Just come back from another round of blood tests. While the white blood cells are holding their ground, the platelets have been forced back. So not great news. And a few more small skin hemorrhages as well. So feeling a bit disheartened today.

The irony is that this tropical fever was not contracted (strange word that - I don't remember agreeing to get infected!) in the jungle proper but in an urban area. We are now pretty certain I got it at a squatter's campnear a condominium development! The camp is where  poor unfortunate families moved to after they were evicted from their land, as the edge of the city, amoeba like, engulfs the remaining green areas. With no proper hygiene or waste services  (no one looks after those at the bottom of the pile) their refuse is everywhere and the plastic bags and Styrofoam containers, all bio-UNdegradeable are breeding grounds for generations of mosquitoes. Less than half a kilometer from a Starbucks! Kids living in squalor while people trot along on their treadmills in gyms listening to music or motivational speakers (Samurai Tactics in Cutting Edge Negotiation or rubbish like that)

There are children living in these camps all day while their parents go to work for the very companies that evicted them to build high-rise homes for the local upper middles and the expatriates. Unlike me they cannot afford to take time off when ill and need to work even as long as they are able too and often only get to hospital when things have got worse. Makes me mad to see this sort of thing.

With a few exceptions development has only added to the misfortunes of people in the third world and just locked them in to dependency.