Door-to-Door: Following Jigger Treatment Home in Murang'a, Kenya
There was no queue or crowd on October 10, 2026. Instead, the SARAYA Kenya team walked from house to house in Murang'a County, north of Nairobi, to treat jigger infestation (tungiasis) one patient at a time. Together with Holy Family Project and local Community Health Promoters (CHPs), the team visited five families, nine people in all, and made a plan to keep checking on them through the end of the year.
The visits had their start in Kwale County. In August, SARAYA Kenya treated more than 300 people there in a single day. Soon after that campaign, Holy Family Project got in touch about several families in Murang'a living with jigger infestation and asked whether SARAYA could work with them to help. The October visits grew out of that conversation.
For SARAYA, Murang'a is familiar ground. Jigger Lotion was launched in Kenya at an event in Murang'a County in August 2024. Two years later, the lotion returned to the same county, this time to people's doorsteps.
A Different Kind of Visit
Tungiasis is caused by sand fleas that burrow into the skin, usually on bare feet. Left untreated, it can lead to pain, secondary infections, and lasting damage to the feet. SARAYA developed Jigger Lotion as a pin-less, painless alternative to removing the fleas with safety pins, the method many communities still rely on.
Until now, SARAYA Kenya's jigger work has centered on large treatment events: more than 200 patients over eight days in Vihiga County earlier this year, and more than 300 in Kwale in August. Those events reach many people quickly. However, going from home to home was a first for the team. With only five households, there was time to think beyond the treatment itself: what each family would need afterward, and how care could continue once the team had left.
That question matters because tungiasis treatment takes more than one visit. Jigger Lotion is applied twice a week for two weeks, so the days after the first application count as much as the first application itself.
The day began with the CHPs. Treatment with Jigger Lotion was new to them, so the team walked through each step together: how to apply the lotion, and what to look for after treatment. The CHPs then joined the visits. Between follow-ups, they are the ones who will keep caring for these families.
To support that work, SARAYA Kenya donated gloves, disinfectant, and Jigger Lotion to the community, along with some food and other daily necessities.
“We hope our visit won't end as one day of support,” says a participant from the SARAYA Kenya team, “but will become a starting point for people here to keep up the care themselves.”
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| Each visit was adapted to the family’s situation. |
When the Answer Is No
Not every door opened to treatment. One of the five families decided not to go ahead. The treatment method was unfamiliar to them, and jigger infestation carries a heavy stigma. Families can worry about how neighbors will see them, and about prejudice and discrimination if others learn of the condition.
In Kwale, the team watched families stand in line together to be treated, a small and very public step against that stigma. Murang'a showed the other side: for some people, that step is not yet possible. “It was disappointing that we couldn't treat them,” the team says. “But it showed us how important it is to respect each person's and each family's wishes, and to build relationships where they feel safe coming to us.”
Staying With Families
Through the end of the year, SARAYA Kenya will keep visiting the same families together with Holy Family Project and the CHPs. The team will follow each family's progress after treatment and work out with them what aftercare is needed and what each household can realistically keep up. Following the same people over time should also bring to light challenges that a single treatment day can't reveal.
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| The SARAYA Kenya team with the local partners who worked alongside them. |
Large campaigns will stay at the heart of SARAYA Kenya's jigger work because they reach many people at once. The Murang'a visits add something those events can't: time with each family.
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Jigger Lotion in Kenya: The Story So Far 2021: Jigger Lotion receives regulatory approval in Kenya. |