I managed to fight away a case of bacterial dysentery (literally "bad stomach") just by drinking lots and lots of clean water...but was advised to turn to antibiotics to clear up an upper-respiratory infection that came on the day the dysentery cleared. I'm all healthy now; but it does remind me that no, I do not have an iron stomach. I had been buying the ice people sell in market in attempts to beat the heat, but chances are it was made with untreated water. And one cannot exactly filter ice.
I was amused by how the Malians reacted. This was the first time I was seriously ill. Many many came to visit and say "Albai yeesi." They laughed when I said I was praying the diarrhea away (really, it is best to just let it pass) and not taking any medicines. The answer to all maladies here is an injection of "kinin," or the Sonrai version of "quinine"; Of course that is also because all maladies are assumed to be malaria. In fact, there are two words for "medicine" in Sonrai: "safari" (it's a wild ride for your immune system!) and "kinin." I am often asked on the street for "kinin" be it that the local is pointing to a gash in their leg or holding their head in pain. But I don't have a problem with doctors treating for a deadly disease--malaria--even if it might just be dysentery (the symptoms are often the same). A better safe than sorry attitude does save lives.
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