Ruth has had the honour of experiencing many things first whilst we've been in Nigeria. She was the the first to be treated for malaria, the first to get protozoic dysentry, the first to register with a doctor and the first to get the painful spines of a huge hairy caterpillar stuck in her skin. Today she did it again and was the first to incubate a mango worm of her own. For those of you who've had the good fortune never to experience these creatures they're the reason that all our clothes have either to be ironed thoroughly after drying outside or left for forty-eight hours before being worn. Flies lay their eggs on them during the rainy season and these are then hatched by body heat so the resultant maggot can burrow under the skin.
A few days ago I noticed what looked like a mosquito bite on Ruth's back. This afternoon she showed me what looked like an extremely revolting abcess with what seemed to be a small hole near the centre. I squeezed. Nothing happened except a yelp and complaint from my daughter. Next I reached for the trusty vaseline and sticking plaster in an attempt to suffocate the beast (worm, not daughter). Having put a dollop over the hole I stuck on the plaster and we waited.
After tea I investigated. There was a small white thing poking out of the hole. It wasn't moving so I tried squeezing again. This time the maggot emerged, looking like a fat grain of rice and thankfully already dead. Great sense of relief and achievement all round. Ruth wouldn't let me take a photo of the hole in her back to post on the blog but if you really want illustrations just put mango worm into google images but beware, it's not for the squeamish.
No comments:
Post a Comment