Eat, Sleep and Diarrhea

Eating and sleeping: Two activities necessary for life continuation are regularly practiced in America. In Togo, it’s a wee bit different. And Diarrhea, well, Diarrhea is the result of one (or both) of those activities gone wrong.

Seventy-two hours after landing in Togo, Peace Corps Medical Unit considered a three-hour health session on Diarrhea as important as taking malaria medication. The three-hour session included tutorials on water purification, bleaching fruits and vegetables, and the 4-1-1 on the SHIT book.

Beg your pardon? SHIT book?!?!?! SHIT, Staying Healthy in Togo, is a health guide given to all Volunteers. It contains descriptions, lists symptoms and treatments of many health concerns in Togo. In addition to an entire chapter on Diarrhea, the guide has sections on intestinal worms and parasites (I already had Giardiasis), emotional health, serious health problems and nutrition. A combination of curiosity, paranoia and boredom resulted in reading the guide three times. Among basic common sense, there’s certainly some random, yet terrifying health concerns. In Togo, for instance, there’s a frightening insect I intend to destroy during my service called a Blister Beetle.

What’s a blister beetle?

To cite from SHIT, “The blister beetle is a brightly colored insect that is attracted to artificial light at night. When disturbed or injured, the beetle secretes a substance containing cantharidin. Cantharidin is an acid that causes a severe reaction when it comes in contact with the skin or mucous membranes. INGESTION OF A WHOLE BLISTER BEETLE IS USUALLY FATAL. Blister beetle type reactions are more common in November and December in Togo.”

Holy potatoes!! I plan to steer clear of all beetles, but this one…grab kerosene and matches fellow Volunteers!!!!

Although blister beetles are scary, many health concerns found in Togo stem from human ingestion (i.e. water and food contamination); hence our three-hour Diarrhea talk. Dapaong’s city water, though better than river water, should be purified prior to consumption. Daily water decontamination consists of filling a bucket with water taken from my shower faucet, pouring the water into a three-liter filter, filling an empty liter-and-a-half bottle with filtered water, adding six drops of bleach, and waiting approximately fifteen minutes before drinking. In comparison to most Volunteers in Togo, this process is a piece of cake. Others may filter water through a pagne (fabric in Togo), boil it, wait for it to cool down, pour it in a filter, fill a bottle, add bleach, and then wait.

Fruits and vegetables, unless they are pealed or cooked, must be bleached for fifteen minutes.

Prior to consumption, disinfecting water and food is as essential as breathing in Togo—at least for Volunteers. If not, an unpleasant dose of Diarrhea and vomiting are well on their way. Of course, it’s only natural for our bodies to adjust to water and food in other cultures. In Togo, it seems Volunteers need quite a bit of time for their bodies to adjust. And do we have stories!!! Some have more stories than others, but all have brought tears of laughter. PC nurse practitioners gave us a handout, Diarrhea Flow Chart, noting the various stages of Diarrhea. The stages are listed one through seven and past Volunteers created their own level, 10. “Have you level-10ed?” This is a frequent question Volunteers ask one another. Level 10 Diarrhea is code for pooping one’s pants. Generally, it’s unavoidable. According to most, it’s practically initiation into Peace Corps Togo. Once, a Volunteer had even level-10ed in front of the Country Director (A.K.A. our boss). I cried for roughly two minutes after hearing that one-one that involved pooping in a Ziploc bag, throwing the bag down a latrine, sitting and then standing up to reach for some cookies and poop bursting out uncontrollably.

What do I find most bizarre in regards to eating, sleeping and pooping in Togo?

Biological clocks.

It seems even if Volunteers practice proper water and food sanitation, their bodies often wake up (usually between 5:30a.m. and 6a.m.) and tell the mind it’s time to take care of business. For me, it’s 5:30a.m. Since the first week of Training, my body wakes up and tells me it’s time to poop at 5:30a.m. It’s the craziest thing. Doesn’t matter if I am up late or go to bed early…5:30a.m. Every. Single. Day. J