Fieldwork

10.05.07

Yesterday I finally got to do what I went to public health school for 21 years ago. Fieldwork. Along with a social work student from the U.S. and 2 promatoras we went to a nearby town called Carracol to invite women to attend a platica (talk) on HIV-AIDS. Local women host the talks in their homes and promatoras go door to door to invite attendess. We are driven to the end of a road and armed with pamphlets and a smile Anel, a young pregnant woman, and I greet any and all whom we meet. I simply observe as women shyly listen to her appeal to attend the talk and also sign a petition for a law delineating what actually constitutes domestic violence. Some accept the free condoms, including a rascalian looking young man, but most of teh women claim their men are in the states working, so don't need family planning.

The "street" is dusty and lined with an open drainage ditch around which chickens and their chicks dance their pecking dance. We pass a school where mothers have brought a snack of sopa and tortillas to their young children, passing them through the fence and watching as they eat. It's a sweet scene to witness. There feels no rush to the task this morning adn the light is bright, the air soft and warm. It's quiet but for a few barking dogs and as the morning opens up, more music from radios leaks out of homes.

When we get to the alloted time for the "chat" none of the women who said they would come. The host has washed down her cement patio and living room floor to welcome us and we pass by a pig pen and a few sheep as we enter her compound. The 3 women who are there sit in plastic chairs and listen to the promatoras in an easy way. Seems they are the ones who show up the most. We all agree that the house was not well chosen as school is just letting out and mothers are getting their kids. They also feel the mention of family planning scares many who fear that they will be forced to use something.

Kids run in and out as we talk and I'm aware of how natural everything feels. My dream had always been to work with women in the field, understanding their needs, finding a way to meet them and this first step felt like a favorite shoe tossed aside years ago, but which still fits perfectly.

Back at CASA I am invited to return on Monday and share my observations and suggestions for how to improve the "interview" technique used by both the mid-wives and promotoras, just what I had hoped for. The rest of the day I work on the task, then enjoy dinner with a young woman who wants to practise her English. I'm inspired to find this kind of intercambio back home.

I loved this sign I pass on the way to CASA. No shame. No blame.