Who Knew: Hookworms

Seaford's 3 month picture...in the outfit I got him from the states


Greg's Nature Art example piece

Presentation in Dangriga:
Greg and I got asked to co-present on reading strategies to the trainees in Dangriga. It was great seeing and getting to talk to the trainees and kind of relive that stressful time of training we just recently went through ourselves. We chanted our mantra of 'just get through training' and tried to squeeze in all the advice we could in a couple hours. We had dinner with two other couples in Dangriga and stayed up late (until 9) chatting about what Peace Corps is in Belize. I have previously only stopped through on the bus and once while in training for not even an hour so it was interesting to see the town. The market was huge like you wouldn't belive and I got to taste tambrine for the first time...it looks like a brown pea pod and then you eat the stuff off the seeds (the consistency and taste of fruit leather).

Gibnut... the Royal Rat (Kaylyssa do not look at these pictures):
Tanisha and Margarita came bursting in the house both talking at the same time. All I could understand was there was something about snake and Alex and phone. Greg and I went outside where Alex (our host brother who is in the BDF) showed us a picture he took on his cell phone
of the 'Yellow Jaw' (AKA: Fer de Lance, Tommy Goff, Bothrops Asper). He was bathing in the river up north when a colleague started screaming for him to move. He was standing right beside one of these snakes and the guy shot it. He is really lucky to be alive, they kill you in minutes!

So after that exciting story we watched as Santiago and Cecilia butchered the Gibnut they bought from some guy walking through the village. It was huge and felt like human skin and I was pretty weirded out. We stayed up late listening to Fermin's stories from Easter. He told us of this guy who used to live at the teacher house before him. He would not allow his wife to leave the house unless with him. She had to wait until he came home to use the toilet (and he would walk her). Fermin said that he thought this was the cruelest thing you could do to a woman. He said he didn't agree with women just staying in a corner not being seen or heard. I was glad to hear this however, the whole night Saturnina and Ofelia (his wife) would often laugh and giggle but never share a story themselves. But, at least they're not in the corner.

Margarita holding up the gibnut so I can see his teeth. Butchering the Gibnut on a waha leaf.

Watching the process.

In the morning we were given a bowl of gibnut caldo (soup) and tortillas...it was pretty tasty:)

Oh the Benifits of Hookworms (we don't have them fyi):

Greg and I were listening to a podcast from This American Life about parasites. It talked about this one parasite that swam into a fishes mouth, ate it's tongue, then turned around and acted like a tongue! Then it got really interesting. This guy (who suffered from really bad allergies then later very sever asthma requiring hospitalization) found out about a BBC documentary that showed how people in developing countries are much less likely to have allergies and asthma and other auto immune diseases. I have not seen any kids with allergies or asthma and so my interest was peaked. The secret? Hookworms. They evolved and changed with humans over the years and as payment for letting them suck our blood/ intestines they release a chemical that kind of calms down our immune response. Long story short this guy walked in poo in Africa, got hookworms, and got cured. He then started selling his hookworms and apparently scientists are studying the potential benefits for MS, crones disease, and many other auto immune disorders...just thought you should know. Our super clean guts are proving harmful and sometimes deadly...another advantage to village life. The link to the podcast is below if you wanna hear more!
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/404/enemy-camp-2010