November 2005
Costa Rica
�I bet you have not heard much about urine therapy, � Ligia said as the group of women visiting nodded their heads. This soft-spoken woman continued on tell us about the purification process people must go through before they can begin practicing urine therapy. First they must go on a fast, not a traditional fast, but a fast in which things like salt are avoided: a diet primarily of yogurt, water, fruits and vegetables. After about three days the urine should be clear and ready to be used for its medicinal purposes. You can mix it with a special kind of mud and rub it on the skin or put a few drops in water and drink it. As she talked and I translated, it seemed that the medicinal purposes of urine are almost limitless. We also learned of the healing powers of snake skin and many natural plants and fruits.
The women to whom she was talking were part of an international delegation that was getting to know the reality of the Central American countries of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and the work of the Lutheran churches all over Central America. They had spent a week in Nicaragua and were now exploring Costa Rica. This particular morning the delegation was spending time in the community of Chilamate in the Sarapiqu� region listening to representatives from the women�s groups of the four Lutheran communities in Sarapiqu�: Chilamate, El Jard�n, Los Lirios, and San Juli�n. Each women�s group explained their various projects: artesian works such as paintings, bookmarks and cards from recycled paper, wood carvings, and the practice of natural medicine are the largest endeavors of these groups. These activities serve many purposes.
Firstly, the classes teach women artesian skills. Not only do these skills help build the women�s self esteem, the products they make they can then sell to help the family finances. Additionally, the activities provide a meeting space for women to get together. In the machismo culture present in these communities it may be difficult for women to get permission from their husbands to attend the trainings that the Costa Rican Lutheran Church (ILCO) provides in sexuality, HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, self-esteem, and domestic violence (currently a major problem in Costa Rica). Painting or similar classes offer a safe space for women to explore these issues and receive accurate information and training.
Ligia, along with Estebana, continued to tell the hopes and the challenges of the natural medicine and artesian groups. In some communities the population is mainly made up of people in transition, primarily Nicaraguan immigrants moving through looking for work, so the majority of the members of one group have moved away. A bigger challenge, perhaps the biggest obstacle to the sustainability and success of the groups, is finding a market to sell the natural medicine and artesian products. The women sell them to visiting delegations, like the one visiting that day, and in a few stores in local tourist destinations, but nothing on a large scale. They have ideas, though.
They dream of having a clinic that would be open once a week in each community where people could come and get medical consultation and buy natural medicines. The women also have some blood pressure cuffs that they have learned to use and would like to offer these services at the clinic, too. This would be done with permission from local health officials, of course. The women also see the possibility of a stand on a busy street in the medium-size town nearby.
Over and over again the women expressed their hope that the ILCO would continue accompanying them in their endeavors. Most of them have and continue to receive their knowledge of natural medicines from Nehemias, an ILCO employee originally from Peru, and their artesian training from other ILCO volunteers or staff. The groups hope to continue on in their training, learning more types of massage and learning new crafts. The ILCO has also been instrumental in helping them find the markets they have at this point, and the women hope the ILCO will continue to help them find more. And while I do not know the ILCO�s plans in this endeavor, I think I have learned enough about the ILCO by now to say that I doubt that the women�s prayers will go unanswered. Whether it is through teaching natural medicine techniques like urine therapy, offering drawing tips, or providing workshops to help the women raise their self-esteem, the ILCO is right there with the people, responding to the needs as best they can. Step by step, they walk forward together.