Polio

Ladies and Gentlemen, Readers and Listeners, Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Joyous Kwanzaa, and (a happy greeting) (insert holiday here). This Channukah evening finds me the only Jew for miles around, enjoying my mountain sunset and using what few ingredients I have to try to make soup resembling my mother’s chicken noodle soup (the only vegetables I have are carrots and onions and I’m using beef instead of chicken, but so far it smells good, although, I do have a confession, for bouillon, I used an MSG cube). Having been unable to secure small candles or a menorah, my service tonight involves me imagining a gorgeous, huge menorah and lighting it, while saying the prayers aloud (I have a really good imagination; my menorah is very beautiful). An interesting anecdote: One of the first questions I often get asked is about my religion. Most people just stare blankly when I say Jewish (yes, I am saying it in French), but a few times I have gotten the response “O, well that’s the same thing, like Protestant”. Needless to say, I’ve spent quite a few hours the last few days trying to explain my religion, which, unsurprisingly, is hard with my 1000 word vocabulary (don’t actually know, that’s just an estimate).

People around here are really getting down and dirty getting ready for Christmas. They’ve been preparing since before I got here last week. I’ll be spending Christmas with my neighbors. You’ll get a full account next week.

This week, I’m going to focus on how I spent the last three days. I arrived in Mogode at a very opportune time. On Monday, we started a region-wide (all of the grand north) polio campaign. The idea is that for three days, a team of volunteers go door to door delivering the oral vaccine to every child under 5. It involved this great marking system, marking every house and the little pinky of every child to try to insure no one would be missed.

When I talked on the phone to my mom the other day, her first response was “I thought polio was eradicated.” And it was, in the US. But polio is still rampant here. Polio is a virus for which there is no treatment, only preventative measures (vaccine and good hygiene/water practices). A child who gets polio gets flu like symptoms and can develop paralysis, most notably in the legs. However, polio can strike in most areas of the body and most cases that result in death occur when vital muscles such as the diaphragm are paralyzed. 

When I was 14 and had my Bat Mitzvah, I donated a portion of my gift money to Rotary International, who was sponsoring an anti-polio campaign in Africa. It was an abstract idea back then that I chose to sponsor because one of my dad’s favorite presidents had polio and it seemed like something great to eradicate in the world. When I arrived on Tuesday to start the campaign, I looked at the coolers that all the volunteers were carrying with the vaccines, and, ironically enough, there was the Rotary International logo, campaigning to “Kick Polio out of Africa”. I feel like there was a cycle completed in some way; the money that I donated years ago may have bought the coolers and vaccines that I’m now helping to distribute. For the record, these coolers were older and I have no idea if they arrived with the vaccines or not, and whether or not Rotary sponsored this exact drive, but it felt like a little push of encouragement nonetheless.

So basically, I spent the last few days “helping” the supervisor. On the back of a moto, we traversed our whole health district, bringing more vaccines, making sure everyone was marking houses and children correctly, and checking out the different parts of the district to make sure they were covered. It was very helpful for me because I got to see our whole district, which includes many smaller towns, and explore Mogode while meeting new people. I don’t actually feel like I did a whole lot to help, having been unable to contribute at all (the people we spoke with for the most part only spoke Fulfulde and Kapsiki-another reason to learn as quickly as possible), but I did enjoy it.

On the second day of vaccination, the doctor from the hospital accompanied us out to a little town. It wasn’t until we arrived there that I realized he was coming along to investigate a reported case of possible polio. We arrived at the top of mountain, where this little town was hidden behind a grove of trees. Men were lounging on rugs in front of the Chief’s house as we went into a little mud hut to meet a paralyzed girl. She was about 4 years old, sitting by the door, just staring up at us, confused. When her mother helped her up, I saw that her legs were extremely deformed, creating an X with the lower part of her body. After interviewing her mother, we discovered that she had been this way since birth, effectively ruling out polio. Still, the doctor went through protocol, documenting the case with photographs. As we were about to leave town, another father came up to us, saying his daughter was paralyzed as well. A few minutes later, his 8-year-old daughter came scooting up, dragging one of her legs behind her. She had been sick 2 years before and ever since had been unable to use her right leg properly. The doctor said he was unable to confirm or deny polio just by looking at her, but he suspected that this was indeed a case. He documented this case just like the last, we shared a kola nut with the Chief and left town, as if it was no big deal. It’s just protocol for them: another day on the job. For me, it was like stepping back in time. Polio was a problem for my parents and grandparents. Not for me. Yet, here I am, in Africa, seeing it firsthand. Kinda strange.

It was a great week though. I met tons of people around town and all the Heads of the Clinics in our district. A bunch of different people approached me about possible projects they’d like to see done. The biggest problem in Mogode is water. About February of every year, the wells start drying up. By March and April, there is no source of water in the actual town of Mogode. People can either walk kilometers into the Bush to find another source of water or pay thousands of francs to people who will fetch it on motos. At this point, when I’m considering possible projects, water security seemed like it might be something I’d like to do. Today, the Chief of the Center at Sir (a city close by) approached me about expanding the education program that the previous volunteer had started. She worked with the vaccinator and went out into the Bush with him to give education presentations before every vaccination day to women who rarely go to hospitals and don’t have access to information or education. Again, something I might be interested in doing. This point of my service is all about getting integrated, talking to people, and exploring problems in the community. Advice from other volunteers has been “read a book in the center of town and let people come talk to you”, or “go grab a beer with anyone, meet everyone”. It’s an exhausting period of remembering names, gathering information informally, making friends, and trying to become a part of the community (as much as I can considering I stick out like a pumpkin in a sack of beans). Anyways, Happy Holidays and until next time!