhaps more importantly I was greatly encouraged by the level of awareness and understanding of malaria and how it could impact on their futures.”

The top prize of a trip to London for Commonwealth Day was awarded to fifteen year old Siya Kulkarni, from India.

Me and My Net is the Royal Commonwealth Society’s malaria education initiative, supported by Sumitomo Chemical’s Olyset® Net. The Competition ran from April to October 2011, with 180 schools taking part from around the Commonwealth.

The Royal Commonwealth Society’s 2012 Young Commonwealth Competitions are now open, with the theme Connecting Cultures. To mark HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this year, all essay, photo and film entries will become part of the Jubilee Time Capsule, an online people’s history of the last sixty years. Find out more at www.thercs.org/youth/competitions.

ME AND MY NET COMPETITION 2011 List of Winners

Overall Me and My Net Winner: Siya Kulkarni, 15, Pune, India

Category Prizes
Get Writing! First Prize: Mati Ur-Rehman, 16, New Multan, Pakistan

Get Drawing! Get Photographing! First Prize: Purwa Sabih, 16, Fazaia International College, Islamabad, Pakistan

Get Creative! First Prize: Eugene Musinguzi, 15, St Kizito Secondary School, Kampala, Uganda

Country Awards
Ghana Award: Sedinam Nana Ama Worlano, 16, SOS-Hermann Gmenier International College, Tema

Kenya Award: Ben Spybey, 14, Nairobi

Nigeria Award: Lola Yusuf-Aliyu, 15, Thomas Adewumi International College, Omu-Aran

Tanzania Award: Happy E. Mswani, 16, Mpitimbi Secondary School, Songea

For the full list of award and certificate winners, visit: www.meandmy.net/competition/winners

The finalists were judged by: John Apea, Ghanaian actor and filmmaker; Sarah Kline, Executive Director, Malaria No More UK; and Adam Flynn, Sales and Marketing Manager, Global Vector Control, Sumitomo Chemical UK

The Royal Commonwealth Society: Founded in 1868, the RCS conducts a range of events and activities aimed at promoting international understanding. Its educational, youth and cultural programmes include one of the world’s oldest and largest schools essay competitions, and an innovative international youth leadership programme. HM Queen Elizabeth II is Patron and Peter Kellner is Chairman. Headquartered at the Commonwealth Club in London, the RCS has some 4000 members in the UK and a presence in 40 Commonwealth countries through a network of branches and Commonwealth societies. The RCS is a registered charity in England & Wales (226748). See www.thercs.org.

Olyset Net: Sumitomo Chemical’s award-winning Olyset® Net is a proven, effective tool in the fight against malaria. Olyset Net works by preventing Anopheles mosquitoes from biting people, and thus reduces the transmission of malaria. Olyset Net is fully recommended by the World Health Organization and is tough, durable and wash-resistant. Insecticide is incorporated within the net’s polyethylene fibres during manufacture, for slow release over a sustained period of time. Olyset Nets never need re-treatment with insecticide and are guaranteed to be effective for a minimum of five years. For this reason, Olyset is a more cost effective long-lasting net than polyester alternatives. See www.olyset.net.

The Commonwealth: The modern Commonwealth was established with 8 members in 1949. In 2012, it has 54 members with a total population of nearly 2 billion. It is an association of governments and peoples, built around shared language, institutions, challenges, aspirations and values. The Commonwealth promotes democracy, development, and diversity within its member countries and across the world.

Contacts:
For all media enquiries, please contact Meera Chindooroy on +44 (0) 20 7766 9236 /
meera.chindooroy@thercs.org