Encounters with a meter-long worm

I had a fantastic time out in the bush for four days with the Carter Center Eradicate Guinea Worm team. I saw the worm itself coming out of an old man's ankle and 7 other cases in various states of care. The missions focus on water-source treatment with the chemical Abate which I think is Toluene and Xylene and paralyzes the Cyclops parasite that eats the worm eggs and then gets ingested by the human host. So we put this stuff (2 cc's for 100 L) in everything from "puissards" (mini-wells which are really just holes that seasonally fill up with muddy water) to huge lakes. The puissards are difficult because as they consist of a series of holes they dig where the water table is close to the surface, currently some are dry and some have muddy water but we can only treat actual liquid, not dried mud. But the cyclops, the parasite that eats the worm eggs and then is what a human ingests, hibernates in the mud. And the chemical "Abate" only lasts for a month. So this means likely they draw from contaminated water. Oi.

We also supervise local health agents in awareness and follow up treatment of exit wounds and making sure suspected cases (lump is present but no worm yet) don't go into water. One guy up from Niger didn't really follow these rules and is responsible for over 60 cases this year (the worm's life cycle is 10 months to a year) in an area that wasn't previously endemic! Sadly some Malians say as long as there are still even 10 Belas left in the world, there the worm will be also. These are the Black African former slaves of Arabs, Sonrai themselves or the Tamachek Rouge. And though I discourage people calling "Hey Bela!", they do lead very pitiful lives; even when there is opportunity for better. Such as listening not just to the foreigners like me and Carter Center consultant, but also to their BROTHERS who say don't spread the worm, filter your water, use the pump. But no, they use the contaminated lake next door instead. GAH! Not in terms of just formal education, but the consultant believes these are some of the least enlightened people on the planet. They don't do what is productive for them EVEN WHEN GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY. It makes me sad.