Fighting Malaria

Having carried out as much desk-bound research as is possible on MMS (see previous post), I have now found that the wormwood tree can also be used to treat malaria.

Apparently - and I have not tried it - an infusion made with the leaves of the wormwood can cure malaria, and that propriety drugs are only synthetic versions of this natural remedy.

If anyone has documented proof (not anecdotes, please) that wormwood is effective against malaria, please contact me at david@kcisupport.plus.com

Thank you.

MMS - What is it?

Now, I may be a bit cynical, or I maybe I am very cynical. That is not for me to say, but when I see a product with the word "Miracle" in its title, my suspicions are raised.

And when a product with "miracle" in its name comes out of the USA, I just think, "Yeah! Another wind-up!".

But MMS has got me thinking. MMS is Miracle Mineral Supplement, which doesn't really explain anything. It was discovered by an American, Jim Humble, a few years ago while he was traipsing through the South American jungle, prospecting for gold or oil or something. Two of his colleagues went down with malaria and they had no medication.

So Mr. Humble made up a solution using his water purification tablets, thinking that if they could kill pathogens in the water, maybe they could kill pathogens in the body - and it worked. It worked surprisingly quickly, so, when he got back home, he started on his long path of research into the effects of the purification tablets (sodium chlorite) on pathogens in the body.

The long and short of it is that Jim found that mixing sodium chlorite with citric acid makes chlorine dioxide, a disinfectant used in swimming pools, abattoirs, meat cleaning, etc. However, this compound is, to say the least, unstable and has to be made up at the time it is needed.

He has carried out extensive trials in East Africa and South America, in areas where malaria is rife and has found that ClO2, or MMS is very efficient. As an aside, he also found that it would attack other pathogens and viruses in the body, whilst leaving "friendly" bacteria alone.

I had to try this for myself, not because I have any known dangerous pathogens in my own body, but i needed to know if it did any harm.

I can say with authority that the compound tastes awful - no, it is worse than that. Imagine drinking bleach. Yes, that's what it tastes like. But it is not chlorine and does not harm the body in the way that chlorine would.

But apart from that, it did me no harm. And I found that instead of using water to dilute the compound, using apple juice, as recommended by Mr. Humble, takes some of the awful taste away.

Now, as I said, I didn't have any particular illness I wanted to cure. However, I did suffer with chronic back pain, caused by two damaged disks just above the pelvis. I got sciatica on a regular basis and I was in constant pain.

This next bit is stupid, ridiculous, but true. After a week of a low dosage course of MMS, the back pain eased and then disappeared altogether. I cannot explain it, but after15 years of constant pain, I was pain-free.

That was at the end of last year (2008). I stopped taking MMS just before Christmas and now, in March 2009, the pain is just beginning to return, so I will put myself on the same low dose course and will report what happens in this blog.

Now, about Jim Humble. Jim has not made any real money out of MMS. He has written a couple of books which he sells for profit, but he will give anyone who wants it instruction on how to make and use MMS - for free. He wants MMS to be used to eradicate malaria. Why?

He says that thousands of work days are lost through malaria. If MMS can get workers back to work within a couple of days instead of a week, people will lose less of their earnings and African countries will benefit.

This is a bit simplistic, but in essence, true.

So where do we go from here? There are a couple of organisations that I know of in Kenya that promote MMS, under different names, and from what I can gather, the results are good. But these are very small organisations working in small communities. If this stuff works, and I believe it does, it needs to be produced locally and distributed as far and as wide as possible.

That's a Rash Idea

My imagination has been running away with me - again!

OK, so the idea is this - I don't remember suffering a fever at the time ...

On our plot in Kisii, Kenya, there is a two-room hut, not a cottage, not a bungalow, a hut, made of sticks, stones and mud. At least the roof is corrugated steel. There are proper windows and doors, with security grilles.

There is a corridor running front to back between the two rooms with doors to the outside at both ends.

As the hut is built on the side of a hill, the back faces a small cliff and there is an open passageway running between the hut and this cliff. There is also a small appendage which could be used as a "kitchen".

So, my idea is ... to live there for a while ~ no electricity, no running water.

But, while I am there, I want to carry out some minor improvements.

First off, I will install water, with a tank on the cliff behind the hut, to give a head. This will supply an outside shower and maybe running water to the kitchen.

Second, a home-made portaloo. I want to use the waste to collect the methane, which will eventually power a generator and a water pump (there is a river at the bottom of the plot).

Then there is the land itself. On top of the cliff, the land is a lot flatter than in front of the hut. It is very fertile and I reckon, from memory, there is enough to grow crops to feed all the kids on the orphanage register, with some left over to sell.

A by-product of the methane production is fertiliser. This together with composting will keep the soil rich, which will be necessary as I want two or three crops a year - it rains all year round in Kisii.

Linking into these improvements, I will be experimenting with using the sun to warm water for washing, and water filtration and purification. I also seem to remember building a food cooler when I was at school - but that was in 19 - yes well, it was a long time ago.

To finish off the place, I will make a BBQ out of ½ an oil barrel, so that the kids can sample the delights of a burger or hot dog (you know the type, burnt on the outside, raw in the middle).

What I had forgotten when dreaming up all this is that I am approaching 60, I am not the fittest person in the world, and I am mildly disabled. Further, Kisii is at 5,700 feet and oxygen is a bit thin.

Still, it will be an experience and it will allow me to tinker with the project designs and get them to work to their best effect.

Wish me luck!

Also posted on BabaMzungu blog.

Water, water everywhere ...

... well, maybe not in Kenya. But it strikes me that a lot is wasted.

I have been reading a paper produced by the Peace Corps, where people have been describing how they use water every day, and one phrase struck me:

"... only the rich can afford to collect and store rainwater for personal use."

This was written by an American living and working in Maasailand, Kenya. And it got me thinking.

Where I stay in Kisii, water is brought up from a source and delivered in 25 litre drums, which are emptied into our 100 litre storage drum. It needs to be boiled for drinking.

But, when it rains in Kisii, the heavens open. The rain hits the corrugated iron roof and the noise is deafening. My host, Vincent dashes outside and strategically places bowls and buckets under the water gushing off the roof, but most is lost.

When I am in Nairobi, I stay with a family in a suburb of 3 and 4 bedroomed houses with running water and electricity (when either is working). The rains fall here just as violently and pours off the roof into the compound. Nothing is done to collect this free water.

I thought of all the houses I have visited in Kenya. Most are under corrugated roofs, which are perfect water collection and channelling devices. But none have guttering to collect the water.

Reading other Peace Corps reports, it appears that there are communities that collect rainwater during the rainy season(s) to supplement their water supply, but imagine if simple, and most importantly, cheap guttering could be provided. Households that enjoy any rain at all could have more water at their disposal, especially those living in the highlands to the East and West of the Rift Valley, who enjoy all-year-round rain.

So, fitting guttering to a "tin" roof is easy enough, but what about thatch? Can a thatched roof have a gutter?

The answer is yes, although it is suggested that it be larger so as not to become blocked by any stray straw that may wash down.

Of course, fixing guttering to a round hut will need a bit of thought, but where there's a will, there's a way.

Where do I get cheap guttering in Kenya? Here in the UK, plastic guttering is (relatively) cheap, and comes in all shapes and colours - unnecessary really in Kenya. But I have yet to see this sort of guttering in Kenya, although I am sure it is available.

A simpler solution is to make "V" guttering from two planks, nailed together. This should not cost a lot per house, but the down pipe could be a problem. Still, I have a few ideas about that and will try them out once I am on site.

Of course, the collection container must be covered so as to prevent mosquitoes breeding. The last thing we want to encourage is these little blood-suckers to breed right next to a house!

It is all a question of trial and error, adaptation to individual needs, and education!

Keeping the kids amused ...

We told the kids to gather at the plot on Saturday for a 'Fun Day'. And it wasn't until after they were told that I put my mind to finding things to amuse them.

Boys are easy, well most are. Give them a ball and they are away, football, volleyball, whatever, they are running, shouting, playing in a team - they are happy.

But what about the girls? I got a couple of hula hoops (that's all they had in the shop), and some skipping ropes. But it didn't look like enough for about a dozen girls ranging from 3 to 16 years.

Then I had a brainwave (or was it a brain storm?)

I bought some macaroni, paints and a ball of string. Before the big day, I showed six-year-old Benta how to make a necklace. She was thrilled - a good sign - and spent a whole day, carefully painting the tubes of pasta and threading them onto enough string to make a necklace that touched the ground when she was standing up! But she was happy with her efforts.

On the big day, she was so important, because she was showing all the other girls what to do to make their own necklaces.

It was a big success, except that Aloys, one of the cheekier boys, complained.

"You are wasting good food," he announced, barely concealing his grin.

But I was ready for him for once.

"No, we're not. The paint is non-toxic, so you can eat it, and you can eat the painted pasta, so, the girls have a necklace and a meal at the same time."

It is not often I can get one over this bunch of street-wise survivalists that we call our orphans.

I am convinced that I could learn a lot from any one of them.

Next time, I will take paper and glue as well as a variety of shapes for the younger kids to make pictures. I wonder if I can find non-toxic, edible glue?