Fair invites curanderos to heal, teach

by Abigail Ramirez

Daily Lobo

After student Rosalinda Olivas picked up a

fl yer for the 2nd Annual Mexican Traditional

Medicine Fair, she looked forward to the event

as a way to heal her foot.

"I've had a broken toe for about two months,

and it seems to be getting worse," Olivas said. "I

already went to a doctor, but they couldn't help

me."

The curanderos, or "healers" in English, are

what brought her to the fair on June 30, she

said. At the fair, north of the SUB, she received

acupuncture, a massage and auriculoterapia - a

therapy that places seeds in the ear to help illnesses,

she said.

"It feels better now," Olivas said. "I can move

it, and I couldn't move it before."

Everybody is responsible for the experiences

they are living, said curandera Virginia Tapia.

When somebody tells her she didn't help them,

Tapia said she feels there is something missing

from that person.

"I can't do anything more for them if they

don't want to do it for themselves," Tapia said. "Maybe it's not their time to recuperate.

It's their decision to live, die

or stay sick."

Both curanderos and patients

benefit from the healing process,

she said.

"You feel happy and content

when you do help somebody,"

Tapia said. "In particular, it helps

you become healthier when you see

that they are healed."

Approximately 300 to 600 people

attend each fair, said Eliseo "Cheo"

Torres, professor of language literacy

and sociocultural studies.

Local vendors shared alternative

healing techniques and gave

information on some health resources

available, said Eleanor

Sanchez, who helped coordinate

the event.

This health fair was part of the Ferias

de Salud, which are traditional

Mexican health fairs held around

the community, Torres said.

The health fair is part of a twoweek

course taught by Torres

called Traditional Medicine without

Borders: Curanderismo in the

Southwest and Mexico, he said.

The course teaches students the

history, tradition, rituals, herbs

and folk-healing remedies of the

U.S., the Southwest and Mexico

for the first week of the course,

he said.

"This is traditional medicine

or integrated medicine," Torres said. "We seem to be returning

back to this medicine because

it's not costly or out of reach. It

seems to be very effective, and

sometimes the curanderos will

refer the patient to a doctor if

they can't help them."

Curanderos from El Centro Cultural

de Desarrollo Humano Hacia

la Comunidad in Cuernavaca,

Mexico, are invited to come for the

second week of the course, he said.

Students ask the curanderos questions,

listen to their experiences,

and observe their techniques at

work, he said.

"What better instructor than

somebody who is actually doing

this?" Torres said. "It adds a new

dimension to the class when people

have somebody to work with." The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City

only gave visas to 28 of the curanderos

and turned down the other

14 who wanted to come to the fair,

Torres said.

"They are able to help so many

people in need, and many times

they don't charge a fee for their services,"

Torres said. "They are totally

dedicated to helping people."

The curanderos will continue to

come two weeks out of the month

for the next nine months as part of

Continuing Education courses at

UNM.

"I would come back any time,

any day," Olivas said. "What you

can't get out of technology or medicine,

you can generally get it out of

the curanderos. Why pay a doctor

when you can give a donation?"