Brian and Julie

I noticed Brian on my first Sunday here in Kamukuywa. 

Dressed in an oversized t-shirt, some girls leggings and bare feet, he was wandering around the hall during the service and eventually sat up the front next to the translator who gave him some lollies. I was interested in who he was as he only looked about two years old and yet he seemed very independent and I couldn't see a mother anywhere.

Brian and Julie receiving treatment

Over the following weeks and months I found out that his mother Julie is disabled, she struggles to communicate and perform basic tasks, she was raped and therefore there is no father to assist with care. 

I didn't find out much more about the couple until a few months ago when one Sunday I picked up the lad and held him on my lap during the service. I noticed his feet looked very bad- infected with jiggers.
Jiggers are a flea kinda thing that enter the feet and lay their eggs inside which hatch and they effectively eat out your feet from the inside and can be very painful and extremely itchy. Once I saw them I immediately wanted to treat his feet and managed to convince both child and mother to come to the school so I could soak them in chemicals to kill the jiggers and then allow them to recover. One glance made me see his mothers feet were much worse than his and I soon realised this was going to be a longer process than I initially realised. Their feet were so badly infected they looked like a mess of black infections and neither of them could walk properly.

Drying Julie's feet after soaking.

Over the course of a month I have been treating and bandaging their hands and feet and getting to know these lovely people. I immediately began picking the brains of my nurse sister, travel doctor and other medical friends as well as the locals. Apparently the best treatment is to kill the jiggers by soaking in chemicals and then allow the body to exude the dead flea. Keeping the feet and hands clean and wearing shoes is also the best way to prevent reinfection. 

Brian enjoying splashing around.

This was easy enough as fortunately I didn't have any lessons scheduled for first up in the morning so I was able to spend the first hour of each day treating their feet and hands.

I was repeatedly told by the locals that jiggers thrive in dry dusty environments and in order to really eradicate the jiggers the mud hut they lived in needed to be 'smeared' with cow dung. 
I decided that 'when in Rome, act like the Romans' and perhaps I should just bite the bullet and take the advice of the locals. One of my students, Elizabeth, was super optimistic and helpful, explaining that her grandma had taught her how to 'smear down very well!' and she would be able to teach me no problems.
Taking gloves and some buckets we set off in search of some dung, dirt and water- the three magic ingredients. Mixing the three together we created a sloppy paste which we then literally 'smeared' all over the floor of the house. Children from all around the neighbourhood came peering in the door and windows, shocked to see a muzungu 'smearing down!'. Although it took a little bit of getting used to, by the time we finished the hut Elizabeth said I was able to do it as well as her! 

After quite a few weeks of treatment we have seen some great improvements. One particular moment sticks in my mind, after their first treatment when they both had their feet soaked, cleaned, bandaged and now in shoes and Julie stood up to walk out- to our shock she could actually walk out of the school compound with relatively little difficulty. Her slow unsteady gait which we had attributed to her disability had actually been partly caused by the pain and discomfort of her feet. 

Julie is an incredible person! Although experiencing greater hardship than anyone else I have met she always manages to find a smile, despite the fact I struggle to understand her communication she always keeps trying until the message gets across. 
Often Brian would become difficult and refuse treatment, in these cases I put on music and danced around the room to get Brian to cooperate and she would burst into loud whoops of laughter, causing him to also see the funny side. 
When giving them some bread to eat as a distraction from the treatment she would always share her piece with Brian. 
The attachment between these two is so strong, despite the hardship, disability, pain and poverty the love between a mother and her child shines bright. 

One of Brian's feet before and after treatment :)