A Toast to My Health on My One Year Anniversary in Cote d’Ivoire !
May 20, 2002
Hard to believe I have been here a year already (of course, in some ways, it seems like forever…). While I’ve been gone, three friends have had babies, two have adopted babies, one has become engaged, my sister has finished her PhD, one friend and my mother have moved across the country, and etc, etc. When I look back over big events such as these, I realize that I am missing out on a lot at home!! Time marches on, doesn’t it?
I have been so fortunate with my health in the past year. Several friends here have had malaria or recurring diarrhea, and a few people have had odd unexplainable health problems. Many of you ask me about my health. Here are my secrets:
Water - I am religious about treating my water. We are given ceramic water filters and taught to filter, then boil or bleach our water (two drops per liter). In Taabo and the surrounding villages, I carry my own water with me. Probably the water in Taabo is safe (it is treated by the government), but many of the water pipes are broken and that lets dirt seep into the water supply. I can live with a little dirt in my shower water, but I refuse to drink it! We are taught to scrub the ceramic filters every week and boil them once every six months. When I see the guck that my filters take out of my "safe" tap water, I am glad I filter it before drinking it!!
Fruits and Vegetables – We are taught to wash our fruits and vegetables, then soak them in a bleach and water solution for 45 minutes before eating them. Since I know most of the people who sell produce in the market don’t have latrines, I am motivated to wash their food well! When I get home from the market, I throw all my fruits and veggies into a bucket, fill it with water and add some bleach. Later I drain and dry the food, then store it in my refrigerator. How fortunate I am to have a refrigerator and electricity! Otherwise, it would be harder to store food away from flies and ants.
Malaria Prophylaxis – There are two drugs the Peace Corps uses in sub-Saharan Africa to prevent malaria. Mefloquine is taken weekly. Doxycycline is taken daily. The Peace Corps prefers Mefloquine because there are fewer doses to forget, and because they believe the drug is more effective. I am on doxycycline. I prefer it because of the mental and emotional side effects of mefloquine.
I never miss my doxycycline (well, I missed it once in October, but not since then!), and am usually pretty good at taking it near the same time each day. Nearly every time a volunteer gets malaria, they admit to having missed their medication at least once. I am not wild about being on a low dose antibiotic for two years, but I am even less excited about having malaria!!
No Meat at Site – While I have not become a vegetarian, in general, I do not eat meat at site. I have seen the butcher at the market, and I am just not interested in ingesting what I see there! Too many bugs and flies!! And who knows how long that meat has been there since it was butchered? I will sometimes eat chicken or fish when it is offered to me and it would be rude to refuse, but as a general rule, I get my protein at site from canned tuna, peanut butter, peanuts, eggs, and beans. Just seems safer to me. When I get to Abidjan, I am nearly always craving a nice big burger!!
Other health items (aside from food and water) that I hope are keeping me healthy are staying out of the sun when possible, daily moderate exercise, frequent hand washing, and plenty of rest. Keep your fingers crossed that this strategy keeps me healthy during my second year of service too!!