ABSTRACT
Our work as anthropologists helped the staff to retain some sense of perspective. During staff meetings we pooled information to try to make sense of incomprehensible events, to see them from different angles, to give each other courage. Sometimes we debated fiercely, and that too helped us to arrive at a closer approximation of truth, even when we were mainly aiming to deflect our depression at the misery around us. At a staff meeting following the brothers' murders, Nilda recounted her attendance at a rosario held at their mother's house. Again led by Doña Mercedez, the rosario consisted of nine nights of prayers conducted in relatives' homes, in the belief, said Nilda, that the prayers would give light to the dead person's soul to help it depart from the earthly life. With the combined prayers of family, kin, and friends, the troubled spirits of those who died violently would be induced to leave peacefully. Nilsa, who was raised in the Pentecostal tradition, fiercely contested these ideas as superstition. "We don't believe in that crap! Once you're dead, you're dead, that's it. You have to make it on your own into heaven. We sing at the wake and try to make the family happy so they can go ahead and get on with their lives." I pointed out that the differing religious orientations reflect two different strategies for life. The Catholic one depends on keeping shared kin obligations, the Pentacostal on shedding them and getting ahead. Who can tell what's a better adaptation for poor people?
