Resistir por el saber propio: las luchas de las parteras afrocolombianas en Bogotá. Los casos de la Abuela Olga e Ivonne Orejuela en el Kilombo los Griots
Thesis
The text addresses the resistance of traditional Afro midwives through kilombos in Bogotá as fundamental spaces for preserving knowledge associated with midwifery. It focuses on the work of two Afro-Colombian midwives, Abuela Olga María Perea and midwife Ivonne Orejuela Ramírez, settled in Bogotá, who have preserved and resisted with their traditional knowledge in an urban context. The midwives have established Kilombo Los Griots in Bogotá, a space of resistance, safeguarding, and knowledge exchange, with the support of the District Health Secretariat. These places emerged in response to the need to provide differential health care based on Afro traditional practices, such as midwifery, Afro cosmogony, and the use of medicinal plants. However, tensions have arisen between the midwives and the Secretariat due to a lack of understanding and political will, leading the midwives to declare autonomy, thus naming them 'autonomous kilombos.' Despite the implementation of intercultural health programs, Afro midwives have faced challenges in their relationship with the Secretariat, expressing the need for recognition and autonomy of their knowledge in the health field in Bogotá. The text emphasizes the importance of the resistance and adaptation of these Afro midwives in Bogotá, both in autonomous kilombos and in the Red de Parteras Étnicas, to collectively preserve and strengthen their traditional knowledge in caring for families, women, children, and girls. This is in response to the perception of their knowledge as a crime, generating fear and difficulties of inclusion in the health system. The research proposes analyzing the processes of resistance and resignification of these knowledge in the urban context of Bogotá, highlighting the importance of coordination between traditional midwives and institutions to ensure rights, contribute to population statistics, and overcome barriers in the exercise of their work.
publication date
February 2, 2024 7:30 PM
Research
keywords
Afro-Traditional Midwives
District Health Secretariat
Healthcare System
Intercultural Health
Kilombos
Knowledge Associated with Afro-Colombian Midwifery
