Families infested with jiggers receive aid from Ahadi Kenya Trust officials

Jiggers have continued to create havoc in many lives in the rural areas. A number of school going children have had to drop out of school because they are unable to walk.

Several organizations among them Ahadi Trust and Maendeleo ya wanawake decided to ease this problem in Murang’a North district be providing the residents with health education.

The Health Education programme started in January 2007 and has had reasonable success since a good number of the dropouts who had been infested with jiggers are now back in school.

After receiving treatment, the children are given text books and shoes and as one of their teachers attests, these children’s performance is much better now than it was previously.

Other than the children, the programme has also benefited the adults. Farm implements such as wheelbarrows, pangas and jembes, are given to the adults after they receive treatment, giving them a reason to smile.

Ahadi Trust anti jiggers campaign ambassador Cecilia Mwangi last year started the campaigns that caught the nation off guard.

Through her campaign, the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation has risen to the reality of the jiggers problem. In June 2008 Minister Beth Mugo launched a similar anti jiggers campaign at Kabirwa village in Murang’a North district.

Over the years, Ms. Mwangi says many innocent lives have been lost in many parts of the country due to what she described as inefficiency of some public health officials.

Since Ahadi trust raised the issue many other organizations have been visiting homes of people infested with jiggers and offering food, clothing and medical assistance.

On launching the campaigns, Minister Beth Mugo called on all women to be in the forefront to improve health care and sanitary conditions for their families.

“Women are the corner stone of development and they must not shy away from removing jiggers from their children’s and husbands’ feet.” the minister said.

She added that the problem had forced a number of children out of school an issue that must be rectified immediately to help them benefit from the free primary and secondary school education.

In Mathioya constituency where the jiggers menace is reported to be very high, the area Member of Parliament, Clement Muchiri, has said he has commissioned a study to be carried out in all learning institutions, to find out what could be done to eradicate this problem.

Muchiri, who has since been nicknamed ‘Jigger man’ in parliament, says he is committed to implementing all the recommendations of the commission, including providing funds for cementing floors in the leaning institutions.

Early this year, vice president Kalonzo Musyoka honored 20 journalists from various parts of the country who in the past one year had been highlighting issues related to the jigger menace in both the electronic and print media.

A study carried out in Gitugi location of Mathioya has shown that all the primary schools in the area consistently record dropout cases, citing that most of the jigger infested children were avoiding being laughed at by their colleagues.

According to Jane Kamwaga, the coordinator of the National Council of women of Kenya, the government should post more public health officers in the rural areas to ensure the locals get the right health education and maintain quality health standards.

Kamwaga said it’s a pity that currently most public health inspectors prefer working in slaughter houses unlike in the 1980’s when they made efforts to visit homes and offer public health education.
“If the public is given the right and timely advice, the jigger menace will be a thing of the past.” said the coordinator.