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Published Monday, September 7, 2020
International News
Indigenous people in Nicaragua
abandoned during pandemic by
the government, says report
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Away from the bustle of cities and scared by the local news, the indigenous communities that live in the southern Caribbean of Nicaragua face the new coronavirus with fear and the secrecy by the health authorities, according to the Voice of America Journal, VOA, report.
One of indiegnous groups is the community of Cayo Rama, located on a small island in the city of Bluefields, about 300 kilometers from the capital, Managua. In this place, the majority of descendants of the Ramas indigenous ethnic group live.
Cayo Rama is a clear example of the government’s helplessness in dealing with the pandemic which has greatly affected indigenous people in the country, according to activists consulted by VOA. They report that fear and lack of economic resources overwhelms community members.
The public disappearance of President Daniel Ortega in recent weeks has generated alarm in the population, concerned as it is about the threat posed by the new coronavirus to Nicaragua's fragile health system.
In Cayo Rama, there is only one drugstore that belongs to a small public health center. There is not one permanent doctor. There are no private clinics or ambulances. The solidarity between them and the home remedies is their support.
The Reverend Cleveland McCrea, who is the pastor of the Moravian Church, confirms that fear persists among the locals and attributes it to the lack of information provided by the central government and the municipality.
In this community, the indigenous people are guided by their religious leaders, who three months ago decided to declare a self-quarantine, which implies the suspension of religious services and mass activities.
“As a pastor of the community, I was very worried about this from the beginning," McCrea said. "The other leaders did not want to (…) because they said it was a lie, but finally, I had to make a decision and there were no other authorities, so we made our own decision not to have classes or massive activities.”
The religious leader recalls that when he was a child, the community faced other diseases and natural phenomena that impacted the population: “Measles, for example, attacked our community a lot. After that, there was a hurricane that swept here and now it is the coronavirus. People are more afraid and worried about this than about the other situations.”
Ana Ventura Hodgson, one of the indigenous women who live in Cayo Rama, tells the VOA that she applauds the measure directed by her spiritual leader because she is afraid of the possibility that one of her four children may become ill "from something unknown" referring to the covid-19.
“In this small community away from everything, we ourselves have tried to educate ourselves and to take our own preventive measures. We try not to take the children to schools and if they go, they wear masks,” Hodgson said.
“We don't have a permanent doctor here (in the community). That is why I am worried. For my children who are the future, not for me because I am old,” Hodgson said.
Currently, several cases of coronavirus have been reported on the island, according to the indigenous pastor and leader McCrea. One of them was transferred by boat to the town of Bluefields after the infected person’s health deteriorated.
Other people who were allegedly infected, used traditional medicines, said McCrea, who criticizes that the only health center in the area does not have the capacity to provide assistance to a patient with coronavirus.
Also, two other indigenous communities in the area declared quarantine after the first cases of covid-19 were reported. They are Karawala and Sandy Bay Sirpi, from the Caribbean of Nicaragua.
The leaders of these communities said that they are more defenseless and in higher danger from the pandemic due to the extreme poverty in which the communities of the region live.
In case of serious illness, the indigenous people must travel by boat to the city of Bluefields to receive specialized medical attention.
Emily Smith, originally from the Sandy Bay Sirpi community, tells VOA that they decreed a quarantine to prevent the pandemic from spreading in the community.
"We feel that we are very abandoned and we do not even have adequate conditions and no transport that can mobilize us in case we get serious," Smith said.
In Sandy Bay, they agreed not to allow the entry of people who travel from the Pacific of the country for a few weeks to protect the community from possible infections.
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Could the mismanagement of the pandemic in Nicaragua cause their population to seek treatment in the neighboring countries of Honduras and Costa Rica? We would
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your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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