Two Italian voluntary organisations have joined forces to defeat once and for all one of the most annoying plagues that afflict children in Kenya, and particularly on the coast: jiggers, very annoying fleas that nestle between the toes and in the nails of children who usually walk barefoot or in simple flip-flops (because they can rarely afford closed shoes) on the dirt roads and grass of the villages where they live. These fleas lead to Tungiasis, a skin infection that leads to sores and bleeding and if not treated properly can also cause malformations, infirmities and gangrene.
Both the association ‘Bimbi in Africa’ founded a few years ago by Pierluigi ‘Pigi’ Caffini, an Italian resident for many years in Malindi, and Karibuni Odv with its president Gianfranco Ranieri, already have campaigns to combat jiggers. While Karibuni in the past with compresses of the portentous neem cured about 25 thousands schoolchildren in the hinterland, Caffini and his team of medical experts have discovered and experimented with a new non-invasive method that can cure and recover from tungiasis in just a few days.
Caffini has until now worked in concert with the Diocese of Malindi, but the new partnership with Karibuni, which after more than 20 years is moving quickly and actively in the area, with a health officer directly connected to facilities and institutions, promises to eradicate this disease.
In the coming weeks, the first pilot project will be launched, involving 500 children, and from there it will be possible to think about expanding the treatment and prevention operations on a large scale. As always, when Italians want to unite, they always manage to do things worthy of our best DNA and the most serious and just approach to this country.