<
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/19/1153911199/a-kid-in-guatemala-had-a-dream-today-shes-a-disease-detective>
'Neudy Rojop, 29, stands on a bumpy, cobbled lane in Guatemala in the small
rural village of San Rafael Pacayá. It leads to the home where she grew up and
where she still lives today.
"Just in this lane," she recalls through an interpreter, "my mom used to walk
me and my brother and my sister to school every morning."
Many of her relatives live nearby — uncles, aunts and a younger cousin named
Carlos, or Carlitos if you're family. When Rojop was about 10, she says she
remembers an urgent knock at their door one night. It was about Carlos.
"My aunt came to my house asking for medicine because he was so sick," Rojop
recalls. They grabbed whatever they had — medicinal syrups, herbal teas — and
raced out of the house. "I remember the moment when I saw him," she says. "He
was lying on the bed. He was with this fever and his skin was red."
Carlos was struggling to breathe and his family couldn't afford the
transportation to get him to a private doctor. Without any local clinics,
Rojop's family couldn't even figure out what was making him sick. "We were just
waiting for him to recover," she says.
After several days, he got better. Looking back, Rojop figures he had the flu
or some kind of pneumonia. But it wasn't just Carlos. She says that growing up,
she noticed how frequently many of those around her were getting sick,
especially her little siblings and cousins. She says that as a teenager, she
started to realize more-urban communities in Guatemala had better access to
health care.
"I didn't think it was fair," Rojop says, "because I didn't know how to help my
family members who were sick to get better."
It all crystallized within Rojop into a singular decision. "I thought, 'I need
to become a nurse so I could change my community for good.'"
In San Rafael Pacayá, Rojop's options were limited. There was nowhere nearby to
study or practice nursing at a more advanced level. Her schooling took her
increasingly far away, but she continued to live at home. "I didn't imagine
myself moving out from this community," she explains.'
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
