Ever imagined having wild animals living under your skin? The most likely answer is no, never. In the developed world like the Netherlands, children may never have been exposed to conditions leading to entry and development of jiggers – a form of parasites, in their bodies.
Treatment or eradication of jiggers is not an easy task. Medication for jiggers is not readily available in the local health units. On the other hand, re-infection is common due to the nature of floors of pupils’ classrooms as well as houses. Jiggers and dust in classrooms are inseparable! And proliferation of the jiggers a must! The victim is the innocent child.
Jiggers are a common menace afflicting children learning in rural settings in Kenya. Most children who can’t afford shoes learn in classrooms made of mud walls and earthen floors. The floors can mean to be dusty. The situation is aggravated by the high pupil environment that forces pupils to be confined in the small structures in the name of classrooms. The temporary structures are mostly small sized measuring 15 by 10 feet. Such a structure can house as may as 80 pupils; a few sitting on desks and the rest make do with the earthen floors as their seat. This enormous number of pupils makes dust accumulate in the classroom and make perfect breeding ground for jiggers. The structures look dilapidated. At a glance they appear like ancient ruins that do not befit even being a cultural site.
The children rely on cow dung to smoothen the classroom walls and floors. This is done twice a week. Water has to be sprinkled on the floor surface every morning and afternoon to minimize the dust. Most of the pupils’ homes are not any better. Their houses are made of mud walls and earthen floors. Cow dung may sound a waste material to many people in the urban areas or developed countries, but in the rural schools of Busia and Teso districts of Western province, it is a valued item. Cow dung is used both at home and at school for improving and maintaining house and classroom floors. Cow dung is hardly enough for both!
In the decade 1990 to 2000, animals in Western Kenya were wiped out by the outbreak of tryps (trypanosomiasis) disease (a tsetse-fly vector disease). Most families watched helplessly as their stocks of animals; mostly cows, goats and sheep succumbed to the disease. In the recent years, the disease has been countered, thanks to the Government of Kenya’s intervention. Farmers who form the majority of the needy community are just starting to restock their cattle bomas.
Consequently, the cow dung meant for maintaining the classrooms as well as pupils’ houses is never enough as parents and pupils compete for this scare (often taken for granted to be available by town dwellers) but treasured resource.
An encounter with most inflicted pupils shows how worn down they are as result of jiggers infestation. Academic performance is greatly affected since development of handwriting and reading skills starts in the lower classes that are hardest hit with this infestation. The jiggers menace deprives the pupils of concentration in class, affects extra curriculum participation; as a result, they are often dull and slow in action.
One may wonder why parents cannot put up
new, modern classrooms for their children to avert this health menace – jigger
infestation. The community here is impoverished
and lacks any meaningful income generating activity. Ironically, most of their
large clunks of land are covered with sugarcane plantation s that earns very
little income due to the high production costs incurred.
Bye, Evelyn
