PANDEMIC BY COVID-19, A VIEW FROM THE ANDEAN COSMOVISION IN THE SHUAR COMMUNITY

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a severe global economic, social and health crisis. In some communities, aspects such as habitat and behavior patterns influence the perspectives, experiences and experiences of their inhabitants regarding the management of the disease. Objective: Characterize the COVID-19 pandemic from the Andean worldview of the Shuar community of the Los Encuentros parish. Methods: Qualitative study with phenomenological design, in which 10 informants participated. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data, consisting of 15 questions, which allow three categories to be encompassed: Perception of the COVID-19 disease, the community's experiences in the face of the pandemic and the practices of traditional medicine applied. Results: Most of the participants express that the disease comes from the air, is transmissible and can cause death. Likewise, they considered the biosafety and vaccination measures contemplated by the Ministry of Health to be positive and adequate. As for the experiences, to prevent contagion, they used access restriction to their territories. They identified the sick people, due to characteristic manifestations of the disease, cared for at home and in case of death they proceeded to bury them immediately, without performing farewell rituals for their relatives, generating annoyance among members of the community. For ancestral practices in the treatment, medicinal plants such as eucalyptus, ginger, lemon and orange were used. Conclusions: The ancestral knowledge and practices of the Shuar community allowed them to face the COVID-19 pandemic from their beliefs and culture, but incorporating provisions of the national health authority, which allowed better control of the disease in the community