Eddie Joyce, the Independent MHA for Humber-Bay of Islands, and his family have made their annual trip to Uganda for humanitarian work.

As part of the trip, Joyce went to Kenya to participate in a two-day jigger clinic.

As Joyce explains, jiggers stem from the red clay. Children and adults without proper footwear and hygiene are susceptible to parasites that are similar to worms. They grow and mutate in the feet of humans.

He says they are painful, and if not taken care of, people will not be able to walk, leaving them open to develop in their knees and other parts of the body.

Joyce says they participate in jigger clinics during every trip through the organization Sole Hope and have, at times, removed hundreds from people’s feet.

He says they remove them using stickpins. They will wash their feet, educate them about the parasites, and give them a new pair of shoes. On average, when they follow up a year later, 80 per cent of people are jigger free.