Programa Saude de Família

The thing I miss the most here right now? Autumn-the leaves, the colors, the apples, the cider, the smell. Enjoy it all if you have it!

Anyways, today I went to a favela to experience the Programa Saude de Família (Health program of the family). Favela=the poorest people in Brasil find a big area of land and build houses in masses, tresspassing but no one can stop them. There were so many houses made of clay, sticks, and a brick here or there. What struck me the most was the amount of children running around, most of them naked. The woman I went with was my aunt, and she works as a nurse for the prefeitura--a government funded hospital post. Each day of the week her team (a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, and 2 people who live in the favela to accompany us for directions to houses/protection) does something different. 2 days a week they walk throughout the favela to administer care to those who can´t get to the post. Today was one of these days, but just for pregnant women. We visited 8 women, and I think that only 1 was older than me. The youngest was 16, and some of them already had 2 children and were on their third. It´s a completely different world there.
It was a good experience--I helped out and got to see what life was like for many people here. I also want to be a doctor one day, and it was interesting to see how different medicine can be.

Remember-Be thankful for what you have!!!