Another day we were going to visit a village on the shore. Our guide had several in mind as we took off, but he noticed a man on the bank waving his arms at us. We detoured around a small island to make sure that we had enough water for the boat and pulled in to their make shift dock. Our guide visited with the gentleman and discovered that that village was isolated most of the year because of lack of “boatable” water. They seldom had guests and never foreign visitors. They gave us a big welcome.
They grew most everything they needed in their village. They had large tapioca plants growing near the dock and one of the gentlemen proceeded to dig up a plant and showed us the tubers growing under the plant. These they called Uca (spelling unknown!) and are similar to a very starchy potato. He gave us the bunch to take to the boat and we tried them at dinner….they would keep you from starving, I suppose, but they certainly didn’t demand seconds!!
Walking on we were shown a native yellow tomato
and tiny very hot peppers… staples in their diet.
Chickens and ducks were around with their young and of course there were fishing poles everywhere.
The homes were simple structures with a main floor about four feet above the ground, no side walls and a thatched roof. A few of the homes had a small enclosed room for storage…although rafters of the house were used for storage as well.
The family slept on mats on the floor and used mosquito netting when needed. All had a hammock or two tied between posts and if there was a baby in the home, it was kept “rocking” by an older sibling.
There were two new babies in the village. They looked healthy, loved and well taken care of. Their mothers had gone to the nearest hospital by boat where she would have been attended by a doctor or midwife. The biggest danger for young children is not disease nor malnutrition but snakebite. Since they are barefoot most of the time, the possibility of parasites is constant, but there is a native plant/treatment that successfully deals with that problem.
The school house which we visited had been built by the village people, but the teacher was provided for them by the government. (All teachers must do a stint in the rural areas before they can apply in a larger town/city). The school had dirt floors, one large chalk board, a few benches and about 24 happy students. Part of the students went to school in the morning and the others went in the afternoon. Older students have to go to a larger village for high school. We were shown their workbooks and they looked interesting and with appropriate skills.
Our guide had purchased gifts for the village with money that we donated… notebooks and art supplies for the children…machetes and a flashlight for the adults.
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