race eee : 3a Chapter 3: THE TAO IN THE BARRIO ‘THE BARRIOFOLX Juan M. Flavier Folk Medical Treatment Some people say that experts do not have enough humility to learn from farmers and meet them half-way. Without asking, the Yesson will come with’ unmistakable clarity. Take my own experience. Tt was my second day in the barrio. It was also my second day in the PRR. I was fresh from the university, where I had been a medical teacher. I was still basking in the thought that I was going to the barrio to teach farmers a thing or two. At about ten o'clock in the evening, a hesitant voice called uy name in the darkness. I had just gone to bed, but I was still awake. “Who's there?" I asked. "Ako po, Doctor, Ian sorry to disturb your sleep, But my child is sick. And we have no one to go to, except you, Will you please come?" We walked for some distancé and I started to ask sone questions. I was making a tentative diagnosis based on the description of the signs and symptoms. When we arrived at the house, at least fifteen Excerpted from Juan 4. Flavier, Doctor to the Barrios (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1970). The excerpts are ‘taken from pp. 28-30, 43-5, 106-9, 129, 142-45, ‘The accounts are derived from Flavier's experiences when he was connected with the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movenent.32 PART ONE: ‘HE TAO IN HIS SOCTOCULTURAL ‘ENVIRONMENT other persons were there. The wife had become somewhat hysterical due to the serious condition of the child. There was a bright lamp and except for the bundled child on the floor, the scene resembled a small party. Everyone was talking, advising, suggesting, all try~ Ing to be of help. My first request was, therefore, the clearing of part of the room so that some air could come in, I knelt and held the hands of the child and felt the extreme heat of the fever. The face was flushed and the child gasped for breath. 1 wished that I were in a hospital, where I could give an injection of antibiotics ‘that could easily control the infection and the fever, But I dis- missed the thought and focused my attention on the child, I pulled down the blanket and listened to the child's breathing-I heard the unnistakeble sound of pneunonia. Probably out of habit, I asked: "Could someone buy some inject~ ible penicillin from the drug store?" ‘The crowd becane silent as if thinking for the answer. The father replied, "Yes, Doctor, we can, but the botika in town would not de open at night, especially at this hour. You see, they had a case of someone knocking supposedly to buy medicine and he turned out to be a robber who stole money From them. Since then, they never open for any customer at night. "Ig there any other place we can go?" I persisted. “We can go to the city, which is twenty-four kilometers. From there the night trip of the Rural Transit might pass at midnight. ‘he problem will be the return trip. The-earliest ride we know will be on the jeepney that arrives’in the barrio around eight o'clock in ‘the morning. Do you think this would be all right?" The father looked at me as if asking for reassurance. I felt helpless but I had to put up a front of confidence. No natter what I tried to think about, the hospital set-up kept recurr- dng in my mind. The mother started to cry when she saw that the child was shaking under the blanket. Convuleion, I thought. Instinc— tively, I muttered: "Please get some ice." I looked up and realized that I had asked for something that was not available. I found out later that ice was available in that barrio in August, during the fiesta. But that was four months away! "Does anyone in the barrio have any medicine? I asked, The barrio councilor said that the rural health worker had left some tablets with him. He went to get them just in case they might be of use. The tablets turned out to be multi-vitamins and a handful of triple sulfa. I sighed with relief at the sight of the sulfa, At least, I had sonething useful. Some sulfa was pulverized and the br he it ha ol te gSES'S th ne wi, ex an th it tiew a imp ory- 5-0f whe 28 led Ject- ld-not case to pen rom win «ain © looked Chapter 3: THE TAO IN THR BARRIO 33 child was given two tablets. At about this point, a very old woman came in with a small bundle and said, "Doctor, this might help." In order not to hurt her, I accepted the bundle and asked what it was. "These are pieces of banana trunk, chopped and sprinkled with water. This is what we use as an icepack whenever people have a high fever in the barrio." I felt the bundle and had to admit that it was as cold as I wanted it to be. Carefully, I rested the bundle on the head-of the child and a few minutes later, the shaking of his hands stopped. I knew that the cold pack was taking effect. The: old woman had taught mé something. The medical.teacher had been taught by @ very old, illiterate woman. One day, I took chopped banana trunk sprinkled with water to my physiology professor at the medical school to find out the cause for its cooling effect. He examined it and said, "Banana trunk shreds contain many square holes; these have a radiator effect. When you sprinkle water on them it spreads over a wide surface. When the water evapo- rates, a cooling effect results." “But if you add mich water instead of sprinkling?" I asked. "Well," he continued. "That.way the holes will be covered and so the surface area. will be limited." Now when someone has fever in the barrio, I automatically shout, "cut down a banana -tree!" Then I knew that anyone who works with farmers must be open and willing to learn. Indeed I had understood what some one had said much earlier: "He who dares to teach must never cease to learn." Concepts of Time and Distance Does the farmer have a sense of time? Yes, but it cannot be exact as he does not have a timepiece. His only indicator is the sun and other means within his reach. One can tell time by the flower of the gourd (patola), not in hour-by-hour fashion, but he can tell when it is five o'clock in the afternoon. That is a very inportant time~ time for him to get his carabeo and go home. “can you really tell time that way?" I asked. "How do you do ate He hesitated as though considering whether to reveal the secret34 PART ONE: THE TAO IN HIS SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT or not. "Well, when the edges of the petals of the gourd flower start to have a peculiar bend, that is five o!clock in the afternoon." It did not sound too simple. The next afternoon I waited until it was 4:30 by my Omega watch. ‘Then T went to the old man and an~ nounced that it was 5:00 o'clock. The farmer turned his head towards the flowers without straightening up. He shook his head. "Hindi pa alas sinko." (It is not yet 5:00 o'clock.) And he continued working. The following afternoon, I waited until the exact hour of 5:00 o'clock by the watch. Then I shouted the time to the old man. Calmly, he looked at the flowers. He stood and picked up his cultivating and weeding implements. "Oo nga, alas sinko na." (Yes, it is 5:00 ot clock.) ‘The third day, I decided I would now play a trick on the old man. So at noon, I went to where the gourd flowers were and I picked all the opened flowers. "Let's see whether he can still tell the time.” Then at the stroke of five, I invited him to go home. He turned his head to the gourd vines and there was not-a single flower in bloom. I ‘thought he would be wondering, or would ask me the time. Instead, he turned and looked at the acacia tree, “Let us go. It is 5:00 o'clock," he said matter-of-factly. On the way home, T asked how he determined the tine without the flowers. He smiled patronizingly. "You see, the acacia leaves tell the time, too. hen the leaves start to fold into each other at the midrib, that means it is Five o'clock." I had the watch, but he could tell the time. ‘The next afternoon, I left my watch in the farmer's home and pro- ceeded to the farm. I sat under an acacia tree and started to observe ‘the leaves. "When the leaves fold, it is 5:00 o'clock," I repeated to myself. I summoned all ny powers of concentration. It was taking an unduly long time, but I sat there patiently. Then I swear I saw the leaves start to fold. "Ah! 5:00 o'clock." I shouted triumphantly, I stood up and ran as fast as I could to the old man's house to an- nounce the success of my venture. No one was home when I arrived at the nipa hut. It took five minutes to reach the house, I went direct- ly to my room and got my watch. Tt was 6:00 o'clock! ‘Telling time was not as simple as I thought, I had to concede that the old man had something I did not have. His name was Daguhoy. Why? I do not know. He was just a little boy. His grandmother was taking care of him as the father was in another barrio. One day, I asked Daguhoy's age. ' se the awe one wal wen cha tio not shot dix can the@ man, all the ‘Then head L 4, he "elock," the tell ‘the could a pro- ibserve ted to ng an ‘the ay. an- a at direct- ede little a Chapter ‘8s. THE TAO IW THE BARRIO: * 35: "apat na sibuyagan na ho" was the answer... (Four onion. crop 2 seasons old.) , : ‘joes that mean four years?" I asked. ‘The grandmother made some mental calculation and cane up with three and a half years. It appeared that in using onions as a point of reference, Novenber is the time to start to count. How about, distance? My personal experience is. that the farmer 4g not too accurate. In fact he says “diyan lang" (just nearby) to any place ranging from a half kiloneter to several kilometers. | This §e especially true when I am asked to visit a sick patient. "Diyan lang po." And it turns out to be very far. Tt seens that they fear that one might refuse to go to the home if the real distance were known. So to be sure I will go they say, "Diyan lang." The trouble fa 1 would like to walk if the distance is short, and we could borrow acar if the place is far off. But he says, "Diyan lang," and the place turns out to be two kilometers away» ‘hen another said, “Isang cigarillo ang layo." (One cigarette away.), Which means the distance is what one can cover while smoking one cigarette. "Isang cigarillo,” has cone to mean eight minutes! walk or less than half a kilometer. one day a farmer cane, and said, "Isang cigarillo ang layo." I went but found the house. more than one kilometer away. "I thought it was only 2 cigarette away.". 1 chided the farmer, Niges,"" he answered meekly. “But I meant a king size cigarette Concepts of Illness and Environmental Harmony “what about the fundamental question of change? What should be changed? What should be continued? “Many years ago I was very attbi- {Hous. "Remake the whole world in six months," T.used to say. But not- anymore, Painful lessons have. fortified my conviction that one should not attempt to change many practices at once. Those that directly affect barrio progréss should be attended to first; the others can wait for a later tine, Perhaps, farmers should be left some of fhe old ways for security-something faniliar to, bold on to, I do not now. Perhaps we can inprove antiquated and uiigroductive methods of36 PART ONE: THE TAO IN HIS SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT seed selection, but other practices can wait, such as burying the placenta and umbilical cord of a new-born baby together with a pencil and a pad of paper, in the belief that this will make the baby intel- ligent. Maybe this practice will change as the larger framework of barrio life improves. I remember very vividly a barrio deep in the hinterlands of the north. The main problem was the unusually high death rate due to neo- natal tetanus. I said let us eradicate that scourge! Just. like that. and I meant it, too, We studied the situation and found that the cause was the use of a piece of banboo called buho, which is used for cut- aby. ting the umbilical cord of a new-born baby: ‘Thereupon, we launched a campaign to discard the buho, In its place, we recommended a pair of scissors. Why,'I thought triumphantly, we will modernize the world concept of the people before we are through. Women listened with respect and even nodded their heads in ‘apparent approval. The message was simple, discard the buho, and use the scissors to prevent tetanus in the newborn. After six months, we assessed the results and found that not only were the cases of tetanus more frequent, but tHat the women were still using buho. Iwas a little bit more mellow by then, so I decided to stay in the barrio for a few months to understand why the people pefused to change. The explanation was not hard to find. It turned out people in the barrio believe that when an unnatural instrument, such as a pair of scissors, is used in the delivery of a baby the child will Become disloyal to the family. & child must be delivered by something that is indigenous to the barrio, Buho satisfied that requirement since bamboo grows in the barrio. Imagine, causing alienation and dis- loyalty to the family! This is sacrilegious. Family fidelity is a cultural value which is cherished, preserved and protected at all. costs. Eventually, we found that the buho was more readily available and sharper than scissors. Furthermore, it was free. So we sat down to reorient our thinking, What are we trying to correct? If it is the tetanus, then’we are after cleanliness of the instruments. One bright colleague suggested that we retain the buho, but teach the farmers to bofl it before using it for cutting the umbilical cord. This solution avoided impairing valued. family soli- darity and at the sane time reduced the tetanus rate. May it not be that in our haste to bring about new ideas, ve forget the elementary need to understand concepts of cause? cha, say is} that ere His loos thie Howe many cama they Doct: kaya chia) have house certe cocke produ gener to ea vidua! and w: is rat an An to be whispethe 10 neo ‘that. \e cause cut- its shantly, is in ad use ot only 2 still ed to 8 e in pair ecome ‘that ince s- isa ar ble cng to o£ the » buho, soli- rot be ontary Chapter 3: THE TAO IN THE BARRIO 37 ‘Traditional vs, Modem Poultry-Raising When one mentions chicken raising, the general reaction is to say that everything about it is known and has been'done. Maybe, this fs because we have talked about poultry and eaten chicken for so long that nothing about it seers new. I was intrigued when I heard a farm~ or argue that he did not believe in raising chickens in an enclosure. His points were valid. He said, "You know, Doctor, I turn my chickens loose because they are safer that way." "But they will be stolen if they are roaming around," I objected. "on thé contrary. You see, when chickens are placed in a coop, thieves sneak in, throw a wet sack over them and that is the end of it. However, if the chickens are turned loose they cannot be stolen, , Too many witnesses to the act. At night, the chickens roost on the camatchile trees which are very spiny and difficult to climb, _ Because they prefer the upper branches, they are safe," Iwas silent, so he-clinched the argument by saying, "At sake, Doctor, pagnakawala ang manok, nabubuhay sa panamagitan ng ‘self-help’ keya hindi na ako gunagasta sa pagkain." ("And also, Doctor, when chickens are loose, they can live on a self-help basis and I do not have to spend for their feed.") I had always thought that there was no substitute for a poultry house in an orderly enclosure. Yet, I had to admit that there were certain points against it. pqrading Stock Programs vs. Filipino Hospitality Laboratory research reveals that if a purebred New Hampshire cockerel is crossed with a native hen, the resultant offspring produces 40-50 per cent more eggs per year..‘In addition, the second generation is very ‘much bigger and tastier. The idea of the project was to bring one New Hampshire cockerel to each barrio to upgrade the local stock. As we all know, the Filipino farmer is a very hospitable indi~ vidual. He will go out of his way to nake a visitor's stay pleasant and will give him his best. This is especially true when the newcomer is rather important and comes from the city. For instance, one time an American visitor arrived in the barrio and, of course, lunch had to be served him. Our worker overheard the farmer and his wife whispering about the feeding predicament.38 PART ONE: THE TAO IN RIS SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT “ano ang ipauulam natin?” (What shall we serve him?) the woman asked. Without batting an eyelash, the farmer declared with a tone of finality, "Aba, patayin ang Néw Hampshire. Importanteng bisita yata iyan." (why, Kill the New Hampshire. Our visitor is an important man.) And so the New Hampshire cockerel weht to hie ancestors, purebred and all. That was the end of upgrading. ‘The sane thing happens when a mayor, a governor or a congressman comes to the barrio. Some people question how far rural people will go for visitors. I can only say that to a farmer, having a distin- guished visitor eat in his house is an indication of status, If he does not give the visitor his best, he loses face. The matter of “napapahiya" (being put to shame) is an inmediate concern. Up-grading the poultry is a vague future prospect that is much lower in the farmer's hierarchy of values. How serious and important is this factor? This is what happened when a senator visited a barrio. His attention was caught by the New Hampshire cockerel, because of its enormous size, One could not help noticing it because it stood out from among the rest. ‘The senator said, "Ang ganda ng manok na iyan," (What a beauti- ful rooster!) He meant it as nothing more than honest praise for a prize chicken. Then we drove on. When we arrived in the next town, T heard something squawking in the trunk compartment, The driver opened the lid and found that the villager had put the New Hampshire cockerel inside, as a gift to the senator. Yet, the senator had only expressed admiration! What if he had stopped for lunch? Rural Productivity and Kinship Obligations Another aspect of rural industry is illustrated by the experience of an anbitious farmer. He said that he got so excited about the income prospects of rural industry that he went into it, not only fulltime, but on a large scale. As a general rule, a small-scale bambocoraft business is managed by a farmer, using the time and skills of his family members. One person gathers the bamboo, another splits it, and the father does the actual weaving. This particular family found the activity so productive that they decided to enlarge the enterprise. The nathenatical considerations were tremendous. First, ‘they enlarged the shop and soon started hiring extra workers, Then the fun began. | Im the barrio, it is an unwritten rule that a family which is better-off is obligated to take care of their less-fortunate rel emp con rel pay arr don for mea hom bec wer the: exp: The ret: imwen woman of yata at ssman will in- he wading pened e New help auti- ra hire only rience e y e skills plite iy irst, hen is Chapter 3: THE TAO IN THE BARRIO 39 relatives. In fact, you are.expected to call on your relatives when employment possibilities are available. This is part of the complex constellation of fanily relationships. By virtue of this system, the farmer has to hire his. own relatives; because he was supposed to be more affluent, he had to pay them adequately. Since the work was full-time, the workers arrived-early in the morning and stayed until evening, as.an express- ion of loyalty and pagbabayad ng utang na loob (payment of gratitude for the employment). Hence, the workers were in the house during meal time, Since they were all relatives, it became the duty of the home-owner-manager to invite them to eat in his house. Again, because this farmer was supposed to be better-off and the workers were relatives, no charge could be made for the food. The farmer, therefore, not only paid adequate wages, but incurred the additional expense for food. Yet the market was not absorbing the production. The strain was just too much for him to bear. Finally, he had to return to a family-scale rural industry, which involved only his immediate family members.