American Museum of Natural History

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The trip to the American Museum of Natural History had been an informative one due to the exhibit,” Countdown to Zero”. This exhibit displayed the history of diseases and the progression of the disease to present day. The larvae is then implanted in the person’s stomach and then the worm grows later coming out of the person’s skin. The disease that peeked my interest the most had been Guinea Worm Disease. Why? Well because the people are infected with this disease after drinking water, which in fact they would drink water directly from the river. Water is such an important factor to basic human needs and the fact that these people will get sick from drinking water is saddening. But I was also encouraged because they would use used pvc pipes, which are pipes that had a mesh and thin cloth to filter the water and the people would drink from the river with these pipes like it was a straw. This encouraged me because it is amazing how they created a way to filter the water without abandoning their culture. The fact that they had been able to overcome it and decrease the incidence of the disease through education and an innovative way to manage the development of the disease within an extremely tight budget. I never take advantage of all the things I have been blessed with as an American citizen but this exhibit increased my appreciation.