Children and adults alike, who rarely got
sick before the plantation’s arrival, are now extremely vulnerable to disease.
Skin diseases, abnormalities and various types of illnesses are rampant
among the villagers. They easily catch fever and constantly encounter spells
of weakness and dizziness, vomiting and cough. Many claim to experience
all sorts of body aches: stomach aches, backaches and headaches, which
are aggravated during the periods of aerial spraying. Several people also
suffer various ailments such as asthma, thyroid cancer, goiter, diarrhea
and anemia. Edgar Rodriguez, 31, narrates that “My skin has these
white spots and I have difficulty breathing. I am often attacked by severe
cough and sometimes I can’t sleep because of it”.
