Illness

Thank you for praying for our health. We have come through over two months in Africa and have not had any major health problems. Despite eating with our hands, which always seem dirty, walking daily through the garbage in the village, and being around many communicable diseases, we have thankfully avoided major illness. Even simple things do not seem to heal well here, because of the lack of clean water and the constant dirt. A cut often requires a round of antibiotics. This month we have met many people suffering from a variety of sicknesses, many of which occur at a greater frequency than in North America, and certainly with more devastating effects. Among these have been chicken pox, malaria, worms, and physical deformities. One of the children had a big round bump on his chin one day, which seemed to appear over night. Julie told us it is a worm that drops as a larvae from mango trees and buries under your skin. Apparently you just pop it and it comes out. So, it’s not the most dangerous thing to contract, but it is pretty nasty none the less. One child we met had one side of his face larger than the other. The family said he had had an ache there for four years. One of the most difficult things for me to look at are the physical deformities. There are many people with twisted or crippled legs or feet, with some literally dragging themselves along the ground on their stomachs. This is incredibly hard to see. In Mozambique, where it is mostly sand and dirt, these people’s faces are so close to the ground as they try and move around. It is so degrading. There is also the severe impact of HIV here. We have heard that by 2050, there the entire population of Swaziland could be completely gone from the earth due to the AIDS epidemic there. Despite the severity of the problem, it continues to be largely ignored by both the government and the people themselves. So, today I will take the de-worming pills and thank God that it is nothing worse than that.