Brazil!

Explore Brazil with Graduate Student Ridwan Muhammed: Q&A

KU Hist: Where was your favorite place in Brazil to conduct research?  
The Sao Joaquim market was my favorite place to conduct research, it is located in the heart of Salvador Brazil, where plants and herbs for traditional and indigenous medicine are being sold. Sao Joaquim Market is a great place to explore Salvador’s Afro-Brazilian culture. Also, Sao Joaquim shares a striking resemblance with the traditional healing market in Lagos and southwestern Nigeria.

This picture was taken from the Sao Joaquim Market

KU Hist:From the research you conducted, what did you find that surprised you?
What I found that surprised me the most is that there is an ongoing deliberate appropriation of traditional reproductive health knowledge by white midwives who goes to the interiors of Bahia to learn traditional reproductive health procedures for the traditional midwives. This is commercialized and sold as “Sacred Feminine” and brandished as a “new” medical spirituality.

KU Hist: Besides the research, was your favorite part of the trip? Did you have a favorite city? Attraction?! Place to eat?!  
My favorite part of the trip was the visit to Garcia D'avila Castle which is 2hrs away from Salvador. The castle is one of the most important historical sites in Brazil. Built directly opposite the ocean, this castle served as a forte for Portuguese colonialists and slave owners for the purpose of colonial surveillance. For me, this castle represents the paradox of power and anguish, where the feudal dominion that would later become Brazil was governed from this castle. The castle also represents a dungeon of anguish for African slaves who served under the harshest conditions and lived in the most despicable space in the castle. All of these I consider colossal memory in the history of Brazil
A picture from the Strategic window from the Garcia D'avila Castle



A picture of me, Soji and Prof MacGonnagle at the Garcia D'avila Castle

How did you spend your free time?!
Spent my free time going to the beach, and taking walks to familiarize myself more with the city.

KU Hist:What was the biggest challenge you experienced during this winter break program?
The biggest challenge was that I was linguistically disadvantaged which affected my adaption, and research, although I was able to pick up pockets of the Portuguese language well enough to survive daily social and commercial transactions.

KU Hist:Did you have any fears going into this trip?
No, I had no fears, I was full of excitement!

KU Hist:What did you learn about the culture and the country?
I learned that the culture of the country is one of the most diverse across the world, owing to the age-long presence and influence of indigenous people, African slaves, Portuguese colonizers, British investors, Japanese migrants, other European migrants, and in contemporary history the influence of the United State. These have made the country a confluence of cultures, which are concentrated in different regions of the country. This is evident in the mode of dressing, ascent, choice of food, architecture, religion, and so on. However, I also learn the importance of the phenomenon of syncretism in religious practice in Brazil, which also spread to other cultural endeavors. 

KU Hist:What’s your biggest takeaway from visiting Brazil?
My biggest takeaway from visiting Brazil is that there are vast disparities in terms of access to health care, education, and other resources based on race and socioeconomic status. Inequality is still a major issue in Brazil, and it has a direct impact on the health and human development of the population. It is important to recognize the challenges that Afro-Brazilians like other Africans in the diaspora face in order to address them and create a more equitable and prosperous society.


Me at one of the Maternity hospitals I conducted research.




These are the pictures of the Os Tres Gordos (The Three Fat Ones) this picture symbolizes the diversity in Brazil, as each represents Asian, Black, and White women. Their fatness also represents the symbol of beauty and fertility in Brazil, which is similar to how beauty and fertility are been symbolized in pre-colonial, and colonial Nigeria.

This is a statute of Orixa called Iyamonja, (The goddess of the Ocean) which is one of the surviving Afro-religion legacies in Brazil, with its origin from the Yoruba religious practices. Iyanmoja symbolizes the goddess of beauty, love, and fertility.

I took this picture after one of the most insightful interviews I had with Mrs. Chyna on the left who is a traditional birth attendant in Salvador and also a qualified midwife. To the right is Samuele Ferreira my Translator/Research Assistant