October 27th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
A few weeks ago, I posted a status on Facebook asking for ideas on how to wash vegetables well due to getting stomach pains and diarrhea in spite of having regularly disinfected the vegetables. I was appalled when people tried to give me unauthorized medical diagnosis such as IBS, food sensitivity, and sensitivity to bleach, gave me incorrect information and showed lack of knowledge in health issues that foreigners face when living in developing countries long-term. I had to realize that it’s not their fault for being uneducated about health issues in developing countries and that I do need to provide some education as many have not experienced in living in a developing country and received training in maintaining their health in developing countries.
Last year, when I was in training for ten weeks, Peace Corps Medical Officers provided us an hour and half session each week on how to care for ourselves and seek treatments and what kind of diseases we can acquire during our service. In Cameroon, Peace Corps has two doctors and a nurse who only care for Peace Corps Volunteers. There is a reason that Peace Corps have medical professionals on staff. Becoming ill frequently in developing countries is the norm for Peace Corps Volunteers. We do get sick much more frequently than we do at home in the US. At my physical exam in 2013, my primary care physician said, “You’re so healthy that I don’t need to see you for two years.” I was very healthy before coming to Peace Corps. I was rarely sick except for getting occasional colds and maybe one virus. Since I arriving in Cameroon, I have had Typhoid Fever, Salmonella, too many diarrheas and stomach pains to count, two sore throats, a cold, and a bladder infection. Most volunteers who I know have been ill just as many times as I have. Some have also contracted malaria, giardia, filariasis and chiggers. We get so many diarrheas and stomach pains that Pepto becomes our best friend (Click here to see the fact that Pepto is often seen as the “god” in the Peace Corps world.)
Why do we get sick frequently? Cameroon and many other developing countries have many diseases that are almost unheard of in the US and other developed countries and does not have a proper system in place to remove all the bad bacterias. Water is contaminated with bad bacteria. Cameroon does not have a fully developed system to clean the water that goes directly into the homes that have indoor plumbing. Access to toilets is lacking. Many homes do not have toilets or latrines at all. So, all the feces waste go into the grounds outside. When rain comes, water becomes infected as it comes in contact with the feces and water gets spread throughout the area. Many farmers often go to the bathroom on the fields. As a result, the vegetables get contaminated with bad bacteria. Therefore, between the contaminated water and vegetables, cleaning the vegetables can be challenging. We have to first clean the water which by filtering it, boiling it, or bleaching it. I normally just use the filter that Peace Corps provided us. Then the vegetables must be disinfected. There are different ways to do it. The most common method which I have been using is soaking them in clean bleached water for a couple of minutes. If the vegetables can be pealed such as carrots, onions, and cucumbers, then I just peal them. Then I stir fry the vegetables to ensure that all bacteria has been killed as heat can kill the bacteria. The other method for disinfecting the vegetables is boiling them in a pot of water. No matter how careful I am, sometimes I still do get diarrhea and stomach aches from eating vegetables. I should note that I also do take probiotics on daily basis. At the end of the day, bacterias can still creep into our bodies.
Then of course getting sick from meat and fish is very possible. The rule of thumb is usually that if the meat is not hot and not well cooked, then it’s not safe to eat. If they are not cooked fully, then we are definitely in a risk of getting sick. Even if they were cooked fully but they have been sitting in room temperature place for a few hours instead of a refrigerator, they can still become contaminated again with bacteria as bacteria in the surrounding area can get onto the meat or fish.
Cameroonians do get sick too although when they are adults, they do not become ill as frequently as foreigners because their immune system has been built up over the years from getting sick as children. In order for foreigners to become immune to exotic diseases, they have to live in the country for several years and experience the illnesses. However, Cameroonians, both children and adults, do still face serious high risks and become seriously ill too. In fact, many Health Peace Corps Volunteers will do many demonstrations in their communities on how to properly wash hands and food for this reason.
While getting sick has been no fun, I still wouldn’t allow it to stop me from doing the work I love doing. At least I have only one more year of facing numerous maladies!
