King's story
Uganda
For King, a young dancer from Uganda and a member of the world-famous Ghetto Kids, malaria is a disease that has caused him deep personal loss.
“The first time I got to understand that malaria was deadly was when my best friend got sick. He was feeling a headache and they found out he had malaria.” At first, King didn’t worry, he assumed malaria was easily treatable. But his friend never got better. “Then his mother came to our place... She was like, ‘your friend has died.’ I didn’t believe it. I went to their home, and I saw the body lying.”
King still carries the bracelet his friend gave him. “That’s when I realised that malaria is not a common disease.”
Asked what he misses most about his friend, King smiles softly: “He was a funny guy... when I was sad, he used to come with food... and I forgot about my sadness.” Most of all, King remembers, “He’s one of the people that taught me how to dance.”
Every minute, a child dies from malaria, a disease that is both preventable and treatable. Children are the most vulnerable to it, especially in places like Uganda, where it remains one of the leading killers of under-fives. And yet, their voices are too often unheard in global health decisions.
The Change the Story campaign puts children like King at the heart of the malaria fight, amplifying their voices to inspire global action. Their stories reveal what’s working, what’s at risk, and why urgent action is needed.
For King, dance has offered hope and a future. “I used not like to stay at home, I used not to have friends. But right now I have friends, and international friends too,” he says. Through dance, he’s travelled the world, performed on global stages like America’s Got Talent, and gained the chance of an education. “Dance has provided me with a lot of things, like clothes, shelter... education.”
To protect children like King’s friend, the world must step up. In 2025, we have a crucial opportunity to get the malaria fight back on track. Maintaining strong contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is essential to ensuring life-saving tools reach the people who need them most.
With continued investment from world leaders, we will have a game-changing toolkit: next-generation mosquito nets, new treatments, vaccines and even breakthrough research. With this we can end malaria and save millions of children’s lives.
