The bednet was like a thing from outer space in the interior of this rural African woman’s hut, its blue fabric still packaged in its improbably shiny plastic.
It was big and square.
The hut was tiny and round.
Need I say more?
Author: Sonia Shah
Sonia Shah writes about science, medicine, and international politics. She is the author of "The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years," (2010), "The Body Hunters: Testing New Drugs on the World's Poorest Patients" (2006) and "Crude: The Story of Oil" (2004). Her writing has appeared in The Nation, The Lancet, Yale's e360, and elsewhere.