I came from a family of thirteen kids; money was tight and I never had a suitcase to carry my clothing around. In 1967 when I joined the Peace Corps, I still didn’t have a suitcase and took my clothing in a paper sack to Milwaukee for training. After I arrived in Quixada in the northeast of Brazil and settled into my life as a volunteer, I decided to get a suitcase. I went to the outdoor Vaqueros [cowboys] market and bought one. I still have it.
My suitcase came in handy when some people who lived in the poor barrio of Gorgordemia and I started a medical co-operative. We wanted to help members who had worms, but not enough money to buy the medication. Secondly we were concerned about the infant dehydration and diarrhea that killed many babies. Third, we needed emergency first aid supplies as well. The co-op began with about ten members and extraordinarily little money. We named it Sao Francesco Health Co-op. I went to the Peace Corps office and filled my suitcase with all the medication for worms that I could find. On my way back to Gordgordema with a suitcase filled with worm medicine, I thought that I could become a Brazilian medicine man. They carried medicine in suitcases and, like me, they were not doctors.
Dehydration and diarrhea in babies was simple to address. In the barrio water was purchased from a man who delivered it in a tank pulled by a donkey. I taught the mothers that it was important to boil the water for their family. For a sick child, they needed to add 6 to 8 teaspoons of sugar and about ½ tablespoon of salt to a liter of boiled water. This effectively reduced the number of babies who died of dehydration or diarrhea.
The third goal was to get supplies of bandages, iodine, cream for burns, and other things that could help in an emergency. For the following year I went to the capital and bought worm medicine and anything else that would help in an emergency from a friendly pharmacist. He always gave me good deals. I would carry the supplies back in my beautiful new suitcase.
The co-op grew and had thirty members. I wanted to let others know and I asked Carol Heinz, another volunteer, to help me create a poster. She knew how to silk screen and we made some beautiful posters. She also became my wife. I hung the signs outside of houses to inform people that a member of the Sao Francisco Health Co-op lives there.
While I served in the Peace Corps, there were no doctors who would come out to the Gorgordemia barrio and help the people who lived there. I did whatever I could for those in need with worm medication, first aid supplies and information. Slowly, I began to think that maybe I could go to medical school. Perhaps I could become a doctor. I knew that I would work for the poor. When I returned to the US I succeeded and became a doctor of Family Practice and Addiction Medicine. I became a Medicine Man.
