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Free From Guinea Worm Disease, Girl Tends to Family, Chores

A little more than a year ago, 10-year-old Hubeida Iddirisu faced long days of pain as three Guinea worms began to emerge from blisters on her body. Every day for two weeks, a volunteer came to her home in Savelugu town, Ghana, to extract the worms slowly by rolling them on pieces of gauze, a little each day. As is the case with most Guinea worm disease victims, Iddirisu was unable to handle her household tasks while the worms were emerging. Her family relies on her income from selling charcoal.

Iddirisu was one victim of a large Guinea worm outbreak in her town in February 2007. During the outbreak, the Ghana Guinea Worm Eradication Program, assisted by The Carter Center and its partners, stepped up efforts to halt the disease, including making sure all families' household drinking water was filtered before use and treating water sources with a safe chemical.

A year later, Iddirisu is free of Guinea worm disease. She is able to carry out her daily chores plus her job selling charcoal that helps support her grandmother and three siblings and pay their school fees. She's a bright "A" student, who gets high grades despite her long hours of work. Other children who have had Guinea worm disease are not so fortunate. Many miss school due to the disease, causing them to fall behind in their studies and never catch up.