Kigoma, Bukoba zaidi mkuu!!!
naanza kuwa na wasiwasi na data hizi japo kwa kiasi kikubwa zinareflect uhalisia!
Soma hapa: kwa nini funza walichagua Kibondo?
Why jiggers chose Kibondo
By Citizen on Saturday Correspondent
Saturday, 13 November 2010 07:03
Kigoma. Like most things historical, there are varying versions of how jiggers first came to Kigoma and many other places in Tanzania and the whole of East Africa, where the parasites are a big problem.
In the bid to address the riddle Insight visited Muhange village in Kibondo district where it spoke to elders Ayubu Ngarama and Abeid Joram.
Mzee Joram says there was a time jiggers were associated with wealth and families then used to ensure some members had to live with them for prosperity in the future. He says people believed that once a family member had jiggers a time would come when miracles could happen and uplift them from poverty.
He said the belief was due to lack of credible evidence or historical background as to where the jiggers came from and why they affected some people only. Another belief was that one with jiggers would always excel in whatever he or she did notably academic excellence.
According to Mzee Joram, the jigger problem in Kidondo started in the 20th century when the district began interracting with foreigners.
"I remember, the elders told stories that this things came with Indians and people began contracting jiggers when they visited their shops," he told Insight in a recent interview.
Mzee Ngarama backs that story saying the first people to contract jiggers were said to be those who worked in the Indian shops.
Those refuting that theory claim that the Indians took long to penetrate the interior of Africa and yet there were cases of jiggers in the 19th century. According to them, the blame should be shouldered by Arab slave traders who also brought syphilis and other diseases.
"These Arabs travelled with slaves for long distances without proper sanitation and many of them suffered from hygiene-related diseases," a pastor, who asked for anonymity, noted.
The Arab scapegoat is also poked holes into with those dismissing it saying the Arabs operated in many other areas which are jigger-free. Medical experts and social workers argue that it is useless to delve into the origin of the jiggers but rather important to look into the causes and the situation of the people.
"The jigger situation is grave in families which have hygienic problems therefore the concerns should not be who brought them but how to deal with the situation," noted Kibondo district social worker Evarist Nuba
"In fact, some people associate the problem with the environment especially the type of soil in the area but there are many places with the same soil as Kibondo but people there don't have jiggers," he adds.
The health officer of Nyaronga area, Mr Steven Ntingwabuye, is not convinced that jiggers are the result of dirtiness because as he puts it he knows many people who live in filthy conditions yet they have never been infected with jiggers.
Some people like Mzee Hamisi Omar say jiggers are a result of witchcraft therefore, people should be careful in the way they deal with others or they may fall victim of that witchcraft.
However, myth or reality, the fact is that jiggers continue to be a major problem in the East African Community region with the young and elderly being the biggest victims.
They affect the productivity of the people and school-going children with some pupils being forced to drop out of school because they are often ridiculed.
According to Dr Samuel Bandobeera of Mulago Hospital in Kampala, the major challenge they face in controlling this predicament are the myths surrounding it. He says jigger infestation can lead to severe swelling, ulceration and fibrosis as well as cause lamphangitis, gangrene, sepsis, the loss of toenails, auto-amputation and even death.
Kenya's public health ministry says over 10 million Kenyans are currently at risk for exposure to jiggers with that number likely to increase in the near future if proper health measures are not taken.
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