The author writes of the time she was in South Sudan and she helped a nine-year-old girl Nakal through a painful experience. Nakal had drunk unfiltered water and now she was suffering from a guinea worm making its way out of her knee. Apparently there is neither cure nor treatment for those who are infected with guinea worm. However, the number of those infected has been severely decreasing ever since President Jimmy Carter in 1986 started a campaign to help destroy this worm.
Just by the title, I was expecting good news for the little girl all throughout the article. However, the story of the Nakal was merely a personal anecdote used to introduce the author's main topic of working towards the extinction of guinea worms. Even though there was only one picture of Nakal suffering from a worm piercing out of her skin, I still felt the pain through the article. It was upsetting to read that Nakal had only drank some water to keep herself cool on a hot day yet was infected with such a pain-giving parasite. Here, in America, many people, including myself, take clean water for granted. There are even some people who refuse to drink tap water because they don't like the "taste" of it. It's heartbreaking to read about people suffering from lack of clean water when here people are easily throwing water around everywhere.
However, it was relieving to read about the decreasing number of those infected. The worm has become extinct in many countries, leaving South Sudan alone still with a number of five hundred and twenty-one infected. The improvement is encouraging; hopefully South Sudan will also very soon be a country rid of such parasites. Their extinction will be, indeed, one to celebrate.
Article: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/07/an-extinction-to-celebrate.html
Hi Sami!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your title. It was incredibly intriguing and interesting as extinction is usually a negative thing. Your commentary was extremely helpful since it included a summary of the article as well as your own personal take on the issue. Talking about America really helped to widen the division between American vs. South Sudan standards. Nakal is a poor girl who is willing to consume anything to stay cool, while Americans are unwilling to drink tap water. The inclusion of the parasite's history was educational and interesting helped me understand just how dangerous the guinea worm could be. I think your commentary was really well written and informative.
Okay bye.
I found your article to be extremely interesting. I like how instead of just talking about what happened in the article, you mix it up by adding some of your own commentary into the analysis. For example, you discussed how we in the US take clean water for granted, which brings up an interesting new view point. It sucks to be in a country without a clean source of water, since every sip may mean your doom.
ReplyDelete