MSF fitness plan: canoe pushing

Sep 11 – 2010 – Union Chogorodo

Well, yesterday was “interesting”. We set up for consults in Chicao, where usually a lot of people show up, and only 7 people came. We found out that it was some sort of protest by the displaced community that used to live there because MSF is not going to their new community.

Usually we set up camp there and the sick from the community are brought by boat. Getting up there ourselves is a real logistic problem since only very small canoes can get in and the walking path is very difficult, up and down the mountain. Well, I guess we will have to figure out what to do next.

Meanwhile we enjoyed the day in a beautiful community and I had a wonderful bath in the river with the butterflies, followed by an afternoon nap on my hammock, diner and more sleeping. I new I would pay for all that tranquility later. As my boss said “Raquel, when we are running like mad women, trying to keep up with the work, please remind me of today”.

The next morning we left early to our next stop. This time our destination was an indigenous community up the river called Union Chogorodo. Our travel time, well, anywhere from 2 to 8 hours depending on the river conditions.

The river was quite shallow, which meant we had to get off the boat and physically push it up the river. I am not too sure if my help pushing the boat actually made any difference, since I have no strength and most of the time I felt like I was just hanging on to the boat to avoid being taken away by the fast water.  Somehow we managed to push it up the river and through the current.

We arrived early, at 1030, thoroughly soaked and tired. We set up the clinic, had a meeting with the community and started consults in the afternoon.

Union Chogorodo is a beautiful place and the people very nice and helpful. It was cute to see all the little kids looking for the smaller items that they could help carry out of the boat, and the line up of people helping unload everything. We definitely felt welcomed.

Like other indigenous communities here the houses are also built elevated from the ground and there is a big tent-like large and open house with a tall straw roof that serves as a community hall where several men and children gather to watch a TV playing Colombian music videos with the generator as background noise. Most of the women don’t bother wearing tops and a lot of the children just run around naked.

I sat there too while waiting for lunch, but chose to watch the river instead of the TV and marvel once again at the adaptability of children. There were several of them, running naked on the rain and mud. A little one found a small wood board and invented mud surfing. I had to smile at that. Another little girl came in carrying a huge thing of plantain, so big that I wouldn’t be able to carry it. When some of them fell on the floor I thought her little brother would go and help her, but he just helped put the plantain back on her shoulders.

Anyways, we were very, very, very busy all afternoon and have already found several malnourished children and 2 cases of malaria. Tomorrow the promise is of even more people, as there are people also coming from nearby communities. So I better turn off my flashlight and go to bed, I mean, hammock.