Joan Finaly, the coordinator of the Inter Christian Fellowship Evangelical Organization treating one of the Buko primary school pupil infested with jiggers. [Photo | Eric lumbasi]

It was a relief to more than 40 pupils of Buko primary school in Kimilili District who were infested with jiggers after members of a nongovernmental organization: Inter-Christian fellowship Evangelical Mission (ICFEM) conducted a free treatment to them.

In a program dubbed “Sanitation Day” the organization coordinator Joan Finlay led the members of the mission as well as the school teachers in an exercise aimed at wiping out jiggers thus, helping the pupils lead a comfortable life and have a conducive environment to compete with others academically.

She said that it is a pity that the pupils had to suffer that much from jigger infestation and decided to come together in efforts to help the children overcome the suffering which has so far highly and negatively affected their education.

“We are conducting this program in schools drawn from the entire western region and we wish that by the end of the exercise this jigger menace will be totally eradicated,” said Finlay

She further disclosed that they have launched a program to work with community based organizations in various regions as a way of extending the proper sanitation messages to households which is much vital in the campaign against jiggers.

On his part the schools project patron Mr. Milton Etyang lauded the exercise saying it would go a long way to help the pupils concentrate in class and boost their self esteem to interact with their peers who at once were avoiding them due to their conditions.

He called upon the parents and guardians to observe cleanliness at home as the jigger infections in the children normally originate from there and further urged the ministry of public health and sanitation to reach the grassroots level in conducting sanitation programmers’.

The groups networking coordinator Michael Nightingale appealed to the government and donors to come up and help in the jigger eradications campaign all over the country as a way of helping the children fulfill their dreams in future.