By Shawn Zeller

Special to the Gazette

When Ariel Clapp '97 won a Radcliffe Traveling Fellowship last spring to study abroad, the biology concentrator from Eliot House was happy to get an opportunity to continue her research on ichthyology (the study of fish) at the exotic locale of La Catolica University in Santiago, Chile.

But what began with ichthyology ended up sparking philanthropy.

While traveling through Bolivia en route to Chile, Clapp came across a warning about chagas in a guidebook. Endemic and widespread in South America, chagas is a disease that kills more than 45,000 people each year. The malady is caused by a parasite transmitted by beetles living in the mud- and straw-roofed houses of impoverished areas. The World Health Organization lists the disease as the third greatest public health problem in the world with 16 million to 18 million people already infected and 1 million new cases reported each year.

"What is surprising about this disease is that almost nobody has heard of it," Clapp said. "Chagas is directly correlated to socioeconomic status and thus often gets pushed to the wayside by the governments of these developing countries."

After reading about the disease in her guidebook and after witnessing directly the poverty that allows the disease to spread, Clapp contacted a doctor in Chile who suggested getting involved in some of the relief efforts.

"It really motivated me to see the poverty, to see people dirty and sick, and I decided I wanted to set up a directed way to approach the problem and help in the prevention of the disease," Clapp said. "Although there is no known cure for chagas, the disease is entirely preventable and so volunteers can make a big difference. Setting up a volunteer program seemed like the best way."

Since that time, Clapp has worked incessantly trying to set up a nonprofit group dedicated to combating the disease. Several weeks ago, she held a meeting at the Office of Career Services in order to drum up volunteers, and found two students who agreed to serve as co-leaders for the program, Shauna Howarth '97 and Utaka Springer '99. Clapp has also recruited four students from her native England and set up a board of advisers, which includes faculty from the School of Public Health, the Medical School, and the government of Chile. Among the Harvard faculty participating are Arturo Rola of Deaconess Hospital and the Medical School, and Paul Epstein of the Medical School and the School of Public Health.

The group, which Clapp calls the Southern Cone Aid Network, will begin work in Pachica, Chile, this July. Volunteers will be working in cooperation with the Chilean Health Ministry and with another U.S.-based nonprofit group, Outreach International. Shifts will run for periods of at least six weeks and Clapp hopes to have volunteers in the area year-round. All applicants must be at least 18 years old.

Volunteers will perform a variety of tasks, including implementing mapping programs to identify and monitor infested sites, improving housing, and providing public information, education, and community training. The Chilean Health Ministry has agreed to provide insecticide sprays and housing at the local agricultural field school, and Outreach International will provide building materials. Prior to departure, volunteers will receive training from Habitat for Humanity, a U.S.-based organization that builds houses for low-income families.

The major issue for Clapp right now, however, is fundraising. Although living costs for volunteers will be low, they still will have to pay airfare to and from Chile. As a result, Clapp is currently seeking donations from philanthropists and charitable foundations.

With 25 percent of the total population of Central and South America at risk, Clapp said, "There is a desperate need to increase public awareness and encourage more programs like the one I am implementing."

Those interested in volunteering or making a donation can reach Clapp by phone at 493-5777 or by electronic mail at aclapp@fas.harvard.edu.

 

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Copyright 1998 President and Fellows of Harvard College