Mulheres, memórias e práticas de saúde: educação popular em comunidades rurais do norte de Minas Gerais

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the dissemination of popular health practices, based on the organization Association of the Collective of Organized Women from Northern Minas Gerais (ACMONM) and the group Alternative Medicine, Nature and Life (SANAV) in the municipality of Porteirinha. Therefore, the aim was to understand the participation and the protagonism of six women from the women’s collective in the development of health practices. The decolonial, feminist and popular education perspectives were adopted as the theoretical approach, using an exploratory qualitative research methodology. Data was collected through interviews and formation of focal groups, focusing on oral storytelling. In the results presented in the research, it was possible to collectively outline a narrative of oral storytelling of women in the development of popular health practices, highlighting the importance of the social participation of these women in the women’s collective. Besides that, a book was developed with the women who participated in the research, containing oral and photographic testimonials about their experiences while applying popular health practices. The book also includes a mapping of the main plants used in the care provided. Lastly, this study brings women’s views on the reality of social resistance of women in the countryside. The life experiences in collective work bring a traditional health heritage in women’s collective spaces. These elements, which originated in the traditional heritage of communities, have contributed to the self-organization and protagonism of women. Social alternatives might be considered to promote health and appreciation of the natural resources of Cerrado and Caatinga.