Be warned!

"To je jako Great Wall of China na ruce!"

The day after working at the orphanage I noticed that Maarten's hands were covered in bites. I found it strange for a mosquito as the bites were also between his fingers.
Because of the recent outbreak of Dengue fever I was horrified by the idea that Maarten was possibly bitten during his visit at the orphanage and maybe infected with Malaria or Dengue.
The school physician said that those bites were either from mosquitoes or flies.
Many sleepless nights followed and after an extensive research on the internet I calmed a little hoping that those are "just" flea bites.
But those bites were also very itchy and didn't go away.
Almost one month later I noticed an elevated track leading from one of those scratched open bumps (see picture).
Now I was sure there is something more going on.
"Luckily" my friend was suspicious knowing about other similar case and wanted to see Maarten before we went to the clinic. Together with other moms familiar with the case they diagnosed him with the same kind of worm!
To shorten my story down... They were correct and even though it took me some effort to convince the physician at the clinic who only saw many mosquito bites, Maarten was diagnosed with larva migrans cutanea, a parasitic worm infection. The larvae usually plague cats and dogs. Humans can get infected by walking barefoot, or like in Maarten's case, playing in sand or soil that have been contaminated with animal feces.
We were very lucky catching the creeping eruption in an early stage.
Be warned as cutaneous larva migrans can occur also in the temperate zones during the warmer months of the year!

Workers' Day at Boys Orphanage

I signed up for a "fun work day" at the boys orphanage in Palanca, the same place we went in December for the Christmas party organized by the Boys Scouts.
I knew the boys were also expected to participate.  But I wasn't sure I want to bring Maarten in such a populated place, especially now, during the malaria peak season and also because of the recent outbreak of the dengue fever with so many cases here in Luanda.

Well, to sum up we decided to go all the three of us, fully dressed and covered in Deet. I was surprised how "naked" the most volunteers arrived. Also the kids wore only shorts, T-shirts and slippers.
Anyway, it gave me some comfort to take precautions.
Luckily, our children were painting the interior of the office, which had an air conditioning.  At least for a while. Then the power went down as usual.

Our team was sent to paint the kitchen but the cook ladies were busy with preparing the lunch so we helped a little with painting the cafeteria. The residents were very enthusiastic to do the job themselves so after some discussions we were allowed to help also in the dormitory. Why allowed? Well, it wasn't considered to be safe for women to work in the small dark rooms together with all the teenage boys.

I thought nothing can surprise me anymore but when the boys began with clearing their dorms of all furnishings, I couldn't believe my eyes and... my nose! It's always hot in Luanda but here inside the rooms the air was thick with the smell of sweat, urine and feces.
I've never seen so many roaches, mosquitoes, flies, spiders together!
There were bundles of dirty clothes hanging on ropes attached to the ceiling. When the boys  started to throw the clothes down swarms of disturbed mosquitoes quick filled the shady room. There were so many bugs creeping around the floor, on the walls and over the ceiling.
In the dark corner I saw at least three rats crawling in and out of a small cardboard box. They were their pet rats.
A fly or a mosquito or some other insect flew into my eye causing my vision blurry for at least an hour.
Honestly, this place was horrific.

It was quite a relief to get outside again and help with serving the lunch.

The sponsoring companies donated mosquito nets and new mattrasses and the freshly painted rooms turned out beautifully.

 Helping with this project was probably a good chance for our kids to see how they can make a difference here in Angola, however, I was glad that they were not allowed to enter the dorm rooms.

Painting the cafeteria with the kitchen behind the bars.

Safety first!

Clearing up the dorms.

A moment for yourself.

Being silly.

Chilling.

Lunch break.