Yesterday was supposed to be our first day working at the health post and out in the community but I ended up with the worst stomach pain of my life. So after going to the health post for some concoctions I hit the lavendary pousada for a day long nap.
Today however I was ready. We got to the health post at eight and were divided up into two groups to go into the neighborhood with the two different community health agents that work a particular neighborhood in this favela. We walked around a bit getting the lay of the land - looking at the preschool, the water tank and climbing the huge hill that is the only way for many community members to get home. It was tough enough when it was dry but I cannot imagine attempting it in the rain - it looks like it would be a waterfall. But there are TWO soccer fields on top of the hill. They literally are everywhere in this country.
My group then went to a few of the houses on our ACS's (Agente de Saude Comunitaria) route. this country continues to surprise me at every turn. The comparison of today with Sunday leaves me so conflicted I am working on sorting it all out in my mind. The first house we went to was a five year old boy and his grandmother. She has hypertension, diabetes and is losing some of her eyesight. Their house has a dirt floor, an open wood fire for cooking, and no running water or connection to the sewage system. She was welcoming and very sweet, showing us around her modest house an leading us out to the backyard which seemed almos a barnyard. They had chickens and roosters, cats, a puppy and a pregnant dog. While we ogled the dogs she explained that her grandson had never been to school and could barely speak. This is at five years old. The ACS (Christiana) explained to us that they thought he was never quite like all the other kids but he could have gone to school anyway if his grandmother had taken him. She never did and he has spent almost all of his life within the same two room house. When we left we asked Christiana what will happen to him when his grandmother dies. He will be sent to an orphanage in another part of the city because his dad left when he was one and his mom died. And he will most likely grow up there because his grandmother is fairly sick already.
This compared to next door where we knocked and were let into a tiled house with a living room, a kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom. It was certainly still a modest house with very small
rooms but it felt like a home. We were there so Christina could check on the bed-ridden grandmother of the house. She is being cared for by one of her granddaughters who is also working and going to school. Even though she is unable to move much she is lucky. Her family pooled their money in order to get her an air mattress so she doesn't get bedsores.
When we left that house we moved onto a house with an eight month old baby Felipe. If I had a big enough bag I might have slipped him inside. This little boy had the biggest brown eyes and was a sweetie. He is lucky too. Even though is his mom is my age, she and his dad both completed high school (a rarity in this neighborhood) and have steady jobs. They live in a room in front of his families house that they converted into a bedroom/living room/kitchen for the three of them. With the most adorable crib I have ever seen. We talked to his mom for awhile about the health situation in her community and the open sewage which is a problem in a lot of the area.
And that was all in the morning. After a delightful lunch we headed back to the health post and I sat in with a couple other students on a nutritionist who was registering patients for the "Bolsa Familiar" program which is basically money given to poor families (that is supposed to be used for food but which is given as cash once a month - leaving some question in may people's minds.) People who are registered in the program (which is only for families) have to show up at the health post twice a year to get everyone in their family weighed and measured to make sure they are nutritionally ok. If they aren't they get scheduled for further appointments and if they don't show up at all in a year they lose their benefits. And then we left the nutrition area and snacked on popcorn and pop and sat outside and talked about elections with the med students and health post workers. And got a hilarious dance performance by the cook/ cleaning lady from one of the health teams. Picture the animals from Madagascar (the movie) but in human form dancing and singing Obama! Obama! Obama! I almost choked on my popcorn.
This country is very hard to process.
Today however I was ready. We got to the health post at eight and were divided up into two groups to go into the neighborhood with the two different community health agents that work a particular neighborhood in this favela. We walked around a bit getting the lay of the land - looking at the preschool, the water tank and climbing the huge hill that is the only way for many community members to get home. It was tough enough when it was dry but I cannot imagine attempting it in the rain - it looks like it would be a waterfall. But there are TWO soccer fields on top of the hill. They literally are everywhere in this country.
My group then went to a few of the houses on our ACS's (Agente de Saude Comunitaria) route. this country continues to surprise me at every turn. The comparison of today with Sunday leaves me so conflicted I am working on sorting it all out in my mind. The first house we went to was a five year old boy and his grandmother. She has hypertension, diabetes and is losing some of her eyesight. Their house has a dirt floor, an open wood fire for cooking, and no running water or connection to the sewage system. She was welcoming and very sweet, showing us around her modest house an leading us out to the backyard which seemed almos a barnyard. They had chickens and roosters, cats, a puppy and a pregnant dog. While we ogled the dogs she explained that her grandson had never been to school and could barely speak. This is at five years old. The ACS (Christiana) explained to us that they thought he was never quite like all the other kids but he could have gone to school anyway if his grandmother had taken him. She never did and he has spent almost all of his life within the same two room house. When we left we asked Christiana what will happen to him when his grandmother dies. He will be sent to an orphanage in another part of the city because his dad left when he was one and his mom died. And he will most likely grow up there because his grandmother is fairly sick already.
This compared to next door where we knocked and were let into a tiled house with a living room, a kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom. It was certainly still a modest house with very small
rooms but it felt like a home. We were there so Christina could check on the bed-ridden grandmother of the house. She is being cared for by one of her granddaughters who is also working and going to school. Even though she is unable to move much she is lucky. Her family pooled their money in order to get her an air mattress so she doesn't get bedsores.
When we left that house we moved onto a house with an eight month old baby Felipe. If I had a big enough bag I might have slipped him inside. This little boy had the biggest brown eyes and was a sweetie. He is lucky too. Even though is his mom is my age, she and his dad both completed high school (a rarity in this neighborhood) and have steady jobs. They live in a room in front of his families house that they converted into a bedroom/living room/kitchen for the three of them. With the most adorable crib I have ever seen. We talked to his mom for awhile about the health situation in her community and the open sewage which is a problem in a lot of the area.
And that was all in the morning. After a delightful lunch we headed back to the health post and I sat in with a couple other students on a nutritionist who was registering patients for the "Bolsa Familiar" program which is basically money given to poor families (that is supposed to be used for food but which is given as cash once a month - leaving some question in may people's minds.) People who are registered in the program (which is only for families) have to show up at the health post twice a year to get everyone in their family weighed and measured to make sure they are nutritionally ok. If they aren't they get scheduled for further appointments and if they don't show up at all in a year they lose their benefits. And then we left the nutrition area and snacked on popcorn and pop and sat outside and talked about elections with the med students and health post workers. And got a hilarious dance performance by the cook/ cleaning lady from one of the health teams. Picture the animals from Madagascar (the movie) but in human form dancing and singing Obama! Obama! Obama! I almost choked on my popcorn.
This country is very hard to process.
1 comment:
OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!
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