Tales from the Bush: Meredith Bowen

On one of my first days at FAME Medical as the new Volunteer Coordinator, a very young girl arrived from Oldeani Village with one of the worst cases of funzas to date.  Funzas are worms, found in the local red clay dirt, that start off microscopic in size and, burrowing into your skin, grow to the size of small peas.  I have seen some pretty bad cases, during previous trips to this area, but nothing compares to this little girl. We were told that she lives in a mud hut and is raised by grandparents, too elderly to care for her properly.  After sedating her, Dr. Ivan and Nurse Safi went to work removing dozens of funzas from her fingertips and toes.  It was a long and intense process.  Luckily for this girl, she didn’t feel a thing, and the funzas were removed before permanent damage was done.  Thank goodness for the kindness and skill of the staff here at FAME who treated her like she was their own!