Stories

Scared of Lice, Taboo no More!

A group of women gathered in a modest house that serves as the center of Fariawosa Unit in Sisobaoho village, West Nias, North Sumatera. They were there to deposit their money. Every month, these women would come to deposit their income to the Unit’s admin. Some however, were there to apply for loans too.

“One can only apply for a loan after 6 months,” explained Berliana, one of the field counsels of PESADA. “We will also conduct a survey before approval to verify the loan will be used either for business start up or children’s education. You can’t apply for loans to buy groceries such as cooking oil and so on. Furthermore, there are procedures to complete including having a guarantor. We need to be responsible for our action. The job of a guarantor here is not to pay for your loan. But they are there to remind you when the date to pay up is due and ultimately to push you should you forget to pay altogether. If the guarantor needs to pay, who would want to become one?” teased Berliana.

The group meeting was filled with lots of laughter that day. There were 20 women or so – young and old, all chattering, sharing stories, jokes and laughter. Some of them were singing a song about trip to the rubber plantation. Even though rubber tapping is their main profession, but it wasn’t rubber that dominated their conversation. It was all about lice and taboo.

Assisted by Dian (also a member of PESADA Nias), Berliana explained to the women about personal hygiene and steps on how to keep their feminine area clean and fresh. Dian then repeat everything Berliana had just said in the local language to help the older women who aren’t very fluent in Indonesian, or don’t speak the language at all.

Berliana emphasized on how important it is for the ladies to wash clean their private parts during shower. “Don’t apply soap much less powder to your vagina,” she said. “All you have to do is wash it with clean water and wipe it dry with clean towel. The PH level contained in soaps is different. It’s best to avoid it. Wash your vagina with clean water is enough. You can infuse the water with betel leaves (sirih) if you like.”On top of that, Berliana also urged the women to change their underwear twice a day, every morning and in the afternoon.

“That’s too much to do, we don’t have time for it!” kid one of the women in local language, causing everyone to laugh. “We just change once a day!”

“Only once a day? How is that possible when we already spend our entire day tending our crops, in the kitchen, we’re all sweaty and muddy. And after all that, you only change once a day. Our vagina is located down there. It’s not like we can dry it out in the sun, can we? So when it gets in contact with sweat, it becomes damp and dirty. As a result, you will have lice infesting in your private area.”

All the women shrieked. “Is it even possible to get lice down there?”

“Of course!” Berliana responded seriously. “It is very possible for lice to infest our vagina. Once it does, it can causes itchiness and other diseases. That’s why it’s very important to trim or shave our pubic hair regularly. Don’t let it turn into a bush!”

“Can we have it trimmed in salon?” teased one of the women, causing everyone to laugh out loud. “Like anyone would do it for us,” said another. Everyone was laughing just thinking about it. Despite all the laughter, the discussion had encouraged the women to ask further about personal hygiene and their reproductive health.

“We’re actually embarrassed to speak so freely, especially when there are men around. That talk about ticks and all the itchiness really had us laughing so hard,” said Jasarianghia, one of the admin of Fariawosa Unit. “You’re not supposed to say the V word here. But after a familiarization like this, we now understand why we have to use the word. But back then in our village, saying the V word will cost us a pig to sacrifice. That’s the fine we have to pay!”

Now, Jasarianghia understands how important it is to share information related to reproductive health, especially to the teenagers in the village. They fully realized that not discussing sex or reproductive issues with their kids out of respect to their culture/norms doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t find out about it on their own. They can easily look it up on the Internet. Nias has it shares when it comes to pregnant young girls out of wedlock, causing the list of Unwated Pregnancy in the island to rise.

“In the old days, women who got pregnant out of wedlock won’t be married to the men whom they had sex with. Instead, they would be auctioned off. So it could be with any man at all, be it an old one like a grandfather, or one with low intelligence. Just like a sale. As a result, they ended up as victims the 2nd time,” Berliana explained.

Rosilina Daeli, a midwife, fully understands how important all the information she got from group socialisations like this one. “We used to help women in labour by massaging their belly,” she said. “When they feel any pain, they were told to push instead to let the baby out immediately. Now we know that pain is actually part of the process. That is normal. Maybe it’s because the baby moves a lot. We only push when it’s time to deliver. Pregnant women are treated with better care now.”

According to Rosilina, there’s no more shaman/midwife left in the village. She learned her skills from a grandmother who has been doing it for a long time. “It’s exhausting. You have to be on-call at any given day and time. This grandma is the only one who can still do it. And she has never lost a patient in the process.”

There were so many questions asked by the women that day. From girls who have come to age but has yet to have their period, to breast cancer.

“We heard from a midwife once, only girls can get breast cancer,” said one of the women.

“That’s not true,” replied Berliana. “Breast cancer can be found in both women and men. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old, single or married. Always remember to keep our breasts clean and watch what we eat to stay healthy.”

“We don’t have the money for that!” kid one of the women in the group.

“Really?” replied Berliana. “You actually have the money but you let the men spend it on cigarettes and drinks and that alone can cost you up to a million a month. That amount can actually buy you fresh meat and milk and that’s enough to start a healthier lifestyle. This is something that needs to be addressed to the men. You’re making good income from your rubber cultivation/production, so be sure to keep the family economy in check too. How much do you spend for wedding party when your kids got married? How many pigs does it translate to, how much in rupiah? Imagine how much you can safe when you use all those money to feed your family. So, don’t tell me you don’t have the money!” 

Many of the women nodded in agreement to that last statement. There were two men who happened to join the meeting that day. Both turned red and embarrassed. (***)