You would never believe the transformation I saw in this little child’s life from one year to the next.  The first year I saw him, he was continually grumpy and wouldn’t let you tickle or play with him.  A scowl was forever pasted on his face and he barely associated with the other boys.  And with around sixty boys at the orphanage and only 6 or 7 housewives to care for them, nobody noticed for a while, that something was seriously wrong.

Finally after a year of this behavior, somebody suggested estalin go see a doctor to see if there was something internally wrong. After some tests at the local clinic, the doctors discovered that little estalin had a 6 foot long tape worm in him.  The tapeworm was stealing his nutrition, causing the child to be constantly hungry.  The tapeworm was living in his intestine and also causing weakness and digestive issues.  Because the boy was so young, he wasn’t able to verbalize all these conditions, so he suffered while the tapeworm grew inside him and sucked away his nutrients.

Tapeworms can be extracted from eating raw or undercooked meat or drinking contaminated water.  Nobody is really sure how estalin contracted the tapeworm but it is likely that it happened before he came to the orphanage.  Fortunately, this story has a happy ending!  He was able to get the tapeworm removed and the change in estalin was night and day! He immediately became cheerful and giggly.  When I came back the following year, I hardly recognized the smiley face that greeted me with a big hug! He was completely transformed.

It’s hard to imagine tape worms and intestinal parasites being a common occurrence, but in many third world countries, they are a common ailment.  Estalin was lucky that his condition was not more serious and he was able to make a full recovery.  And I’m happy that he’s transformed into the ball of sunshine that he is now.