I just can't believe how fast the time is going. It is really amazing, just starting to feel like we really belong. Did lots of fun things over the weekend. Went to the beach and played in the tide pools looking for crabs , jelly fish and shells. The tide just goes out forever. For about a dollar, we can get some towels and hang out pool side at one of the hotels here. That has been fun, even had a "Killy" or two. Monday market is the place to be every monday when everyone with something to sell shows up.
We went to visit a traditional healer yesterday. He really had some interesting bottles to show. One of them had a resemblance to a lava lamp. He had two different potions he uses for palpitations, one looked like orange jello, not quite set and the other was a powder that you rub on your chest and that makes them go away. He was non committal on the roots that he used to make them. He will travel for about 2 months a year to collect all his ingredients. He also showed us some of the items he uses to do exorcisms, some of which have been passed down from his grandfather. There really seems to be a nice blend of traditional and modern medicine, both having a deep respect for each other and making efforts to work together.
This afternoon I will be going with another nurse here to tour the Bagamoyo Hospital. I am sure this will be very interesting. The hospital here I believe is one of the most modern in the country. They are the main hospital in a world wide study on malaria and offer the most progressive treatment and a very reasonable cost. We continue to be diligent with our medications from home, and really hope we don't need to find out first hand. The mosquitos that carry malaria are only active at night so we are especially careful then. One of the doctors involved in this research came to home base to talk about common illnesses here. One of the schools CCS send volunteer teachers to has gotten typhoid from their well. We are instructed never to eat or drink anything at our placements.
Yesterday, we were invited to the home of a woman who knows on of the volunteers here. Jennifer (the volunteer) has been here 9 weeks. This woman Rosemary, does catering around town and we went to her home and helped her cook a dinner she was catering and then we ate it as well. The Tanzanian people are so kind warm and welcoming you just can't imagine. I have some great pictures to share, but the internet here is really slow and it took 20 minutes and 3,000 shillings ($2.00) to upload a single short video. Promise to get pictures on as soon as we get back to our own computers.
Hanging your clothes outside to dry in areas of high tropical rainfall can be risky if they are not ironed properly. Mango flies or myiatic flies are common in these areas, especially during the hot and humid summers.
If clothes are hung outside, it is possible for a female fly to lay eggs on them, especially when the clothes were contaminated with urine or faeces. The clothes are then worn and the eggs penetrate the skin. People will usually complain that their body is itching and within three days, painful, boil-like lesions occur. Over the next three days, pus emerges from each sore as it gets ripe. Once the sore is expressed a worm comes out of it.
The fly is found widely in large parts of northern South Africa, as well as large parts of Africa. Dogs and rodents are usually the hosts, but humans often become accidental hosts.
A strange skin condition
The condition is known as cutaneous myiasis, a skin condition caused byCordylobia Anthropophaga (tumbu fly, mango fly, putsi fly). According to the Natural History Museum in London, myiasis can be a debilitating and sometimes even fatal condition. It is caused by the feeding and development of fly larvae on the host's dead or living tissues, usually at the skin surface or in body orifices.
The condition is known as cutaneous myiasis, a skin condition caused byCordylobia Anthropophaga (tumbu fly, mango fly, putsi fly). According to the Natural History Museum in London, myiasis can be a debilitating and sometimes even fatal condition. It is caused by the feeding and development of fly larvae on the host's dead or living tissues, usually at the skin surface or in body orifices.
Treatment usually consists applying the lesion with petroleum jelly or liquid paraffin to suffocate the larva. Treatment should be left on for 30 minutes to an hour and then the larva should be pushed out via finger pressure. A course of antibiotics is then followed.
Do your ironing
It is very important to iron all clothes with a hot iron as it will kill any eggs laid on them. The other possibility is not to wear them for 48 hours after they have dried, as this is longer than the lifespan of the eggs. As another preventative measure, clothes should not be left on the ground to dry. This applies to all garments including sheets, towels and bedding.
It is very important to iron all clothes with a hot iron as it will kill any eggs laid on them. The other possibility is not to wear them for 48 hours after they have dried, as this is longer than the lifespan of the eggs. As another preventative measure, clothes should not be left on the ground to dry. This applies to all garments including sheets, towels and bedding.
If you suspect you may have been infected by the larvae of a mango fly, it is important that you see a doctor immediately. Attempting to remove the larva yourself could cause severe pain, rupturing and inflammation.