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.

Chairman Mao Comes to Gao

As promised, our dear friend Chairman Mao exhumed himself from his Beijing Mao-seleum and paid Gao a visit. Dusting himself off and clearing his throat of formaldehyde, he brings these words of wisdom to the Village People:

"It is up to us to organize the people...This is also like sweeping the floor; as a rule, where the broom does not reach, the dust will not vanish of itself." So, Village People, what Mao is trying to say is that he likes clean houses and organization. Would it kill you to line up to get on the bus, once and awhile?

"To criticize the people's shortcomings is necessary." Thus spake Chairman Mao, Village People. I feel, therefore, it is my duty to inform you that if you drink dirty, guinea worm infested water, you will get the worm; if you don't feed your child, he will get sick and die; if you don't sleep under a net, you will get malaria...and for Mao's sake, stop eating without washing your hands with soap!!

"Political Power grows out of the barrel of a gun." Feeling weak? I know this friendly AK-47 dealer near the boarder; sadly, more than ready to actualize this truth of The Chairman.

"We should rid our ranks of all impotent thinking." That means you, 'Mr. I can't water the trees because the well is too far away' and you too, 'It's too dry, hot, and windy to do anything-guy.' Consider yourself ridden.

"We are closely bound by common interests and common ideals." You said it Chairman Mao, we all want the Village Person who plays "SIDA est-la" and "Wolloso" and the "Allez-retour" song until late into the night to give it a rest.

"A man's ability may be great or small, but if he has this spirit, he is already noble minded and pure, a man of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a man who is of value to the people." Village People! Do you feel the spirit?

"Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it." Not even stooping to put a full bucket of water on your head while the baby swaddled to your back is screaming and a second child is tugging at your pagne to go home? The Chairman is impressed with the Village People's women.

"We stand for self-reliance. We hope for foreign aid but cannot be dependent on it; we depend on our own efforts." Well said, Chairman. Somehow it doesn't surprise me from out of such a culture grew a country with amazing advancement and economic growth...can you the Village People do the same?

Chairman Mao thinks "We should be modest and prudent, guard against arrogance and rashness, and serve the Village People heart and soul." And so do I.

We Made it Back Alive

Thank the lord. I'm not kidding, James and I must be blessed. I spent my last 50F on a breakfast of spicy beans upon arriving in Gao (en retour from Ghana) and then headed to the bank.

Our transport luck ran out--and we were stuck in Tamale Ghana forced to stay in a pricey hotel and then even once we got across the boarder to Burkina the timing almost worked, a car was supposed to leave an hour after we arrived, but then we ended up spending the night in said car parked at the station, for we were too cheap to go to a hotel (though it did give us the opportunity to get out into Ouaga on the night of Eid el-Fitr (the end of Ramadan) and eat good pizza).

We made it to Niamey, Niger on Sunday before dark at least mostly due to the nice boarder guards. The moment we got out of transport, a guide approached us asking "Boston or Peace Corps?" He knew we were one of the two because of our water bottles. Ha. I never did get a chance to see the program run by my alma-mater, alas. Another trip. We did see the giraffes of course, which was expensive but A-mazing. And got to hang out with PC Niger which has a totally different vibe. They like being at site despite having this beautifully furnished hostel to stay-in in Niamey. I also appreciated being understood in a capital city--half of Niger is "Zarma" an ethnicity who speaks a dialect of Songhoy. So again, a future option for development work!

After our day in the bush with the giraffes, we found out we could only get official transport out of Niamey on Monday mornings. Oops. It was Tuesday. So a friend I called who does business between Ansongo and Niamey tells us to get whatever transport we can get to Ayorou, Niger and from there it is "easy" to get to Ansongo.

"Easy" he said. Sure, we did get transport to Ayorou. And then we sat. All day. At the guards-station leaving town playing dominoes while the kids watched us anasarey hoping SOMETHING would pass. I've climbed atop a shipping/produce truck before, and I'll do it again. We were desperate. Finally (after one guy offered us two seats in his 4x4 for 125000F--hahaha, you think we have money left? No! We had 15000F and some pocket change), a truck passes at sundown heading to Ansongo. They ask how much we can pay and we give them 10000F...which is the price of a bus ticket from Niamey all the way to Gao, and we were only going to Ansongo and already in Ayorou. Ugh. I fell asleep, only jarred a few times, once by a near axle-breaking dip in the road and then the boarder crossing guards. In fact, Jojo was so sleepy from being on the road since Friday, I was asleep when we arrived in Ansongo at midnight. Pitch black. I was so embarrassed to be lost in my own town!! I didn't see where we had turned off the road or anything. So...we circled around a bit me desperately searching for a landmark I knew. Finally I saw the hill up to the radio tower and found Dave's place. He wasn't home but we let ourselves in and Zubbu even got up to make us some sardine soup with bread. Oh, was it good to be home.

Worth the Trip

Ice cold Coke in Niamey, Niger: 225 F

Kilo of bananas for the road: 300 F

Chartered taxi: 25000 F

Guide fee: 11500 F

T-Shirt Souvenir: 2500 F

Walking through the bush with the last herd of giraffes in West Africa: Priceless.

The Green Turtle Lodge

Our trip to Kakum and the rope walk through the rain-forest failed, because, well it was too rainy. So we headed to the beach a day earlier than planned. The series of tro-tros we took to get there work incredibly well--and of course we kept eating Fanmilk along the way (Ghana's street ice cream...sooooo good!). A guy even gave us a free ride in his car between car-parks once! I heart Ghana.

It was also raining on the beach, but that didn't stop us from enjoying cocktails and games of cards or dictionary and even some soppy tai qi on the beach. The sun came out on the third day and we got some great body-surfing in. And a sand castle built. Good times. The food was so delicious--tuna salad, red red, chunky chips with real ketchup. Ah! Brie kept saying, "Let's never leave."

The toilets decompose themselves and you shower in a banana grove. There was beach volley ball and beach walking and Mia the huge German shepherd who would chase sand balls. Clearly born and raised on the beach. Aside from the HUGE spider-eating spider we saw, I'd bring my parents here it was so nice!

Everything's Going so well!

The first morning, I woke up to an ambulance siren in Accra, Doppler-effecting into the window of our dorm room in the Salvation Army Hostel. It's a different world here. Everything is paved. Ghanaians are super nice and helpful even if sometimes I can't understand their English.

Still, the bus ride. Whew. LONG. Van from Sevare to Kora, Mali was interesting with entertainment provided by 3 students and one talk-a-lot moron (I quote: "Transubstantiation is the language of drunkards"...riiiight...and "Kilogram is weight and kilometer is distance, you can't say there are 15kilos left of the trip"...they were discussing everything from mundanity to religion to politics). Plus they dubbed James "Monsieur President" because he is a Toure and so is ATT. We got the last 4 seats on that van and arrived in Kora with perfectly enough time to eat some lunch and get the van for Ouahigouya, Burkina; and, there we ate delicious spaghetti and hopped right onto the bus to Ouaga. Brie and kept exclaiming "Everything is going so well!!" Moulin Rouge style. We weren't cursing it; really! Not possible. We were headed to Ghana and everything is better, in, Ghana.



So sure, with flooding we had to get out and ford the "river" of a washed-out road, but generally no mishaps. Or maybe I am just numb to transport issues now?



Really, I can't believe how many times I've said I am moving to Accra. Seriously, I'll consider it an option for future development work.



Sunday we went to El Mina (derived from the Portuguese for "mine" and the gold mined there) to see the fishing community and the slave fort. Really wretched what humans can do to each other. The governor of the fort (Dutch) had a staircase from the female quarters for rape-access. He'd pick his favorite from the balcony and have her sent up. The balcony from where you could see the first Roman-Catholic church in W.Africa (the fort and church were built by the Portuguese in 1482--which makes it the oldest European structure still standing in Sub-Saharan Africa). I don't think Christians have always faithfully practised the greatest commandment of them all...standing in the "room of no return" where slaves were shuffled through onto boats to the New World we said "never again" and had a moment of silence.

***

El Mina the town gave us a flavour of coastal life--fisherman and their boats, animist fetish houses, a Dutch cemetery (one governor was murdered and buried there in 1808), St. Jago fort and the slave fort. Oh, and men, naked, shitting on the beach. Yes...coastal life. We also saw well dressed men and women (it was Sunday) and polite children. Stumpy goats tried to steal part of my RedRed (beans and plantains). There were various church services going on and much singing, drumming, and clapping of hands throughout town.

In general, I loved the fashion in Ghana. Fitted suits of pagne fabric and shiny basin completes--but pants for women too! It seemed to be a more open/free culture. The "Use a Condom" billboard in Accra for example where the message was spelled out in stick figures of people in well, various positions.

We came upon a dance rehearsal of sorts in Accra at a small beach-side bar, which made me jealous of the clearly more richer music and dance culture. I guess it is just too hot in Gao. I repeatedly asked myself during the trip, is it the Christianity? The English? Or, what did the French do to Mali? Though really it is probably just a question of climate and resources.

This Month Jojo brings you the column “Ask Confucius”

Because we all need a little more Confucian guidance in our lives. And let’s face it guys, China is going to take over the world. We may as well start learning how they think. Next issue, don’t miss “Chairman Mao Comes to Gao.”

Betrayed in Bagoundié asks: “Confucius, that little shit of a garibou took my plate of beans and rice before I was even finished. Is hunting him down and demanding penance a good idea?”
Confucius say: “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

Malodorous Ménakite asks: “Confucius, I am just sick and tired of smelling my own sweat, what can I do?”
Confucius say: “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

Faux-pas Fearing in Fafa asks: “Last night, my jatigi yelled at me for eating with my left hand—but I had a bandaged cut on the right!! I just can’t get over the faux pas I committed, can you help?”
Confucius say: “Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.”

Blasphemous in Bara asks: “I was mimicking the call to prayer yesterday from my courtyard and someone overheard. It’s just so darn catchy. Was that wrong of me?”
Confucius say: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

Gorging in Gao asks: “Salty rice just really doesn’t do it for me and I have gotten into the habit of going to the chicken lady every night for dinner. But now, to quote a dear APCD of ours, ‘Les volontaires sont broke!’ What should I do now?
Confucius say: “He who will not economize will have to agonize.”

Harmed in Haousa-Foulane asks: “On the road to site, the blasted bush taxi window shattered and shards of glass embedded themselves into my hand. I want to march over to the driver’s house and demand recompense. Is this too drastic?
Confucius say: “Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.”

Doubting in Douentza asks: “I went to have my fortune told, but all the old woman read from the cowrie shells was that I had ‘two minds,’ had to give some alfinta to a garibou, slaughter a white chicken, and go on a trip. This is all bunk! I really want to know what’s in my stars, how?”
Confucius say: “Study the past if you would define the future.”

Afraid in Ansongo asks: “The recent abductions in Niger and violence in Ménaka have me spooked. What advice can you offer to console?”
Confucius say: “The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved.”

Grossed-out in Gossi asks: “What is with the way people eat fish here? All spitting of bones and eating of eyeballs and gills…why am I so disgusted?”
Confucius say: “Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.”

Tossing in the Towel in Tashran asks: “The emotional roller-coast ride of my service is nauseating; I’m this close to ETing. Any words of advice?”
Confucius say: “They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.”

Teased in Tchintchinomé asks: “This morning was the last time anyone calls me an Anasara or Tubob. When will the name-calling end??
Confucius say: “He for whom neither slander does gradually soak into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful and may be called intelligent indeed.”

Linguistically-challenged in Léléhoye asks: “I’m jealous of my teammates’ ability with the local language. Help please?”
Confucius say: “Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.”

Lagging-behind in Labbezanga asks: “Can the bus take any longer? I swear they were being extra-godly and stopped to pray doubly as often! Why is transport so damn frustrating?
Confucius say: “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”

Offensive in Ouatagouna asks: “So, I kinda ended up peeing in a mosque the other day. But I swear, I didn’t know! Is Allah a forgiving god?”
Confucius say: “Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.”

**Note: Any association between localities used above and the life of the PCV found there is purely coincidental. Forgive me, I was amiably achieving alluring alliteration.