Tomás Galeano, died in July 2009. He was one of the few people who could remember how life was for the Yakye Axa when they still lived on their traditional lands. He led the Yakye Axa’s attempt to return to their lands in 1996 and was an important figure in the community during the long years of hardship and struggle for justice since. Sadly, he died before his hopes could be fulfilled. He is buried by the roadside; the Yakye Axa  were not allowed to bury him with his ancestors on their traditional lands.

Balbina Torales became ill when she was seven months pregnant. She had gone for an ante-natal check-up at the hospital in the nearby town of Concepción, but she couldn’t afford to go back there to get the results of the tests. Her child was stillborn. Shortly after she gave birth, a health team arrived on one of its monthly rounds and promised to send an ambulance; this took two days to arrive. After several days in hospital on a drip, Balbina Torales recovered. She has had five children; only two survive.

“When we arrive at the hospital they always ask ‘where are you from’. If you say you are from an Indigenous community, that’s when the problems start.”
Balbina Torales, Yakye Axa, November 2008

Dominga Fernandez, a member of the Yakye Axa community, was 42 years old when she died in childbirth after a haemorrhage. Innocencia Gómez, the community health promoter who was with her, said: “There was no time to call an ambulance, we had no way to take her there ourselves and the buses don´t want sick people to board.” Dominga Fernandez’ baby died a year later after suffering from diarrhoea for five months.

Children most at risk
In the Sawhoyamaxa community, four children died between December 2008 and January 2009. Maximiliano Montanía Chávez, Susana Marecos, Rodrigo Marecos and NN [not yet named] García Martínez were all under two years old. All died after suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting.