Growing up in a third world country under a dictatorship regime, one would think that things were bad, that we were oppressed, but the truth is I never knew what those things meant. I loved the environment were I grew, and I loved the friends I met and everything in between I learned. My entire childhood experience was extraordinary, giving me an opportunity to learn at every step. I learned a lot from one grumpy old-lady name Carlita. Though the stories she shared with us have now faded, her peculiar ways will always be with me.
One day it was my turn to be treated. Alone with wood refinery, our property was surrounded by a variety of fruit and vegetable trees such as orange, Tamarind, plaintain, coconut, and mango. We took turns climbing each tree, but my favorite one to climb was the Tamarind tree. My brother challenged me one Saturday morning to climb to the highest branch and then come down as quickly as I could. In my haste to win the challenge and show my big brother that I could do it, I climbed the beautiful tree in record time. On my way down, I skipped the lower limb and jumped with my feet landing onto a corroded saw. The old saw was partially covered by sawdust and it was hard to see from above. I endured the excruciating pain for hours in order to avoid being doctored by Dońa Carlita. Rosa could not resist seeing me get away without being treated by the expert. She told Mom without hesitation and before I knew what hit me, I was sprawled on the cold, concrete floor begging for my life and kicking as hard as I could trying in vain to get away. I could hear the unmistakable sound of the chosen bug being busted opened the stuff applied loosely on the sole of my aching foot. Nothing can prepare a child for such a horrible remedy. But all the kicking and screaming could not have saved me from the experienced hands of Dońa Carlita and her medical crew.
Those of us who were subjected to such treatments are alive today thanks to the determination and believe that Dońa Carlita had on the cure of our ailments. While children in other neighborhoods were dying from childhood deceases, Dońa Carlita was saving our lives with her rudimentary health treatments. We never fell ill to measles or mumps, neither did a serious infection entered our bodies through an unattended wound. Her methods were strange, but we’re living proof that they worked.
Thank you, Dońa Carlita, may God keep you close.
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