By Admin1 (admin) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 9:01 pm: Edit Post |
Phyllis Jansyn had been a nurse and midwife for many years when she joined the Peace Corps as a healthcare worker in Cameroon
Phyllis Jansyn had been a nurse and midwife for many years when she joined the Peace Corps as a healthcare worker in Cameroon
Measuring the impact of public health efforts on intestinal parasites in remote villages
DATES IN THE FIELD:
Team III: Jul 13-25, 2003
Team IV: Nov 9-21, 2003
Team V: Dec 21, 2003-Jan 2, 2004
SHARE OF COSTS:
$1,695
£995
$A2,995
¥186,450
LAST UPDATE:
4/25/03
Djohong, Cameroon—Intestinal parasites are one of the most widespread and intransigent health problems in the world, affecting more than half of the globe’s human population. They cause serious illness in 450 million people each year and kill thousands more. Just three parasites, Ancylostoma duodenale (hookworm), Ascaris lunzbricoicles (roundworm), and Entamaeba histolytica (amoebae), claim more than 200,000 lives annually. Most incidents of illness are in Africa and are preventable through improved public health measures. That’s what brings Phyllis Jansyn to Cameroon.
Jansyn had been a nurse and midwife for many years when she joined the Peace Corps as a healthcare worker in Cameroon. Now, Jansyn is working to relieve the suffering of villagers too remote to be reached by conventional public health agencies. Jansyn’s methods are simple but effective. She is monitoring the incidence of parasites by analyzing stool samples, distributing medications, instructing villagers on hygiene, installing spring boxes to protect water sources, and building latrines. In one village alone, she reduced the incidence of parasites from 83 percent to 45 percent.
You’ll hike with Jansyn to villages where you’ll rotate tasks with other team members. Some days you’ll work with Jansyn, examining villagers for signs of illness or malnutrition, giving them medicines, and recording data. On other days, you and the team’s lab technician will examine stool specimens or help one of the team’s counselors interview villagers. Some teams will have the chance to intervene directly in the cycle of contagion by wielding a shovel to install spring boxes or latrines. Wherever your efforts take you, this is an unparalleled opportunity to help stop the plague of intestinal parasites one village at a time.
Field Conditions: Your home base will be a walled compound of round mud houses with grass roofs, including a main hut for classes and meals. Some of the time you will overnight in the field, staying in village homes or your own tent with more rustic facilities. You will rotate camp tasks, including cooking, cleaning, and purifying drinking water. Volunteers do not risk infection because of Jansyn’s careful precautions.