Worms, Germs and Parasites

PST (pre-service training) can be a serious emotional drain of spirit and energy. There are so many sessions on policies, procedures, and systems and goals throughout the day. What stands out most however (or what I'll actually remember from week 1 of training) is the slew of medical information.
There's a whole army of germs out there (I am in the tropics after all, a breeding ground for microbes) that can kill you, or do some serious damage. We recently learned about the vast array of worms that can infest, invade and inhabit your body, building a nice cushy home for themselves in your vital organs. If malaria or rabies doesn't get you, there's always schistosomiasis in the water. No bathing in the lakes here!

I've taken the issue of hygiene to a whole new level, and I'm newly aware of how chewing the end of my pen may have just given me a whole new pet parasite. This has inspired a budding sense of hypochondria. Things that may not have bothered me now sprout into unconfirmed fears that I'm seeing the early signs of a festering boil, a worm infestation, or TB. For instance, my top lip has been slightly swollen all week. I'm pretty sure it's nothing, and it's because I ate pineapple recently, but who knows...

Another charming thing here is the Tumbu fly, also known as Nairobi eye. It's a wonderfully small beetle-like fly that exploded acid on your skin if you squash it. Apparently some people wipe their eye afterwards, hence the nickname. Then there's the joy of the mango fly, which lays eggs on your damp clothes, the eggs hatch and burrow into your skin. Now try to imagine what happens when they hatch!
Welcome to the tropics. Just want you to know what we're up against. Parasites lodging themselves in your brain or spinal cord, and causing permanent damage or incontinence, or your everyday hemorrhagic fever. As if it's not bad enough that there are outbreaks of Ebola or Marburg virus lurking in the area, I have to be cognizant of the constant threat of mean microbes ready to wreak havoc on my digestive system.
It's a humbling experience when you poop your pants or vomit in public- you just have to accept it. It's going to happen. Having already had food poisoning within the first week, I am ready to take on the germs.