Congo Kinshasa: an uncomfortable night reveals a tropical danger

I couldn't sleep. 

I felt bloated. Nothing seemed to resolve the problem. I imagined having an indigestion disguised heart attack, cancer, or the need for a surgical intervention. I laid on on side, on my back, on the other side. I made several visits to out Turkish style toilet. The pain was across my lower ribs - across my spleen, stomach and liver. A dull, tight ache.

Francis and Judith Hannaway 

Judith brought me a glass of water the first night, and 2 paracetamol. I slept. The following day, I consumed the maximum amount of paracetamol, as well as drinking multiple cups of sweet, milky coffee. The bloating didn't go away. Pain across the lower ribs! For two days I hardly ate. 

The next morning I took my first of three de-worming tablets. The change was SO remarkable that I've eaten loads today, and even had a beer.

Worms are picked up as eggs from contaminated food. Perhaps, someone carrying them didn't wash their hands before touching food.

The eggs enter the stomach and intestines. As they progress they develop into spaghetti-like worms that produce thousands of microscopic eggs, each day! The eggs pass from the intestines to the blood supply, eventually emerging in the lungs. They cause irritation and emerge in phlegm as the patient starts to cough. The eggs emerge in the throat and are then swallowed, only to develop into thousands more egg-laying worms! The cycle repeats. Eventually, the intestines fill with worms, get blocked and the body goes into shock. Death often follows.

I obviously had this parasitic infestation. I could sense it, report it, get treatment for it. I didn't go into shock and die like Fr Patrick CCIM did, 30 years before. I took the pills and survived!

Tragically, for our malnourished children, the story's different. They're too young to speak. The parents are often ignorant of the low price if treatment (20 pence!). The days of bloating, lack of appetite, abdominal pain, go unnoticed. At least 75% of our malnourished children need treatment for worms. The parents are oblivious.

That's why we desperately need your donation to combat these infections in a country where we're the only option!

Make a donation to Francis and Judith's Malnutrition Centre (click)