Thanks for all your love and support

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Isenia

You know that feeling when you finally get home after a long day of hiking in the sun and harvesting beans and you can rest by yourself in your hammock with a cup of coffee. I do, and let me tell you, its wonderful. As much as I have enjoyed the benefits of living with host families, its glorious to finally have my own house. I am able to cook for myself, be on my own schedule, and not be woken up multiple times in the middle of the night to simply be asked, "que hora, Melidi?". Never in my life did I think the first house i would own would be made completely of bamboo, panka leaves, rope, and have a dirt floor, but I couldn't love it anymore. And people have been stopping by, giving me housewarming gifts...which is generally green bananas, but sometimes they even bring cooked food to my house. I think many are concerned that I don;t know how to cook at all. but, I'm not complaining. free food is free food. I must still be in that college mentality.

Currently, there are lots of things going on to report. Since I've spent about 5 months in site now, and 7 in Panama, I've become more and more accoustomed to the lifestyle here and have a good grip on the community. Because of this... and the In Service Training I have coming up, I am starting to organize a few groups in the community to start latrine projects and the possibility of getting a health post in my town. So far, we're just talking about the necesities of parts of the community and creating a census, but it is great to see people putting their trust in me and stepping forward to work together to better the community. The first step to development is always the hardest...but it's coming along...one meeting, and lots of cups of coffee, at a time.

Even though I am adjusting more and more to the culture, I am still witnessing crazy cross cultural experiences everyday. I have one story I would like to share. This was probably one of the most intense days of my entire life, but very thought-provoking. So I figured this would be something to blog about.

I finally made it up the hill to my host families house. I was sweating bastante and dragging my feet through the mud after a long day of hauling bamboo for my house. I plopped down on the front porch and thought I would rest for a bit before I mustered up enough energy to walk down to the nearst stream to shower. Just then my host mom, Domitilla, came out the front door and said, "Bron Melidi!" meaning lets go. So, I got up and hiked a half hour farther into the mountains.
I had heard from various people in the community that a young woman in town, Isenia, was very sick and was staying at her mother in laws house high in the mountains. Isenia lives most of her time in Panama City, but comes to Cerro Banco every few weeks to visit. Because of this she is very open and a little more comfortable with outsiders. Isenia was one of the first people I met in the community and really made me feel like home here. She is one of those happy-go-lucky girls who will stop and talk to you and who everyone in town knows and loves. I would call her one of my best friends in Cerro Banco. So, I told my host family that I would love to pay her a visit sometime soon. And apparently, that was now. So off we went..tired, drenched in sweat, and nearing dark. When I had asked what kind of sickness she had, people hesitated to answer, but told me she was weak, couldn't walk, and having fits. I assummed it was some sort of epilepsy and urged them to take her to the doctor. They said the doctors couldn't help for something like this. It was spiritual. When I got to her house, it was surrounded by crosses made out of sticks staked into the ground and community members huddled together. I immediately realized I was completely unprepared for what I was about to experience. I was handed a banana leaf and was instructed to use it as a fan for my face, then I was motioned to enter the house. The door to house was completely barracaded by various kinds of vines, leaves and other plants that I needed to limbo through. When I made it inside, I was completely surrounded by smoke and saw a few people and 2 girls lying on the floor, unconscious. Not only was Isenia struck with this illness, but another young girl aound 15 years old was sick as well. I was told they had been sleeping for abuot 30 minutes and they were breathing slow. As I leaned over to check Isenia's pulse, I noticed she was soaking wet, had a cross made out of ashes on her forehead, and her hands were tied together. Confused and scared, I backed away. And then it started. Isenia started to scream and throw her body around, as if she was writhing in pain. The people surrounding her rushed to hold her down and tried to calm her down by talking to her, while the others threw some sort of water mixed with natural medicines on her. Just then our local pastor grabbed her forehead and started yelling in Ngabere, the local indigenous language here of which I can only speak a little. As I watched her struggle, tears immediately rolled down my eyes and I felt compltely useless. This lasted for a few minutes until she passed out again. By now it was around 9pm and my stress level was at an all time high. I asked around if there was anything I could do to help, but they all said no, just being there in solidarity was enough. But, feeling overwhelmed and in the way, I decided to step outside for some fresh air. Outside, there were probably about 30 people from my community also there in support. Many brougth tarps to sleep on and others were playing cards and drinking Cacao. Many were even laughing and looked as if they were having a good tine, like it was some sort of party. At the moment, this just enrageed me . How could anyone be smiling at a time like this? Didn't they know what was going on? A little while later, I heard 2 loud shots from inside the house. Paniced, I ran insidode thinking the worst. Fortunately, they were only fireworks, which I was told was to kill the devil. Both girls had woken up again at this time and, although were very weaked, were acting normal and being fed some rice. I stayed inside for awhile and watched as everyone interacting almost as if nothing had happened. They were making jokes and doing anything else they could to lighten the mood and wait through the night. I went back outside again and sat down next to Enrique and asked him what was going on and these two should see medical attention. He explained to me that in life, there are things out of our control that only God can handle. In the meantime, we can only pass the time. We can mourn or we can celebrate life together. That is why people are here. What was happening to Isenia was terrible, but this is what we can do. Starting to understand a little more, I calmed down a bit. Eventually, I was given a place to lie down, but first was washed with a medicine water for prevention of the illness.

Isenia was forced to stay up in that house in a small cage for 2 months without once leaving while she recovered. The curer she was seeing said it was a necessary process for healing. I tried to make it up there once a week to visit and pass the time with her. She told me she wanted to leave, but she was in danger of hurting the others around her if she did so.

Isenia is much better now. In fact, she surprised me the other day by visiting me at my house and brining over some rice. She is still that same smiling girl. I still don't understand why she was given an exorcism, forced to stay up there so long, and frankly, anything that happened up there that night. But it did make me think about spirits, diseases, and the freedoms and opportunities we have in the states.


More blogs to come soon...
Love,
Kayla