Don Luis Fidel and Doña Adela

Doña Adela and Don Luis Fidel are in their 70s. They’ve been married for over 40 years, and they have numerous children and grandchildren. Luis Fidel is the local leader of the local traditional drums, Gran Poder de Dios. We met Adela at a drum ceremony in 2013, when we hosted the Transnational Black Feminist Retreat (https://asterixjournal.com/tag/transnational-black-feminist-retreat/). We learned that a majority of people in the community come to Adela and Luis when they need to heal illnesses and/or minor issues like spider bites. They both work in their conuco (traditional farm plot), and in addition, Adela, along with her daughter and granddaughter, maintains and cares for medicinal plants and trees in a 200-acre area surrounding her home. Adela treats a lot of hepatitis and lung disease, the latter becoming more prevalent after the introduction of a new farm in the area that uses pesticides. She also spoke to us of high incidences of diabetes, and early death resulting from motorcycle accidents.

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