Sickness in Zambia

MALARIA:
We had, of course, been warned about getting malaria when living in Zambia because it is so prevalent there. We were instructed as to how only the female mosquito carries malaria, and she only flies from dusk until dawn, so it is really in the evening that you have to be so careful. We took malaria preventive medicine, used spray, and used mosquito nets. We also learned that malaria takes about 7 days to show itself after you are bitten. We had been in Zambia for 9 days when I came down with "something.." I felt the sudden need to just lay down and it was like I couldn't move. I went from shivering with chills all over me to pouring sweat. I was vomiting, having diarrhea, and very high fever. I seriously thought I was going to die! I remember laying on the cold bathroom floor in some people's house that we barely knew (we had only been there 9 days!) wanting my mama. They decided I had malaria, so they took me to a local clinic. There, I was given a "booklet" that was to be my medical record. As the doctor got set up to do a finger prick to test my blood, I quickly realized that I was having an African doctor poke me with a needle in an HIV country...I was so sick I hardly cared. The test came back negative, as it usually does with malaria unless you have had it for quite awhile, but they started me on meds anyway. They gave me 3 pills in a tiny ziploc bag with instructions to take them right away when I got home. I took them, threw up once, and almost immediately begin to feel better. My mom later asked "what did they give you? what was it called?" "Um, I don't know Mom...just some pills in a ziploc bag..." :) She freaked out! So, that means that I was bitten by a malaria mosquito in the capitol city about 2 days after I got there! Amazingly, during the rest of our 2 years there, I never got malaria, even when we lived out in the bush, even when I was pregnant (when it is especially dangerous!)

DYSENTERY:
I was absolutely addiced to roasted corn on the cob that was sold on the side of the road by ladies who were roasting on their little fires. The kernels were rock hard and it was just SOOO yummy! One day, I asked Blu to bring one home for me and he came back with one from the Ndeke compound. I had never gotten one from there and I noticed that it was cold. But of course I ate it anyway!! The next day, I was literally pooping my guts out. I couldn't even take a sip of water without having to run to the bathroom. It was awful!! Once again, 3 magic pills in a tiny ziploc bag did the trick! And I never ate another corn cob again...

Let's see...Blu got sick a few times...we suspect he had malaria once, and he got sick a couple of times from drinking out of wells that he knew he shouldn't have...but his sickness tops them all...

PUTSIE FLIES:
All of the missionaries in Zambia warned us about the "putsie fly" that would attach itself to wet clothes and then burrow itself into your body and make you sick. So, if you washed clothes and dried them on the line, you were supposed to either iron them or stick them in the dryer to get rid of the fly. Our dog in Zambia had puppies, and they sadly got putsie flies when they were babies. The putsie fly isn't really a fly. We would see a big round spot that looked infected on the puppies and if we squeezed it a long worm would shoot out. We would then step on it and squash it. Blu did this on a daily basis to try to help out our puppies (they all later died :( ) Anyway, one day Blu noticed a little red spot on his stomach. He wondered what it was and when he squeezed it he noticed a little green thing shoot out. He put it in his hand and showed it to me and said "Darbi..what does that look like?" Sure enough, you could see a little worm wiggling. That came out of my husband's stomach!!!!!!! He got pretty sick for about a day and was then fine. Disgusting!!

Overall, God protected us so much when we were in Zambia. We were in close contact with HIV, Tuberculosis, Cholera, and tons of other diseases, yet by God's grace we only got minor things that the doctors there could take care of! It's amazing to think that the same things we got, like malaria, are what kills the Zambians, simply because they can't afford the 3 magic pills in a tiny ziploc bag. (which cost about $1.50)