Friendship and Mango Flies

            I’ve heard rumors of the creation of a Peace Corps medical bingo. You know, every kind of typical malady gets its own box and Volunteers mark them down as they go through their respective services. The winner is the one that successfully finishes her service while racking up a series of impressive tales to be told upon return.

            In reality, getting sick or hurt while serving in Cameroon can be a fairly terrifying endeavor. The medical facilities are quite unlike those back home, we’re far from our natural support systems, and the ailments somehow just feel more intense here. There’s a whole world of sicknesses that just don’t exist back home, and the unfamiliar is often much scarier than it has any right to be.

            Luckily, I’ve been quite healthy for my time here thus far. My only medical concern was limited to a couple of stitches back in March of last year, and I’m quite grateful for my medical luck since then. Here’s to a healthy 2015!

            Some of my stagemates haven’t been as lucky. All of them have recovered nicely, but we’ve had multiple cases of malaria, a case of typhoid, and numerous intestinal worms and other parasites. Du courage, my friends.

            I’m not here to make light of most medical issues, but there are a few that are fairly amusing, at least after all involved parties are fully recovered. One of my good friends had one of these cases a few weeks ago, and it feels worth sharing.

 A bunch of us got together for a small holiday gathering, and my friend pulled me aside at one point to tell me about these intense mosquito bites she had gotten that morning. She had been helping a farmer in her community in his cocoa field, prime real estate for the mosquitoes of Cameroon. As we were going to leave, she asked me to look at the bites, which she claimed were beginning to get painful. This being Peace Corps Cameroon (“never a dull moment!”) the bites were, of course, on her butt cheek and upper thigh. The things I’ll do for a friend in this country.

            As it turned out, these were no ordinary mosquito bites. They looked like little white dots raised from her skin, so we consulted our trusty Peace Corps medical manual (which I believe is based off of the appropriately titled Where There is No Doctor). Could it be? Was it possible? I thought that was just a myth…

            It was no myth. “Mango flies” had attacked my friend, which are mysterious insects present throughout all of Cameroon. This little bug likes to lay its eggs in damp soft material left outside, and drying laundry is a perfect target. We were all warned of this ridiculous critter during Pre-Service Training, and I had seen this as just another sign of Cameroon’s inhospitable climate. Not only could we not drink the water, eat non-boiled anything, or sleep without a trusty mosquito net, we couldn’t even wear our own clothing after it was washed?! Luckily, there are two easy ways to avoid the mango flies. Ironing after the clothes would dry will kill the eggs, as will waiting three days before wearing. That gives the eggs enough time to hatch and leave the clothing safe to wear. Otherwise, the eggs can implant themselves into our bodies and leave white painful marks that contained, wait for it-larvae.

I had never seen these telltale white painful marks until a few weeks ago, on that fateful night with my friend. But as soon as we realized what they were, a combination of relief and terror set in. We wouldn’t have to seek outside medical attention, or even call the Peace Corps Medical Office (it was after business hours). But we would have to pop these little worms out ourselves.

I wish I could say that I was a good enough friend that I helped my friend pop these worms out of her butt cheek. And if it came down to it, I would have stepped up. Luckily, there was another willing candidate to take the reins, so my services were not required. We put antibiotic cream over each white mark, waited 15 minutes for the suffocating worms to come to the surface, and then our friend (apologies for the graphic nature here), popped each little larvae out one by one. And out they came, each one looking more like a miniature worm than the one before it. Both of the friends directly involved in this process were troopers-one for handling the pain involved in having something forcibly removed from her body, and the other for being able to derive such satisfaction from doing so. I was just happy to cheer them both on and offer as much moral support as possible.

And rest assured, any potential visitor to Cameroon (or anywhere where these little flies happen to live) mango flies quite easily avoidable. Just keep track of when you brought your laundry in and pack enough underwear that it’s never a stretch to make it those three additional days!