At one point in time, I considered joining the Peace Corps. One of the things that scared me off was an elective innocently called "Medical and Veterinary Entomology"... or as I liked to think of it, "101 Reasons Not to Join the Peace Corps." I'd always been fascinated by relationships between diseases and their insect vectors, and I thought, hey, malaria is pretty interesting! But then you learn about West Nile and dengue and yellow fever (all mosquito-borne) ... and African night time sleeping sickness (tsetse fly) ... and let's not ever forget the horrifying flesh-eating pictures of Leishmaniasis (sand fly). Seriously, DON'T google it. It's one thing to study these things in a vacuum. It's another thing to share the class with a couple of students - and former Peace Corps volunteers - who piped up with the occasional, "Yeah, I know someone who got that"... or worse, "They eventually found a doctor, who removed 21 larvae from his sinuses." That one still keeps me up at night.
Fast forward to the present, the Farmer-to-Farmer Program lets me try out that old Peace Corps dream... within the comforts of a shorter term commitment, a coordinator who speaks the local language, and travel insurance that covers medical evacuation. This assignment has allowed me to go and teach small farmers how to better feed their families in remote villages in Africa. How cool! Then that Peace Corps nightmare reared its ugly head.
It had started out with stomach cramps. I mostly ignored it, being somewhat of the opinion that your luck will run out eventually when traveling in the developing world. We had driven 2 hours down bumpy roads and puddles. Was it car sickness? We were in a field outside the village of Dar Es Salaam, looking for insects and diseases, handling plants, and chatting with the growers for about 20 minutes... until we found out that this field had just been sprayed with insecticides!?! Every pesticide has a restricted entry interval, or the time period after spraying when no one can enter the field without the appropriate protective equipment. We were still well within the dangerous period so I insisted that everyone exit immediately. I washed as best as I could at the time and encouraged others to do the same. We interviewed the growers about their practices and problems, feeling a little sorry for the fellow who applied the pesticides. He probably felt like he was being interrogated. They passed around mint tea in communal cups. Was this the reason for my digestive tract issues? Was it the pesticide exposure? I removed the contaminated clothing, had a cold shower, and washed my shoes as soon as possible. But as I lay at the hotel with a headache and severe body aches, my inability to sleep for 10 hours was plenty of time to review all I could remember about exposure symptoms (from another class - on insecticide toxicology). The scientist in me couldn't help but see the irony - and wax philosophic - about potentially being accidentally poisoned by the exact substances that I had researched for years under the strictest of safety protocols. I was almost relieved when the high fever set in, since it pushed my diagnosis towards something infectious. A bad night of mosquitoes a few nights back before we got a new bed net got thinking about new questions, like "What were the symptoms for those diseases?" and "What were their incubation times?" In the end and most fortunately, the well-stocked pharmacy that is my first aid kit managed to get me through the night. Having endured some exasperated looks from Rich at its bulk while backpacking, it really came through for me this time. Even the thermometer! Within 24 hours, I was feeling decidedly better.
The volunteer coordinator did offer to take me to the doctor or the hospital, but frankly, it was fatiguing to even walk the 3 feet to the bathroom. Of course, I would have gone if I hadn't improved the next day. Alls well that ends well!
Fast forward to the present, the Farmer-to-Farmer Program lets me try out that old Peace Corps dream... within the comforts of a shorter term commitment, a coordinator who speaks the local language, and travel insurance that covers medical evacuation. This assignment has allowed me to go and teach small farmers how to better feed their families in remote villages in Africa. How cool! Then that Peace Corps nightmare reared its ugly head.
It had started out with stomach cramps. I mostly ignored it, being somewhat of the opinion that your luck will run out eventually when traveling in the developing world. We had driven 2 hours down bumpy roads and puddles. Was it car sickness? We were in a field outside the village of Dar Es Salaam, looking for insects and diseases, handling plants, and chatting with the growers for about 20 minutes... until we found out that this field had just been sprayed with insecticides!?! Every pesticide has a restricted entry interval, or the time period after spraying when no one can enter the field without the appropriate protective equipment. We were still well within the dangerous period so I insisted that everyone exit immediately. I washed as best as I could at the time and encouraged others to do the same. We interviewed the growers about their practices and problems, feeling a little sorry for the fellow who applied the pesticides. He probably felt like he was being interrogated. They passed around mint tea in communal cups. Was this the reason for my digestive tract issues? Was it the pesticide exposure? I removed the contaminated clothing, had a cold shower, and washed my shoes as soon as possible. But as I lay at the hotel with a headache and severe body aches, my inability to sleep for 10 hours was plenty of time to review all I could remember about exposure symptoms (from another class - on insecticide toxicology). The scientist in me couldn't help but see the irony - and wax philosophic - about potentially being accidentally poisoned by the exact substances that I had researched for years under the strictest of safety protocols. I was almost relieved when the high fever set in, since it pushed my diagnosis towards something infectious. A bad night of mosquitoes a few nights back before we got a new bed net got thinking about new questions, like "What were the symptoms for those diseases?" and "What were their incubation times?" In the end and most fortunately, the well-stocked pharmacy that is my first aid kit managed to get me through the night. Having endured some exasperated looks from Rich at its bulk while backpacking, it really came through for me this time. Even the thermometer! Within 24 hours, I was feeling decidedly better.
The volunteer coordinator did offer to take me to the doctor or the hospital, but frankly, it was fatiguing to even walk the 3 feet to the bathroom. Of course, I would have gone if I hadn't improved the next day. Alls well that ends well!
No comments:
Post a Comment