Malaria

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Malaria sucks. It’s as common as the flu but sadly, especially for all those kids out there, more deadly. And Africa suffers the most from this brutal disease. According to statistics, 90% of malaria related deaths happen in sub-Saharan Africa with 1 million dying worldwide every year. 1 of every 5 childhood deaths is caused by it (International Medical Corps, 2011). If your older and catch it early, you should be ok but you’ll be on the DL for about a week depending on how many parasites get into ya. Wednesday night I started feeling brutal. I thought it was the pasta I made at first. I was still able to wail on the harmonica for a few hours tryin to play along with Neil Young but really didn’t feel right the whole night. Thought I sounded half decent though.

Next morning I still felt bad and figured it was my turn to have malaria. I felt weak, my stomach hurt, and my appetite was gone. I also stopped sweating for probably the first time since I came to Africa, so I knew something was up. I was able to walk to town, felt just awful, got directions to the doc and headed over there. This big fella, can’t remember the Doc’s name but he was a beauty, he basically says our first job is to see if its malaria. Low and behold it was; 5 parasites. They just take a little bit of blood from your middle finger, throw some on the glass, and in 30 minutes you get to see if you got malaria or not. By no means are the clinics or hospitals as well-equipped as ours but one thing they got down is how to deal with malaria. It’s a good thing too because you are pretty much guaranteed to get it. The most cases of malaria that I heard someone have through their lifetime so far was over 50. Peanuts! Ohh and shes 24.

Mosquitoes are everywhere. The only way to protect yourself is a net over your bed and some spray with some serious deet. Long pants are doable but long sleeve shirts are out of the question, if your hairy. Spray is mostly used to giver around the house, not as cologne like when your camping, and it works ok but it is expensive thus not affordable for everyone. The nets are your best protection but not fully mosquito proof and obviously only useful when your in bed. I have a mosquito buzzing around me every night and it’s pretty annoying. If ya gotta go take a leak or do some paper work, more then likely ones coming at ya for a midnight bite and there really isn’t any way to escape. And I’m in a house so imagine what it must be like in the villages.

I remember there was a big fuss about raising money for mosquito nets a few years back. The CBC was big oner, Ricky Mercer, a good ol’Newfoundlander is the spokesman and co-founder. And although their hearts are in the right place and they're trying to help out, nets are just a preventative measure, not a solution. A lot of people don’t actually use them, simply because they don’t like them. It may cut down on malaria cases, but you’re bound to get it sooner or later. If your from here, your likely to get it early in life so your body is built to fight it off better than if you’re a foreigner.

With this in mind, I really gotta question how helpful that mosquito net drive actually is. Since 2005 over 5 million dollars have been raised to pay for over 500 000 nets (Spread The Net, 2011). But since these nets are really only in use at night and do not completely guarantee the user protection, I can’t help but think that this money could have gone to support something better. For instance, money could go towards spraying or making actual roads and a sewer system so puddles don’t build up, which are prime breeding areas for the pests. Cutting down on the number of mosquitos should be the main focus, not just trying to deal with’em.

Along with being Canada’s rock n’ roll capital, the bull’s-eye of the Dominion, and home of the Bombers, Winnipeg is also Canada’s mosquito capital. We might not have had an outbreak of malaria in The Great White North since we built the canal, but we do have the West Nile virus so we too suffer the danger of getting a mosquito born disease. This year the city set aside $6.8 million on insect control. Since they’ve been fighting mosquitos by ‘fogging’ them for years, they actually saved about $1.4 million this year because their numbers are declining. It costs $100 000 to fog each neighbourhood once a year, and it is usually done twice (Winnipeg Free Press, 2011). In other words, what they are doing is working. How many nets you think they bought? My guess is none. Despite being as injury prone as he is, I bet even Buck Pierce doesn’t even sleep with a net – although he probably should!

So if what Winnipeg is doing is cutting down on the lil buggers, why the hell can’t the money donated towards fighting malaria do the same thing that there doin?!? If they can spray in the Peg, they can spray in Dar, Shy, Mwanza, etc.

Since the rains have come, puddles are everywhere. Of the folks I know, more and more of them are coming down with malaria. Over the past month, about 8 people I know have caught it, including a little girl. The family couldn’t afford the meds, about $12 Canadian, so they asked for help. From that net program, the nets cost $10 bucks. Money could even be spent on buying the meds for these folks as medication is just as much a preventative tool as the nets. If aid and development is to help the poor, then its gotta start attacking the core problems that face these people and not just try and help them adjust or deal with it.

http://internationalmedicalcorps.org/Page.aspx?pid=498&gclid=CIGupKHO2KsCFUW-zAodV3imRQ

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/lack-of-mosquitoes-puts-bite-on-branchs-spending-130255283.html

http://www.spreadthenet.org/index.php?id=6

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Photos

Notta fan
These were killed by the spray and I just noticed them all lying there as I finished writing this. I hate them all.

Net
These Nets are just as useless as the ones that play in New Jersey.

The Docta
Haha this was hilarious. It wasn't the sign in front of the clinic I went to, but I had to take a pic of it. Dr. Shaddy, beauty.

Best of Country?
This is my driver who takes me to the village. His woman and child have both come down with Malaria recently. That CD is the Best of Country, featuring Dolly Parton, Nat King Cole, Kenny Rogers, and Neil Diamond. Haha beauty!

Water?
Believe it or not, it is. Or at least the stuff was in a water bottle. It didn't taste great but I had a good chuckle.

I really miss my G2
And Energade didn't cut it.

What a beauty!
I love this kid. Every time he sees me I get a hug and a kiss. He might be a year old.