cuy, eggs. slavery. charlas. excitement.

HI!
Wow, the past couple weeks have been super packed. I just got back from el Valle de Chota on a technical trip with 10 other volunteers. the Chota Valley is located about 1.5 hours away from Cangahua in a valley obviously..it was sooo warm compared to Cangahua..probably 65 degrees or so! We were away for 4 days, with the goal of improving our knowledge of the health system here in Ecuador. I will tell a couple quick stories...
We visited the small town of Mascarilla, which consisted of about 25 houses at the base of a mountain. It is known for its foundation of arte negro, a group of artisans who make crafts (primarily clay masks) in honor of their history and their people. We hung out with some locals, learned to dance the bomba, and received a demonstration on how the masks are created (the women go up into the mountains and collect the specific type of soil, and use only salt and water to make the masks which are later fired in an oven in town).
The most striking experience in Mascarilla was when we visited the ruins of a sugarcane factory, destroyed only 30 years ago. The Mascarillians were enslaved by the Jesuits and then Mestizos until the 1970 Agricultural Reform was instituted and land was divided between the families. 1970!!! While we were walking through the ruins, I asked Alicia (the women who was showing us around) when the Blacks of her community considered themselves to be "free." Her response was quite profound..."it depends on how you define the term free. women are still enslaved by their husbands. and as negros we are still enslaved because we are making a living off of the history of our enslavement." Wow.
In Otavalo, a larger town at higher elevation, we visited a private, non-profit clinic called Jambi Huasi, a center for both modern and traditional medicine. It is supported by the Federacion de Indigenas Campesinos de Imbabura (the federation of rural indigenous in the province of imbabura) with the mission of improving indigenous health (focus on women and children) and belief that a "healthy town is a liberated town" and "health can only be understood in its social and cultural context." They work in the surrounding 40 rural indigenous communities in the mountains, giving sex ed charlas (presentations) in schools, providing official training for midwives with support of the Ministry of Public Health, and much more. It is quite progressive. We got the honor of witnessing 2 traditional treatments.
I participated as a patient in the first. I stood in front of this tiny, female, indigenous doctor as she rolled an egg all over my body for a few minutes, mumbling phrases in Quichua (indigenous language). She then cracked open the egg over a tea cup, and using a small spoon moved the yolk around intensely looking for something. She diagnosed me as having a headache and difficultly breathing. 100% correct (Ive been sick since I arrived, although on my way to recovery i hope :)). It was so incredible. She performed the same practice on Crystal, whose diagnosis was even crazier. She told Crystal that she had bacteria in her stomach, that she was sweating so much last night she couldn't sleep, and that she had no ganas to walk that day..it was crazy. Crystal had told Molly when she woke up that morning that she hasn't slept because her legs were sweating. so weird.
The second traditional med doc works with cuy (guinea pig). This was one of the strangest events or feelings I have ever experienced. incredibly intense. Greg (a volunteer) took off his shirt, and another indigenous, female, really old, doc proceeded to roll/hit a live cuy all over his body as it squeaked and gasped for air. She alternated between stretching the cuy´s body (with one hand around the neck and one tightly grasping both feet), and holding it just around the neck as she hit it over Greg´s body like a dishrag. After about 5 minutes of this practice the cuy died (the length of the process is dependent upon how long the cuy lives) and the women sat down on a stool in front of a small trash can. She proceeded to cut the cuy´s neck open vertically, where she stuck her fingers into the body below the hide, and ripped the body open from throat to anus. After skinning the animal, she again cut the body open vertically, revealing all organs. Fully opening the body, she took out all the organs (expect the heart) and placed them in her right hand. The intestines were still wriggling due to parasites. After examining the organs she told Greg that all organs were healthy (meaning his were as well). They (the cuy and Greg) had a few unnoticeable parasites, and more serious back problems. Greg was shocked. Lastly, before disposing of the animal´s remaining "body," she pulled out the heart. Most importantly, Greg´s heart was healthy.
This stuff is amazing. I don't believe that either traditional or western med holds all the answers, but both should be respected and definitely have their purposes.
Another success from the past couple weeks was getting the opportunity to give a charla (presentation) to a women´s group in Cangahua. Cynthia´s (a volunteer) host mom is a leader in this group, and asked us to talk about family planning and contraceptives ( a huge need in this area, especially with the indigenous families, who are often illiterate and are unaware of laws, rights, or services, or do not have access to these services due to their physicial proximity to the town.) to her cooperative! It went really well. We discussed the need and advantages of family planning, presented different contraceptives (uses, pros and cons, common myths), and answered a few questions...And we were asked to speak again next week! Super chevere. The request is for a charla on HIV and AIDS. About 25 women were present, and their knowledge of AIDS is that it is a disease that can be transmited by blood. The did not know any more than this, so I am super pumped to have the opportunity to educate! YAY!
The counterparts/community leaders from our future sites are coming to Cayambe next week for a site fair. We will get info about the community needs, and receive our site assignments on the 24th!!!! So next time I write I should know where the heck in Ecuador I will be living for the next 2 years. How long have I waited for this moment?! Haha, Katie, if it wasnt for you I wouldnt even be aware of my PC invitation (one of my best friends and roomates last year in Chapel Hill had some weird premonition one afternoon that my invitation was sitting across the street on the neighbor´s porch. she just felt that the mailman had brought it to the wrong house. i doubted her, told her she was crazy, and wasn't in the mood to go check. due to her wonderful ability to cheer me up, i became motivated (how stupid does this sound, that I was too lazy to walk across the street?!) to go outside with her and check it out. and sure enough, my invitation was sitting in front of the neighbor´s door!) So long story short, it´s been a long time coming.
I really hope that all is well. Your friendships and relationships are so energizing and give me strength and make me smile at the most random of times. Thank you.
Peace,
Sarita