Mpendo Packer Foundation and The Humanitarian organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints teamed up for this project. The Church funded it and Suzies organization found the children and organized the project.
Everyone lines up in order from little to big. They are well behaved and obedient.
A little apprehension
In the Jinja District which is located near Lake Victoria at the Source of the mighty Nile River there are many villages with children infested with Jiggers. The children get the Jiggers mainly in their feet because they do not wear shoes and do not have the facilities and water to wash regularly. A flea breaks the skin on the foot and lays eggs under the skin. The eggs hatch in the warm environment and worms grow. They are not painful if there are just a few under the skin but when there are many it is painful and it can cause serious health problems. The only way to treat them is to cut the skin and dig them out with a needle. We then treat the wound with Hydrogen Peroxide and put shoes on their feet.
We did five projects in 5 different villages in the area on our Pdays. We treated over 100 children in each village - 500 children in all. Every Saturday morning we drove to Jinja and met up with Susan and her team to work with the children and some adults that were badly infected. In this village we had a school to work in. In some of the villages we worked outside under the shade of a big tree.
The Children lined up outside and registered. They then came in and the best part was washing the feet with soap and water and disinfectant.
We had to use a lot of disinfectant and a scrub brush to get them clean. We got to talk with the children and take pictures of them. Most of them liked to get their pictures taken and all of them were adorable.
Sarah, Sister Wallace and Diana
Elder Wallace was on the Spraying Crew.
We sprayed their houses to get rid of the fleas that cause the problem. Most of them have dirt floors with no type of sealant on them. The fleas live in the dust.
"The Flea Buster"
Even though we treated 500 children there were 3 times that many that still needed
treatment and clothes and shoes.
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This lady dressed in her finest Gomez came to help out
I took my camera out to get a picture of a couple of kids and a crowd gathered to get their picture taken.
Beautiful people
The kids dressed in their school uniforms showing their appreciation.
Diana Ntono washing this little guys feet.
No one cried when they dug the jiggers out.
Most of the kids did not have adequate clothing so we had some clothes that we picked up from the market (1000 shillings per piece - about 40 cents) The pretty panties were the most appreciated clothing by the girls. The boys liked the underwear.
Elder Wright was nervous about washing feet. He was afraid he would get something but when he got into it he loved working with the kids.
It is absolutely beautiful in this part of the country. Some of the small huts have breath taking views of Lake Victoria. Such a sharp contrast between the beauty and the poverty.
The school is an open air building. The windows have no glass in them and the doors are open
There are benches with a table for desks but there are no books, or computers or bright pictures on the walls.
Sister Chatfield has a tender moment with a grateful village mom.
At the end of the day we were tired but satisfied that we had done some good.
We had made life a little better for some kids that had nothing and their sweet spirits made my life a little better.
