I am Amazon Woman

First, I need to give a huge shout out to Daniel Gilbert. I was instant messaging him (while I was supposed to be researching) and I was bitching about how Brazil some times really puts me out. He set me straight by telling me that this is a great opportunity and I need to get over myself and focus on enjoying the remainder of my time here. So, I have been doing just that since our conversation.

This past weekend, the group traveled to the Ilha de Mare. This island is still considered a quilombo (run-away slave community) because the population is mostly black Africans and the island is very primitive (ie limited electricity, no doctors, no school, etc). The ocean more or less completely dictates life on the island. When it rains, water collects in the wells and water is available for use. When there are many fish caught, there is plenty of food and money. When few fish are caught, people go hungry. The island was beautiful despite the ugliness that lay closely beneath the surface. There are no cars and horses and donkeys either strolled alone or carried passengers and materials from the water's edge to the top of the hills near the banana fields. I felt like an Amazon woman running along the ocean in the cool morning, in what appeared to be total isolation and undeveloped, raw country paradise. My soul has been restored and I can now handle the remainder of my time in the big, bad city of Salvador.

At the island, we stayed with host families and had a health fair clinic on Friday. With the help of health workers, we set up stations for DST/AIDS, water, waste management, dengue, nutrition, etc. Many children came and to my and others dissapointments few adults attended. The island believes in traditional medical care and as a result, skin rashes are treated with coco de agua instead of anti-fungal creams. Women give birth to babies in canoes en route to hospitals in Salvador because the ambulance boat doesn't arrive fast enough. It was very eye opening to see such a lack of basic structure.

This week is our last week of classes. Soon we will be staying in a village study in Santo Antonio de Jesus and closely after that we will be doing our idependent research studies for the last month before returning home! I need to touch up my final research topic proposal before tomorrow. Wish me luck! Much love and I will try to touch base again soon.