The Quilombo People

My pictures are of the boat we took, the medical team, and the local people. The boat would dock at each of the three communities visited and with the help of local volunteers, medical records and supplies were taken from the boat in nearby centers. My participation (since I have no public health nor medical expertise) was to help from simply passing out numbers for the sign up consultation to accompanying a young male nurse tech on home visits made by motor taxi. These visits are so necessary as many cannot make it by boat to the community centers every month. The nurse tech checks elderly people for blood pressure and locates young children who have not been identified in the data collection. These home visits were the most moving for me. At one of the river homes where we stopped, after the nurse tech took blood pressure of two elders, and weighing three new babies, a young mom was pointed out to me having a problem. The people wanted me to check her for lumps in her breasts since she was having some pains. I told them that I was not a nurse nor a doctor but had a special interest and would check her. The young 29 year old deaf woman was extremely fearful, as older members of the family who had died were thought to have died from cancer.. I did not find anything I thought to be concerned about but advised her to get consultation next month. She is so much in my thoughts since I have come back…..