Saberes ancestrales en respuesta a la pandemia COVID 19 y sus secuelas en la Comunidad Pampa de Rosas de la Parroquia Sinincay, Azuay 2023-2024

Abstract

The global health crisis due to COVID 19 caused greater situations of vulnerability for those who already had it, many indigenous and peasant communities had to face the need for health with the available knowledge; Ancestral medicine with the use of medicinal plants was one of the alternatives as part of a set of knowledge and culture. The objective of this research was to describe the Andean knowledge in response to the COVID 19 pandemic and its consequences in the Pampas de Rosas community of the Sinincay parish; For this purpose, an interpretive paradigm methodology, qualitative approach and descriptive scope were applied through the application of semi-structured interviews with community social actors (Taitas, mamas and healers) in the territory. Among the main results, it was observed that the knowledge about the particularities of COVID 19 was adequate in the participants, that the knowledge available about diseases related to the respiratory, nervous and immune systems was used by the agents of ancestral medicine to treat COVID 19; In particular, vaporization or incense techniques were used with eucalyptus and other aromatic plants, as well as infusions or cooking of warm or hard plants to treat flu, nerve problems and strengthen the immune system. The treatment was accompanied by ointments and other products of mineral and animal origin such as baking soda and honey; Simultaneously, there was interaction in some cases with Western medicine and submission to the measures imposed by the national health system and the National COE.