When you live in a place where parasites, worms and bugs surround you and use you as a host, almost every conversation will come around to diarrhea.  We don’t even blink anymore to share with someone quite openly about our intestinal condition because everyone talks about it.  When you live in an environment of open pharmacy you tend to self diagnose and self treat using the aids of nurses that work in our organization, the book Where There are No Doctors, the internet and the Health Manual made by the nurses within our organization.  So lately I (DeAnna) have been having problems with my digestive tract.  First I pulled out the handy dandy Health Manual and looked at the diarrhea flow chart…mmm…then at the somewhat common intestinal ailments.  I know it’s not travelers diarrhea because our environment isn’t new (water, food, etc…) plus it’s more harsh than that.  Could it be ameba?  Could it be giardia?  There is a lab that we can go to with a stool sample for testing.  What’s the treatment for these conditions?  Oh, the same meds.  Now what?  How does one get these things?  Oh, from contaminated water, unclean food handling, cockroaches and flies.  This is a one small example of how we live here.  We live where only contaminated water comes out of our faucets and showers (so we must use a water filter for drinking and cooking).  We live where cockroaches are anywhere from tiny to 4” long and they crawl around our house.  We live where there isn’t a USDA regulation so food isn’t handled safely meaning that whatever knife or machete is around is the tool of choice when something needs cut from bushes and trees to meat and fruit.  How are your intestines treating you today?