When I went with Jack to Basra province in the south of Iraq to write the story about mines, of one of the big problems that people in that area face, I never expected to find a bigger problem, another battle with a different enemy that is more capable than mines which at least can't move. They have a battle with snakes.
Over the years people there had become experts in defusing mines that filled their farms but they could not deal with the snakes that killed them in their beds.
We spoke with two families. One man told me about his neighbor who was bitten by a snake and died after treatment in a medical center who couldn't do anything for her. And the other family lost the bread winner of the group of orphans leaving all twelve of them in the responsibility of a young woman who had lost a limb to a mine. He was also bitten by a snake.
In Thi Qar province, a little to the north of Basra snakes are leaving their holes because of the drought in the marshes. The families said that tens of snakes attack their farms and they are obliged to guard their homes and animals day and night to protect them from the onslaught of yet another enemy. The medical centers in these areas also lack the simplest means to take care of those besieged people. There was no anti-venom.
No one asks after them. No one really cares.
Nice post. This post is different from what I read on most blog. And it have so many valuable things to learn. Thank you for your sharing!
Posted by: eve isk | June 25, 2009 at 01:27 AM
snakes in iraq? i'm more concerned with the past and current snakes in dc
d.b.cooper
Posted by: greg williams | June 06, 2009 at 02:16 PM
Hey! Good Samaritan-Billionaires out there: snakes are killing people in Iraq! You have the power to change that! You could send the antidote tomorrow by Federal Express, if you order it right now. But you are more concerned in having your smorgasbord tonight. Don't you? Hopefuly just one of you has more heart!
Posted by: Nathanael | June 05, 2009 at 03:05 PM
I don't know if this will be read, or received, but, someone said that if you were to put sulphur around certain areas that you wanted to be snake free, that this would work. I haven't tried it for myself but I would try anything if I were in their shoes.
Posted by: Donna | June 05, 2009 at 10:41 AM
It is really sad that no one cares enough to get anti-venom to the local clinics and hospitals.
Posted by: Susan | June 04, 2009 at 11:23 PM
And how can there be a drought if there isn't a little global warming going on?
Posted by: borisjimski | June 04, 2009 at 02:22 AM
Put all those Rwandan machetes to good use; send them to Basra.
Posted by: borisjimski | June 04, 2009 at 02:21 AM
Thank you for this post Jenan. I also really appreciated that articles you and Jack wrote and Laith worked on about land mines. (Tried to comment on an article, but comments on articles never seem to 'stick'--I think there's a bug in the system.) Do you know what kind(s) of snake it is?
Posted by: Laura | June 03, 2009 at 11:41 AM