Blog #2: Buenas Aires

On May 30th we went to the schools to teach the kids about dental and hand hygiene. For the first 20 minutes we were standing in front of the kindergarteners awkwardly because we had no translator. I tried the best I could to communicate to the teacher what we would be doing. She understood for the most part and we began with a hand washing song I had researched the night before in desperation. The song was to the tune of La Bamba and went, “Yo me lava las manos, yo me lava las manos, con jabon, y un poquito de aqua.” This translates to, “I wash my hands, I wash my hands, with soap and a little water.” The kids LOVED it! They were even singing the song when we left.

After the song our translator, Kevin, arrived. He is a Peace Corp. volunteer living in the community that we met on our first day in Buenas Aires. He is from Arkansas and has been in Buenas Aires for almost 2 whole years. He said he will be leaving in August because his time is up and he is going to start law school to become an immigration lawyer. He is really nice and agreed to help us translate for us if we need him or when the doctors cannot help. He also offered to show us around the community and introduce us to some locals.

Kevin was able to have the local Shaman to teach us about the plants and herbs she uses for traditional medicine. She gathers all of her medicines from the mountain side and has started to grow some of her own at her home. Most of the plants are boiled in water and drank as a tea or bathed in as the treatment. Some of the main things she treats are fever, diarrhea, and nausea. Kevin thinks that some of the traditional medicines do work, but is not a strong believer in most. We were able to go to her home and she showed us around her property and the various plants she is growing herself. Most people in the community will actually bring their children or themselves to the local healer or the shaman before attending the clinic and way before venturing to the hospital. The community nurse has a difficult time explaining to individuals why they should attend the clinic instead of practicing certain traditional methods. In many cases they do not discourage the clients from seeking help from traditional healers and shamans because there are strong cultural beliefs associated with such healers. I don’t know why people do not go to the clinic first because they must travel 8 or more hours to get there when the problem gets worse.

One of the large problems they have in the community is the women giving birth in the home with the help of family or the shaman. The community nurses play a large role in educating and convincing the women to come to the clinic a week or two before their due date so that they can be driven to the hospital. The hospital has a hostel where the women can stay until they are ready to give birth; they are taken care of well and have fewer complications. Many women do not want to make the commitment to venture to the hospital and have to find a ride back home after giving birth. The nurses are persistent in explaining to the patients why it is unsafe to deliver at home and in the absence of any medical professionals. I have seen Adelina (our nurse) explain to many women that all births are different and that it is extremely dangerous to deliver at home. I think she has convinced some of the women in the community to give birth at the hospital. This problem is one which needs to be resolved quickly because the infant mortality rate in the community is high due to the numerous home births. I am extremely interested in this topic and would love to do some future research regarding ways to educate women so that they seek licensed medical professionals when it comes time to give birth.