Castilleja senior Ashley Schoettle worked with children in Cape Town, South Africa, this summer.

A Castilleja School student who participated with her history teacher in the inaugural season of the Summer Academy at Cape Town a few weeks ago returned to her Los Altos home determined to fight the spread of malaria in Africa.

Senior Ashley Schoettle said, “Although I was well aware that malaria and AIDS were having devastating effects in Africa, working at The Children’s Center in Cape Town and learning that almost 1 million African children die each year from complications due to malaria made the situation much more meaningful and real to me. It seemed especially tragic because malaria is a disease that is actually treatable.”

Ashley has started a program she calls “Nets of Love” to raise money to buy insecticide-treated malaria bed nets for women and children in Africa. She is collaborating with the non-profit organization Together Against Malaria. The history teacher who inspired her involvement in the summer academy, Karen Tobey, and the founder of the academy, Fred Swaniker, are advising her.

“I know I am blessed with my situation in life, and I … realize that I am not just a citizen of the United States but that I am really a citizen of the world. I am inspired to make a positive difference, even in some small way, as an outcome of this awareness,” Ashley said.

The Summer Academy at Cape Town seeks to educate Africa’s future leaders - the “next Nelson Mandela,” as Swaniker said.

For more information, visit www.summeracademyct.com.