"Sucking Away Children's Hope"

I first heard of the beauty queens’ special project last year while Kenya was in the midst of the initial pain and suffering of the Post-Election Crisis. To be honest, Cecilia’s* (Miss World Kenya 2005) special interest – Awareness of the Jigger Menace – seemed rather shallow to me. After learning more, I now admire this young woman for promoting what is a nuisance for Missionary Kids who love to go barefoot, but a great source of embarrassment and pain to many people as their bodies are attacked by these tiny sand fleas. “Rural dwellers face blunt of jiggers,” an article in Africa News/Wordpress** says that “In most parts of Kenya, jigger infestation is touted a curse while in other areas, people affected by jiggers are considered outcasts.”

“Parasites sucking away children’s hope in school,” *** an article in yesterday’s The Standard on Sunday (2/8/09, p3), shared how jiggers and other health issues such as bilharzia (an intestinal infestation) “greatly affect access and success in education.” I know that taking time to read this article on the internet may be difficult, but if you want to be a strong prayer warrior for the children of Kenya and other third world countries, the facts shared in this article will greatly strengthen your prayers. This article shares specifics of how many preventable health problems leave untreated children with “short term memory and slower reactions … malnutrition, iron deficiency … smaller bodies … ‘weight loss, appetite loss, decreased activity and poor academic performance’ … reduced cognitive abilities and poor attention span in school … affected children cannot write properly or play games … (school) Absenteeism is also high.”

If you don’t have time to read the article, simply pray for improved “prospects of a bright future for the children” of Kenya and our world. Pray that governments will make the health of their children a priority. Pray for success for groups tackling problems such as jiggers. Pray for the availability of low cost drugs that will all children to become physically and mentally strong. Praise God for these children who are the future of our world and pray that they will also be spiritually strong and come to know our Father’s love and salvation! Bert Yates
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* Ahadi Trust/Anti-Jigger Campaign – http://www.jigger-ahadi.org/
** Africa News/Rural Dwellers Face Blunt of Jiggers – http://africaheadlines.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/kenya-rural-dwellers-face-brunt-of-jiggers/
*** “Parasites sucking away children’s hope in school” (The Standard/Sunday, February 8, 2009, p.3) – http://eastandard.net/news/InsidePage.php?id=1144006099&cid=159&
Wikipedia/Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schistosomiasis