September 10, 2002

"Will they come?" is what I thought about all last week. Two Cape Verdean nurses that work for Peace Corps were coming on Saturday to spend the day explaining family health for rural areas. I had sat down with Rita and discussed their daily hygiene practices, such as their lack of soap, people sharing cups when sick, animals pooping all over the floors, etc. She made a detailed list of what I wanted to cover, and we strategized on how to cover the information in a convincing way. Come Saturday, I was a stressed about whether the food would show up that I had catered, if the nurses would find their way to the community center, and if villagers would actually come. I had handed out small flyers for a week in Kriolu detailing the issues we would cover, I had talked to women at the water well, and I had even placed long advertisement banner in front of the community center.

My neighbors helped me carry my loads of supplies to the Center, bread, butter, markers, napkins, jelly, drinks, etc. By 9:30 a.m. women and children started to trickle into the Center, and I diligently scrolled their names on adhesive nametags, a novelty in the river valley. Most women villagers are illiterate, so I lowered the embarrassment level by writing the names of everyone to avoid making it obvious who couldn’t write. I used the excuse that I wanted to learn how to spell Cape Verdean names, and they all thought that was funny. By 10 a.m., over 40 people had filtered into the main room, and we started an icebreaker game. I stood in the middle of the room, and said, "Everyone wearing a watch…" That was the signal for everyone with a watch to quickly switch chairs, which, of course, couldn’t be one on either side of them. The game continued for another 15 minutes, and the rural mothers hopped from chair to chair with great laughter. Many never attended primary school, so any game was a welcome one.

Once the nurses arrived, Rita and Milucy, along with the Peace Corps director, I did the introductions and they attempted to quickly gain the trust of the villagers: "We are here to share experiences with you, not to lecture. I am from a rural area myself. We want to help you find solutions to pressing problems in the village." Milucy facilitated the first two-hour session that included dispelling health myths, encouraging proper nutrition, etc. Women and men stared in awe as she talked about head lice and how it can lead to a more complicated illness of the blood when left untreated, how germs are spread from hosts through shared cups, how animals in the house bring many parasites. Lunch arrived an hour late from a nearby town, and they all devoured the chicken with chickpeas and rice mixed with a delicious array of spices uncommon to most villagers.

After lunch, the discussions continued with HIV/AIDS, STDs, bad habits, etc. Rita is younger and more animated than Milucy. She also has a way of gaining trust with rural people faster by stating the obvious, not saying it’s bad, but explaining how it could be improved. There were many times where I heard Milucy, earlier in the day, say things like, "Ideally, you should have a bathroom. Ideally, animals should be kept 50 ft. away from the house. Ideally, children should eat food from these groups everyday, such as (ingredients not found in river valley)…" Milucy, unknowingly, created a small barrier in their trust and respect because they felt she was a woman from the capital who, herself, had a refrigerator, bathroom, and access to varied foods. She also said, "Although you live in poverty, the poor can still keep their dignity by staying clean and healthy." Even though there was truth in what she was saying, to tell the villagers they were ‘poor’ and ‘in poverty’ merely created tension because she was well dressed and obviously wealthier.

Rita jumped in saying, "What do we do when a child is sick? (pause) We take them into the darkest room of the house, dress them in the warmest clothes, and cover them in thick blankets where there is no fresh air, right?" They smile in agreement, but do not respond with a blatant ‘yes’ or ‘no’. "Well, when you have a fever, do you think covering the body will make it cooler or warmer? (pause) It warms you up a lot, like when you are cold in winter and put on a coat. That is not good because many women cover their babies when they have fevers and the baby’s temperature rises. When the head gets too hot, some babies eventually get the condition that makes them ‘disabled’ (rough translation from Kriolu). We all know children who are now ‘mentally disabled’ because of a high fever, don’t we?" They all nod in agreement.

The afternoon continued in this manner, and villagers eventually opened up. There was a heated discussion when we talked about HIV and again with water treatment. Rita had villagers place written statements under TRUE or FALSE in relation to myths about HIV/AIDS, and then a discussion ensued. Almazinha’s husband claimed you can get HIV from sharing clothes, and another girl said you could get it from a kiss. When asked if they could embrace someone with HIV/AIDS, they said no. Rita slowly altered their perceptions through the use of facts, humor, and drama. She acted out water treatment, and the safe preparation of meat. Milucy walked around showing worms acquired through improper meat preparation. Rita also placed graphic pictures of STDs on the wall.

I love playing the audience member with questions because rural people hate to be perceived as dumb. On behalf of Almazinha, I asked Rita, "I have a boyfriend and we want to have sex. I don’t have a condom, so it is ok if I just wash with soap afterwards?" "You can wash with soap, you can wash with bleach, but it won’t do a damn thing," she says. I didn’t dare look over at Almazinha’s husband’s face because I thought it would be too obvious that the question was targeted to him. The Peace Corps director sitting next to me whispers, "You should have seen his face when you asked that. He looked shocked." Almazinha had just told me during that great conversation we had a week ago that he likes to wash with soap and thinks that will kill everything from his previous girlfriends.

By the end of the day, women were telling Milucy and Rita how much they had learned. They appreciated the information, and readily participated in some team-building activities where Rita had everyone put their hands in the center and do a cheer. Some women sang traditional songs for the nurses with clapping from the group, and we all at my Duncan Hines cakes with oranges and apples for dessert. As the nurses left at 4 p.m., the villagers mingled and discussed their lives. I wondered how many of them would practice what had been preached.

Last night, I slipped over to my Nha’s house to chat and schedule my next water delivery. Her mother and her had both been present at the health workshop on Saturday. The conversation shifted from what we did yesterday to when I was leaving for America next summer and if I would miss them. Nha sat under the banana tree and washed the dishes before dinner with lemon dish soap for the first time, suds spilling over the bucket onto the patio floor. I silently marvelled at how quickly the information had been applied to real life. Later that night the dog and cat wandered into the house when food was served and the mother said to me, "They shouldn’t be allowed in the house, right?"

The Sunday Scout trip to the beach was also equally successful. I used HIV/AIDS funding to pay for the trip, and we did various life skills games at the community center before heading to the beach. My main lesson was showing the 50 scouts how to mix Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) in their own house when they have diarrhoea. I brought water, bleach, salt, and sugar. A large poster that I made covered the wall with easy-to-follow pictures of 8 teaspoons of sugar, 2 drops of bleach, 1 liter of water (4 cups), and a half-teaspoon of salt. I had 5 scouts make the ORS solution in front of the group, and then answered questions. Such a simple remedy could save many rural children from hospitalisation once the heavy rains start this month.

At the beach, the scouts pulled off their church clothes and ran into the water in their underwear, unlike the wealthier Cape Verdeans from the beach town itself strutting two-piece lycra suits. One rural girl had a plastic bag covering her hair, stating that it was to keep her hair dry, but her head was already soaked by then. I facilitated some group games, and a Cape Verdean woman with a Down’s Syndrome child thought I was splitting the group in order to divide money I was handing out because I was "obviously a wealthy foreigner." The villagers laughed at her assumption, and then the children beckoned me into the waves with them.

On a 300 foot stretch of beach, I was the only ‘branca’, or white woman. The kids jumped on me, shrieking as the waves poured over them. I smiled at their delight, and then later went to sit with the young mothers nursing their babies in the shade. Cape Verdeans from the town stared at me, wondering why I was obviously part of a village group that appeared to accept me. As we waited for our transport truck to arrive to take us back to the village, I offered cookies as prizes for correct answers to questions. Scouts recounted the way to mix ORS, foods to eat when you have diarrhoea, reasons to protect to the environment, ways to encourage tourism, and the scout laws. In the truck we sang in unison, and the villages we passed listened as they continued with their chores. Back at the community center, I asked teenage girls to gather who were planning to participate in the Girls’ Life Skills Camp next week – over 15 girls stood in anticipation of my information. Things were finally going my way after a year of hard work, but more challenges were definitely on the horizon. What would they be?

End Note: The Girls’ Camp starts tomorrow, and, although I only have a budget for 20 girls, we will probably have 30 show up. Mothers that attended the Family Health Workshop on Saturday have unexpectedly allowed their daughters to participate in my Camp. I will send out another email next week with the details.