Peace Corps comes to Indonesia and Pinworms Revisited

When I arrived in Indonesia in January, I met a consultant working for the USAID contractor, DAI. After talking  for a few minutes we realized that we both served as Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal and that his wife was a volunteer in Mauritania. Even though we had served many years apart, he quickly invited me to a Peace Corps party at his house which was attended by the current US Ambassador to Indonesia, Cameron Hume, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Libya in 1968. At the party, the Ambassador spoke to the group and said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had just visited Indonesia, had really pressed the President of Indonesia to bring the Peace Corps back to Indonesia. The plan was to have Peace Corps set up by the time President Obama visits the country in November.


At the party I met a few former volunteers and we became friends and subsequently went to a few dinner parties together. No matter how hard we tried not to, the topic of Peace Corps always came up at the dinner table at least for a little while. For those of us that were volunteers in Africa, we joked about all the embarrassing sicknesses we got. Below is a letter I wrote to my friends when I returned to Senegal after a vacation back to the US in the summer of 2004.

09/09/04 "A Rough Month Back"

After a month of vacation in the US , I was greeted by the Peace Corps doctor saying "You might want to consider putting adhesive tape on your rectum. Pin worms like to migrate to this area during your sleep to lay
eggs."

What had happened to my life? How do you get pin worms? The doctor quickly explained that you get them from ingesting fecal matter. Why me? An already emaciated American living in Africa being robbed of vital
calories and vitamins I need to survive by overzealous parasites who have migrated through my intestines to spawn offspring in my rectum. The pin worms, which had gone unnoticed for months, "flared up" while I was
in the US because for the first time in a year and a half, I was eating a well balanced diet that consisted of something a bit more than plain white rice and boiled fish.

"Don't worry, it's nothing medication can't cure." said the doctor. I still kept my fingers crossed as the guy working at the pharmacy gave me a box of pills called Vermox.


I have been back in Senegal for only a month and not only have I been diagnosed with parasites, I got so sick the doctors were worried I had Malaria. Having a 103 degree fever when it is 100 degrees in the shade and you are shivering from cold has to be one of the worst experiences life can offer. The US, good food, nice houses, baseball games, and electricity all seemed like a distant memory as I laid on my death bed. Fortunately I didn't have Malaria and I am once again back in good health.

For all those thinking about joining the Peace Corps, it's not all fun and games.

It was great catching up with all of you guys while I was in the US. You made my trip really incredible. I'd love to hear how the rest of the summer turned out.

Peace Jeff

I also have reception on my cell phone so you can call me in my village at (221) 515-2601. No running water or electricity but I do have a cell phone. Strange world we live in.

BP 39 Toubacouta par Kaolack
Senegal, West Africa
Par Avion