17th October 2012

Shimoni Hub GVI and local community health workers assist in outreach at Mwazaro Primary School to treat children infected with parasitic Jiggers.
Working closely with our partners on the GVI health project, GVI volunteers came together with local community health workers to help tackle an outbreak of jiggers at a local primary school, cleaning and treating over 150 children in one afternoon. The aim was to treat the children and prevent a further outbreak of a preventable health condition.

A foot infested with Jiggers

Vols apply Vaseline to the affected area in a bid to suffocate the parasites

The GVI Health Project is based in the Shimoni Sub Location which is a small group of villages located on a 15km in length peninsular in the Coast Province of Kenya, only 30km north of the Tanzanian border. There is a rapidly increasing population of over 4,000 residents, most of whom earn a living from fishing in the rich waters of the Indian Ocean on which the main village of Shimoni is located. There are a number of public health issues affecting people living in the Shimoni area, many of which are preventable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria. GVI have been working closely with the Public Health Officer (the government official responsible for putting in place mechanisms to tackle public health issues in the area). In 2009, a community unit was formed to educate the local population on public health issues and start initiatives to tackle preventable diseases. This community unit is known as Rise and Shine and consists of over 40 volunteers from the local area who have been trained to be community health workers. Each community health worker is given basic medical training and is given responsibility over 20 households in the area. They visit each household at least once a month to check on the health of each resident, refer them to the local public dispensary if they need treatment, and educate them about public health issues. The community health workers also hold outreaches in villages in the Shimoni Sub location, which are regular workshops designed to educate residents about a particular health issue i.e. malaria, the importance of breast feeding etc. GVI has been working with the Public Health Officer and Rise and Shine as a part of the health project. We conduct research into public health issues as requested by the Public Health Officer in a bid to expand the knowledge base of the community health workers, who in turn share this knowledge with the community. We also assist at outreaches, and we did just this last week at a local primary school. Mwazaro is a small village located 7km away from Shimoni town. Located close to a beach and mangroves, there is a lot of sand in the area. Where there are mangroves and sand, you usually find small parasitic fleas

known as jiggers (Tunga penetrans). The impregnated female burrows into its host and embeds itself into the skin, usually under the toe and fingernails. It feeds on the blood of the host, causing painful sores, usually indicated by a tiny black dot on the skin, which is the back of the flea. A small inflammatory papule forms with small eggs inside and after two weeks the flea releases over 100 eggs onto the ground, through the opening made on entrance into the skin. This causes painful sores which can cause serious damage to the affected area. Lesions usually occur on the soles of feet, in between the toes and underneath toenails. If left untreated, this can lead to secondary infections, loss of digits, sepsis and tetanus. If the parasite is removed, and the lesion cleaned, a full recovery can be made. GVI were invited to attend an outreach at Mwazaro Primary School which has over 200 pupils in pre-school and 125 pupils in standards 1-2 (aged 7 max). The headmistress of the school had asked for help as many of the students had lesions symptomatic of jigger infestation. Armed with Dettol disinfectant, bars of antiseptic soap and Vaseline, GVI worked in partnership with community health workers and scrubbed over 150 pairs of feet to clean and disinfect the feet, applying Vaseline to the lesions in a bid to suffocate any remaining jiggers and prevent further damage. A follow up outreach will be done to treat the remaining students and educate them on how to prevent jiggers something as simple as placing a mat on the floor could prevent the pupils from jigger infestations. The joust the jiggers outreach was an incredible experience. Doing hands on work really makes you feel like youre making a direct impact on, in this case, over a hundred children. Scrubbing up so many feet really makes you see how much of a difference you can make in just a few hard working hours. (Jordan Ianuzzi, GVI Health Project Volunteer) The outreach is an example of simple measures that can be taken to deal with public health issues which are also preventable. Educating the community on health issues is essential to prevent public health issues arising, and empowers people to know when to seek professional medical attention. GVI continues to work towards its long term objectives to improve public health for all residents in the Shimoni sub location. If you would like to read more about this project and sign up to volunteer please visit our website and check out our blog for the latest up to date information from the project.

Volunteers Kopa, Jordan and Matata ready to scrub