# More cultural experience



## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

Today we attended an infant's funeral. Unfortunately a baby boy born yesterday to a neighbor died after only four hours of his precious life. The mother is the half sister of my husband's good friend, so he was helping them out since this morning. Unbeknownst to me, he was up on the mountain digging in the local's cemetery. All I knew was that I was hearing what I thought to be gunshots- and very surprised in this little town-hmm maybe they were breaking up big rocks with explosives? No! The custom in this area (don't know if across Mexico), is that when a baby or someone really young dies, they let off fireworks the whole day. Not for an adult, only youngsters. And I'm not sure if I was told it was because they were automatically angels or it was to let the angels know.

Later this afternoon he came and got me and we went to their family's home where a kind of a mass was going on. It was outside, and there was some kind of priest who was praying then singing, then the people would sing the same things, it went on for some time. They had made a small altar of sorts; decorated with crate paper strands and flowers. And long sticks (branches) with the crate paper wrapped around them that made an arch over the tiny white satin box with the baby in it. 
There were tons of freshly picked flowers, too.

Afterwards there was a procession down the road to the church, walking with everyone behind the men (including hubby) carrying the tiny box on a little table. When we got there someone rang the bell many times. Then all the people piled into trucks and we drove up this windy dirt road. Luckily when one truck got a flat we had lots of room for about 20 kids to pile in the back of our little truck. At the cemetery the singing went on again, then the box was buried, then a piece of rebar, then some other guys poured cement from big plastic buckets. Then all the flowers were put around and candles lit. The arches of paper and flowers were added along with a newly made cross. It was really quite beautiful. This is a tiny town and most of the people were there, and all the kids, too. They carried flowers and stood by solemnly, but they were kids and were soon playing & running in the bushes nearby. A couple of scorpions were killed, everyone looking at their feet; many of them were barefoot, but soon forgotten. 

The fireworks continued thru the whole thing. The people all took care of each other. And they took care of everything, no outsiders. My husband helped at the grave site also, and we were enveloped by everyone. A sad day, but a comforting day. Thought I'd share it here, I was able to talk with and express grief with the family and it was, as I said, a sad but comforting day. Beautiful people.


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## Ken Wood (Oct 22, 2011)

You have a very nice way with words, thank you for sharing something so personal.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanks for describing this sad and beautiful day. 

On a more practical note, what's medical care like for expectant mothers in Playa Ventura?


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> Thanks for describing this sad and beautiful day.
> 
> On a more practical note, what's medical care like for expectant mothers in Playa Ventura?


I don't know. I heard some talk today, negative talk about the baby dr, that a few babies died under her care. But I have no idea if this is true or not. I also heard that this baby showed signs he was not well, but others said no he was fine. So I'm not sure at all. There are no doctors here in Playa Ventura, but close by,10 min & 15 min in a town each way. There's alot of babies and little kids here who all seem very healthy to me though....sorry- I should have left it at I don't know, eh?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

terrybahena said:


> I don't know. I heard some talk today, negative talk about the baby dr, that a few babies died under her care. But I have no idea if this is true or not. I also heard that this baby showed signs he was not well, but others said no he was fine. So I'm not sure at all. There are no doctors here in Playa Ventura, but close by,10 min & 15 min in a town each way. There's alot of babies and little kids here who all seem very healthy to me though....sorry- I should have left it at I don't know, eh?


You don't know for sure, but you do know something about what might have happened. If most of the little ones in the town seem to be in good health, then there's a good chance the one who died so soon may have had a medical problem. I would be concerned, though, if the infant mortality rate there were higher than average for Mexico. How are the bereaved parents doing, I wonder.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Medical care at Juan Alvarez - Playa Ventura - is sparce. People may go into Copala or over to Ometepec. Ometepec is the market center for that section of Guerrero. Many babies are born at home. The government-run clinics in the region are either understaffed, lack equipment or are out of medications. Rather than make judgments about the quality of care the baby received, let's all say a prayer for the child .. who, indeed, is amongst the angels this day. And, yes, people there take care of their own. It's the only way small town Mexico works. Even larger cities, sometimes. There's nobody else to come to your assistance. You're on your own and neighbors understand this and stand with you when tragedy strikes.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Longford said:


> Medical care at Juan Alvarez - Playa Ventura - is sparce. People may go into Copala or over to Ometepec. Ometepec is the market center for that section of Guerrero. Many babies are born at home. The government-run clinics in the region are either understaffed, lack equipment or are out of medications. Rather than make judgments about the quality of care the baby received, let's all say a prayer for the child .. who, indeed, is amongst the angels this day. And, yes, people there take care of their own. It's the only way small town Mexico works. Even larger cities, sometimes. There's nobody else to come to your assistance. You're on your own and neighbors understand this and stand with you when tragedy strikes.


I have never been to Playa Ventura, but I have a general idea of what health care can be like in a small Mexican village. Your description kind of confirms my idea. Of course, we should say a prayer for the baby who died so young, and for his family. On the other hand, if better health care had been available for his mother, perhaps he might not have died. This is not a judgment, but rather an example of plausible cause and effect. If I were to make judgments, it would be of a government that does not care of its citizens as well as it might.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Isla Verde said:


> I have never been to Playa Ventura, but I have a general idea of what health care can be like in a small Mexican village. Your description kind of confirms my idea. Of course, we should say a prayer for the baby who died so young, and for his family. On the other hand, if better health care had been available for his mother, perhaps he might not have died. This is not a judgment, but rather an example of plausible cause and effect. If I were to make judgments, it would be of a government that does not care of its citizens as well as it might.


We often read, on this and other expat-in-Mexico web forums and on the websites sponsored by realtors and others pimping that Mexico is Wonderland, that medical care is so phenomonal, that the government provides for all, even us expats, that it's as good or better than what we have in the USA or Canada (private or government provided care), that it's so inexpensive, etc., etc. For the overwhelming majority of Mexicans and in the overwhelming majority of areas of Mexico ... thats just b.s. Medical care in Mexco is horrendous, on the whole. There's a small city in the mountains of Guerrero I've visited many times and to which I have seriously thought about retiring. Lack of what I will accept as adequate healthcare, given my several malities, is hours away. Maybe it's God's plan that if I get seriously ill and need emergency care I should pass on to another life. I'm not anxious to move the plan along, however. The biggest cities are where people concerned about healthcare, and who can afford it, should locate themselves. Within an hour or so. Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara. Vallarta has so damn many expat visitors/residents that it does have an excellent private clinic. And the same company may have established one in Cancun. That's it, folks. That's how I look at this.


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## DNP (May 3, 2011)

Here's why the system doesn't work, in Mexico and in many other countries. Ready?

Many years ago, constitutions were written all over Latin America. Those were heady days and the constitutions included many idealistic things, like universal health care for all. Nothing wrong with that. Everybody should have health care.

Those wonderful words are still, to this day, in the constitutions of most of countries in Latin America. (Just try to have that provision removed!)

Problem is, how you going to implement that ideal. There wasn't enough money back when those lovely words were written, and there ain't enough now.

That's why one needs to keep track of per capita income. If it's going up year after year, things will eventually get better. If not, they will (continue to) get worse.

An anecdote: I'm retired and I have travelled to Panama to visit friends there a few times in recent years. I have the same taxi driver take me to and from the airport on these trips, and even occasionally in town (Panama City).

I always ask him how's it going and ask about is family. Same response every time: His mother is elderly and ill. She's been prescriped a lot medicines which are costly. Somehow, she and/or he has Social Security in Panama. So he spends days, literally, going from one Social Security facility to another in search of the medicines his mother needs, mostly prescriptions that need to be refilled. Why, because, they don't have them in stock. They're out. So he goes from one place to another (it's like one of those old Greek stories about hell) until he either finds what he's looking for, or gives up and buys them from a private pharmacy that carries them instead, but at a much, much higher price.

End of story, a story which can be told over and over in Panama, in Mexico, and in many other countries as well--with all the variations. And people everywhere have their own stories to tell, and all the stories have the same moral: It's awful.

Truth is, it is awful!

I have observed, however (at least I believe), that over time, things have gotten better, in Panama, and Mexico, and in many other countries as well.



Longford said:


> We often read, on this and other expat-in-Mexico web forums and on the websites sponsored by realtors and others pimping that Mexico is Wonderland, that medical care is so phenomonal, that the government provides for all, even us expats, that it's as good or better than what we have in the USA or Canada (private or government provided care), that it's so inexpensive, etc., etc. For the overwhelming majority of Mexicans and in the overwhelming majority of areas of Mexico ... thats just b.s. Medical care in Mexco is horrendous, on the whole. There's a small city in the mountains of Guerrero I've visited many times and to which I have seriously thought about retiring. Lack of what I will accept as adequate healthcare, given my several malities, is hours away. Maybe it's God's plan that if I get seriously ill and need emergency care I should pass on to another life. I'm not anxious to move the plan along, however. The biggest cities are where people concerned about healthcare, and who can afford it, should locate themselves. Within an hour or so. Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara. Vallarta has so damn many expat visitors/residents that it does have an excellent private clinic. And the same company may have established one in Cancun. That's it, folks. That's how I look at this.


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## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

DNP, what you write above is so sad... and so true. 



terrybahena, thanks for sharing the story.


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

ok, interesting note. The "signs" I referred to a showing that the baby was in distress; well as I continued to listen I came to understand that the signs were of a superstitious nature, it was a dream had by at least 2 different individuals a couple of days prior to the baby's birth,- one was a dream of her in all white near the water, not sure about the other. The next sign was something about the mother bringing home flowers that at least 4-5 people told her were funeral flowers. There was another sign, but I could not understand that one. I couldn't ask too many questions without feeling inappropriate. There are so many superstitions/beliefs here; another is that one of the abuelos believes there is more death to come in their family and he is afraid- this is sad too.

My Mexican husband has some beliefs too, and sometimes I feel that because you believe something it is true, for you. I am not talking about any of the events surrounding this poor baby, but other little things....my ex husband's family is Palestinian and wow the Arabs have alot of superstitions, too....I find Arabs and Mexican alike in alot of ways; love of family & food is love are the 2 biggest haha, but many beliefs also. Isn't funny how when it's not my belief I call it superstition...

The other note was that the mother is actually from the nearby town that has a doctor in it; just all her family is here.


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