Cristina Guruceaga's Portfolio
Our Problem
Jiggers also known as tunga penetrans, chigger, chigoe, bicho do pé or sand flea. The head is angular, it has no comb of spines, and the thoracic segments are narrow at the top. This small pin-head-sized is found in sandy terrain of warm, dry climates. It prefers deserts, beaches, stables, stack farms, and the soils and dusts in and around farms. It hides in the crevices and hairy cracks found on the floors, walls of dwellings and items like furniture. It feeds on their warm blooded hosts including man, cats, dogs, rats, pigs, cattle and sheep. Without treatment, this infection can lead to fatal secondary infections.
PARTNERS FOR CARE
OUR PROJECT
Partners for Care asked our team at Georgia Tech to design and build a pair of shoes to protect against these infections and ensure the wellbeing of Marsabit children.
Partners for Care, a compassion driven, non-profit organization, exists to serve, equip, empower and encourage the Kenyan staff and partnering organizations we work with in East Africa; with the goal of eliminating needless suffering and death caused by preventable diseases – including malaria, HIV/AIDS, waterborne illnesses and malnutrition. Partners for Care was founded in 2007 by Connie Cheren, a social worker and nurse with significant experience in driving and measuring outcomes to improve the health of communities in the United States, whose heart was broken by the conditions affecting children she observed during her first trip to Kenya in June 2007.
