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\u201cYou never know how powerful an idea is until you go out and put it into action\u201d, those were the words from Yunus & Youth Fellow Tyler Vogel as advice to young students when he was invited to speak at high school graduation last month. Tyler, a 24-year-old social impact professional from the United States, is the executive director and co-founder of \u201cWings of the Night\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Wings of the Night is a social business that strives to support sustainable, community-centric approaches to prevent malaria. They partner up with rural communities of Peru in constructing large volume bat houses to deplete the micro-population of mosquitoes surrounding the community and sustainable and responsible approach to combating malaria.<\/span><\/p>\n The initiative started in 2014 with Tyler and two of his friends from college, Ana and Isaac. Tyler loves animals and was a Biology major at Wartburg College; the 3 friends took a class together in social entrepreneurship where they could explore sustainable development. The Y&Y Fellow was interested in community action since his freshmen year when he and his team got an award from Clinton Global Initiative University through the Resolution Project Social Venture Challenge. He and his team were passionate about fighting Malaria since the disease had an impact on both of his friend\u2019s families and decided to take an innovative approach to combat the disease. Tyler\u2019s interest includes Public Health and his goal is to lessen the burden from rural communities that have no other options for preventing malaria.<\/span><\/p>\n Wings of the Night proposes a unique, eco-friendly, and financially viable preventative approach to help deplete the infection rate of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases in the most vulnerable regions of the world. Through collaboration with local NGOs and community leaders, local materials and craftsmanship are used to construct large bat housing complexes near rural communities. The native bats roost near the village and predation from the bats help deplete the micro-population of mosquitoes near the village.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2017, during his last semester in undergrad, Tyler was looking for the perfect location to start his pilot project. He went to Sucusari \u2013 an indigenous Maijuna community that helps steward 1,000,000 acres land in Peru where his team had connections \u2013 to start his new social venture. They chose that specific area for a few reasons: The diversity of bats (small, mosquito eaters), rural communities with limited access to medical and other material resources. The Loreto region, where Sucusari is located, is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world; additionally, ecotourism has a strong presence there. One thing Tyler is proud of is how much he has really grown from working with community leaders. Sucusari community leaders taught Tyler what connection to a community and nature can look like reflected through cultural heritage.<\/span><\/p>\n