This week, another incident involving scabies led to another genuine insight into my work in Bolivia. I went back to visit the family of the young girl with the severe fungal infection on her legs and buttocks. A week earlier I had gone to their house and found a family of 4 adults and 8 children (more than I had previously been aware of), suffering terribly from scabies. So with some volunteers from the village where I live, we returned with treatment for the whole family, cleaned and fumigated the house, washed some clothes, burnt some old sheets and replaced them with new ones and did likewise with clothes for the children. With a few plastic bowls and some antiseptic soap, I explained to the adults some basic elements of hygiene and how to prevent this problem returning. It was a huge success, the adults were grateful and the kids delighted with their new underwear, socks and t-shirts. Of course, the fun aspect of smothering each other in Permethrin cream helped ensure that all of them were adequately treated.
Today I returned to the house. Only the grandmother was there, as the other adults were away working in the fields and the children were all at classes – a good sign. A week earlier, she had been the most reluctant member of the family to receive help, particularly when we were taking away some of the old clothes. Today however, she greeted me with a huge, toothless grin. As I knew that she didn’t speak much Spanish, I used my half a dozen words of Quechua to greet her. She was clearly delighted by this but got the entirely wrong impression that this meant that I actually spoke Quechua. So she jabbered away in the language of the Incas, saying more words to me every 10 seconds than she had said in 2 hours a week earlier. I got the jist of things. She didn’t itch anymore, there were no scratch marks on her skin and the horrible rash had completely disappeared.
My favourite word in Quechua is their word for baby or infant. “Wa-wa” is a fantastic description in any language. She told me that the “wa-wa” and the other niños (children) were all equally problem free and with her big smile still in place, she said, “gracias doctor, gracias” over and over again. I might not be able to improve the general health care system of Bolivia to any great extent but to this family and this old lady in particular, I really had made a difference.