The people in East Africa often become infected with helminths or parasitic worms due to poor sanitary conditions. There aren’t water treatment plants here so the people collect water wherever they find it. Lake Victoria is the largest source of water for our patients and communities and on any given day you can see women on the shores washing dishes and laundry and collecting water to take home for cooking and drinking. They are taught to boil their water before drinking it but boiling requires fuel which is in short supply. Sometimes we see people in communities that are farther from the lake collecting water from large puddles or small ponds that arise after a rain.

Lack of waste treatment or sewer systems leads people to use pit toilets or latrines near their homes which can leach into the water table. Farm animals are also brought to the shores to drink water leaving piles of their excrement on the beaches. These conditions put people at risk of becoming infected with different parasites including helminthes or worms.

These infections are so common that it’s accepted medical protocol here to treat all kids every 6 months beginning at 6 months of age. Untreated, the infestations lead to iron deficiency anemia, malnutrition, diarrhea and worse symptoms. We often see kids with the big “belly full of worms” when we’re out walking. The treatment is easy enough- one dose of Mebendazole or Levimasole is often all that’s needed. Our mobile clinic staff goes out to the schools in our catchment area every February and October to administer “deworming” medicine and this month we were able to go along to assist.

Our friends Judi and Becky were visiting from Colorado so the 4 of us rode the 8 AM ferry to the village of Aneko to meet up with the outreach staff. As usual, we attracted a lot of attention on the boat and in the village from curious onlookers. We arrived in Aneko in time to watch people pull in their nets full of fish.

The catch was meager in relation to the number of people needed to haul in the nets but everyone seemed pleased. As we walked into the village centre we saw a man building one of the traditional boats. Known as a dhow, the boats were originally designed after the Arab fishermen and slave traders’ boats that once sailed on Lake Victoria. The boat maker was happy to have us visit and demonstrated how he hand shaped the boat using a tool that looked like a cross between a hatchet and a hammer.He had been hired to come Aneko to build the boat and had been working on the boat only 4 days when we arrived. He hoped to have it completed within the week.

When we arrived at the primary school, our mobile team was already there and getting set up to treat the 150+ students aged 5 through late teens. The youngest kids opened their mouths like baby birds to receive the liquid medicine from Mercyline. Becky, Judi, Paul and I handed out the pill version to the older classes. For the students it was a welcome break from their usual routine and they took advantage of it to goof around and ham it up for our cameras. The education department will continue to dispense the medicine throughout the month of October at schools as well as the mobile clinic sites.

With our work done, we decided to walk instead of ride back to the clinic. Because Aneko is an island we first took a short boat ride across a river. The 90 minute walk took us past a field where 2 adult and one juvenile grey-crowned cranes were feeding. They’re regal birds that are often found is marshy or wetland locals.

Later in the day Becky and Judi helped me post about 350 of our photos on the clinic walls. We’ve taken pictures of people we meet in the clinic and on our walks and always get asked “when can I get a copy?” The short answer is “3 or more months from now.” No one seems surprised.

I sent a CD of photos to my sister Francesca who had prints made and sent them back with our friends. As soon as we started to post them, people crowded around in interest. They no longer worried about being sick or waiting a long time to see a clinician. They were too busy looking at and chattering about the pictures. We had hoped the photos would remain on the wall for a month before people started taking them home. Although that was the message we gave the staff to pass on to our patients, within 2 days all but 5 were gone. People who didn’t get a photo are now asking how they can get one so I may have to do it again before we leave.