Some final reflections…

Some final reflections… 

I can’t believe we are already at the end of the term! It seems like every term that I am here at Dartmouth goes by faster and faster. Anyways, I came into this term pretty nervous about this class since I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I signed up for the CCESP knowing very little about Nicaragua, but with the goal of going on a service trip with a group of people who were highly critical about what it means to do meaningful service through reciprocal relationships with our foreign hosts. Sitting here writing this final post in the final days of the fall term, I realize that I definitely got more than I bargained for – and I haven’t even gone on the trip yet. LACS 20 has honestly been one of my favorite classes that I have taken at Dartmouth so far, and I can confidently say that I have learned more in this class, with much less stress, than I have in any of my other more “structured” lecture classes. Now, saying that this class has not been particularly stressful for me does not mean that it was particularly easy or that I have not put in countless hours of work, but by this I simply imply that I have spent hours on end doing things that I actually want to do, things that feel like they truly matter. This term, I spent a ton of time reading articles, researching online, watching films, writing up reports, creating a website, and of course, reflecting, but not once have I felt like I was doing work that I was bored by just to get a grade. I believe that this class made me a more culturally aware, more thoughtful person, and for that I will be forever grateful. The best part of this experience, perhaps, is that the best is yet to come. I still have the actual trip to look forward to, a trip that I feel comfortable taking because I now have a deep understanding of the benefits and the potential pitfalls of programs like the CCESP. Because I learned so much about Nicaragua, because I was able to interview Nicaraguans firsthand, because I was pushed to think critically about the nature of international service, I am going into this experience confident in my ability to make a real difference in peoples’ lives without imposing my beliefs on anybody. Additionally, I am inspired by the guest speakers that we had come to talk to us, Dr. Turco and Dr. Saunders, and I hope to someday use my education to become a great doctor that can promote the sustainable development of health systems in developing countries around the world. This class opened my eyes to all of the possibilities that the world holds for a meaningful career, and I could not be more excited to get out there and explore them.

In the near term, I am excited to have a bit of time at home with family for Thanksgiving, and then to head out on the trip just a few days later! I am particularly looking forward to slowing down my life a bit for two weeks. I am looking forward to living more simply in Siuna, without iPhones, Internet, packed schedules, and rushed days. One thing that really stuck with me this term was when the guests from Los Hijos de Maíz came to our class and flat out told us that they did not want to live in America. I remember being really shocked when one of the dancers told us that she was absolutely blown away by the amount of technology in our classroom, but that she still would not want to live in America. She told us that even though we may have more stuff than most people in Nicaragua, she felt that some of us had empty hearts. She was proud to be Nicaraguan, and was genuinely happy with her life. It was in that moment that I realized that just because you live a simple life does not mean that you do not have a rich culture. Even though it may be uncomfortable at first, I am so ready to experience the simple, but rich Nicaraguan culture. On that note, I will leave you with one final video: one of the songs that Professor Moody showed us in class called “Casa Abierta,” or “Open Home” by Duo Guardabarranco. I think that this song pretty accurately sums up how these Nicaraguan dancers described themselves – kind people with open hearts (and homes) – and I can’t wait to meet many of them! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for sticking with me throughout this whole blog!

On our final projects

On our final projects

I was definitely impressed by how we managed to cover such a wide array of topics in our final projects. While watching all of the presentations, I was able to make connections between each of the projects. All of the different “issues” were interconnected somehow, and learning about the things that other people were talking about helped me to put my own research interests (higher education and URACCAN) into perspective in the “grand scheme” of Nicaragua. One presentation that stuck out to me was Oscar and Perla’s presentation about the politics of Nicaragua, since I feel like it truly tied everything that we have talked about in class back together (from education, to the environment, to economics, to health). When I look at the information presented to me in their presentation more broadly, I cannot help but think about how corrupt politics can be. It is clear to me that the Somoza family cared much more about economics and money than the environment, education, or the wellbeing of all people in the country. Even the Sandinistas, however, didn’t exactly live up to everything that they had promised the “average” people when they were fighting for power. It seems to me that power definitely does corrupt people. This corruption can be seen in the United States, as well, in the Reagan Administration funding a war (the Contra War) where innocent Nicaraguan people were killed so that the U.S. could impose their own beliefs of “democracy” on the Nicaraguan people, keeping some control over the country. This presentation definitely made me ask big questions about the motives of the Nicaraguan government and of our own government, as well. It will definitely be interesting to see what some of the Nicaraguan people have to say to the questions that Oscar and Perla posed at the end of their presentation. Going straight to the people and asking how they feel about how their government is serving them will be very telling, since even though I may have made a judgment about which government I would support based on just the facts and data they presented, I am not a Nicaraguan, and I am really not qualified to make the judgment about what is best for their country. It is clear that Oscar and Perla understood that they were not exactly qualified to make that judgment either, and I am glad they are planning on seeking out opinions from the Nicaraguan people. I am excited to see where this project goes, and I hope to maybe ask some questions about politics in conversations that I have with the locals in Siuna!

Additionally, the project that made me most excited about the trip was India, Soyeun, and Angie’s project about maternal health. It was definitely upsetting to see some of the statistics about birth complications, lack of maternal nutrition, and maternal mortality, but learning about the Casa Materna and all the great work that they do with soon-to-be mothers was awesome, since I know that I will get the chance to visit the Casa Materna on our trip. The infographics that the three of them generated were super informative, and bringing them down to Nicaragua will probably do a lot of good. Even though the mothers in Siuna probably know a lot of the information on the flyers, as Professor Moody said, it is still probably going to be useful to bring something tangible down to serve as a reminder about the little things that they can do to stay healthy while pregnant. It will also be awesome to bring down toothbrushes and toothbrush holders, designed by Rocco and Patricia. Their project really opened my eyes to the fact that not everybody in the world has the opportunity to take the same basic health practices, like dental care, for granted. Having something tangible to give to the children to encourage them to brush their teeth will hopefully inspire them to make brushing their teeth a regular part of their daily routine. If this happens, these children will pass on the habit to their children, and someday, rural Nicaraguans will be able to take dental hygiene for granted, too. I can’t wait to see how all of this plays out, and to have conversations with all of the locals about all of the things we learned this term!

On health care and the CH team

This is sort of an overwhelming topic for a blog post. There are usually just a few readings for each topic that I can easily go back to and pull out key points from, but this is certainly something that we have discussed extensively throughout the term, so it is much harder to just settle on a few key points. Instead of basing this post on just a few specific pieces of information from all of the material I have learned about health in Nicaragua throughout the term, I will use this post to reflect upon some of the things that I have learned about how to approach medical service trips, especially because I will be in Nicaragua working on the community health team in a matter of weeks now! So, without further ado, here are some of the things I have learned this term that relate directly to what we will be doing in the “pop-up” clinic:

  1. Avoid the 7 sins of humanitarian medicine. Many of these guidelines go hand-in-hand with the general principles that have been underlying all of our discussions in the class about reciprocity and responsibility in international service situations. 
  2. Feeling competent is key. When we did the medical training at Dick’s House this week, I was a bit nervous. I didn’t have any previous practical medical experience. Even though as undergraduates, we are only going to be performing basic, non-invasive medical tasks, it was so good to get enough practice in what we will be doing. I know that I will be nervous enough being in a brand-new environment and culture, so knowing the ins-and-outs of the actual procedures we will be performing before we go is definitely a plus. 
  3. There is more to medicine than just being smart and knowing what to do. Yes, obviously, doctors go to school for so many years for a reason. I am hoping to put myself through medical school in order to become a doctor someday, but just learning science and symptoms isn’t the whole story. Thinking about the nuances of the relationships and interactions that we will have with our Nicaraguan patients was definitely something I could have probably overlooked when thinking so critically about the grand scheme of development of health care and health practice in Nicaragua. In reality, we can make a huge difference in many peoples’ lives, by treating them not only medically, with science and chemistry and drugs, but also treating them with respect and a comforting attitude. 

So here’s how I’m feeling about this whole thing: I am excited to feel uncomfortable. I am excited to zoom in on a specific piece of the larger picture that we have been studying so critically and intellectually. I believe that as long as I go into this situation feeling ready to avoid the 7 sins, feeling competent about the medical procedures that I am asked to perform, and ready to be an understanding and respectful human being (with somewhat rusty Spanish), the health clinic will be successful. I have finally come to terms with the fact that there is simply no way that we will be solving grand, systemic health issues on our two week trip. That’s not what it’s all about, though. Its not about going in and overthrowing the government and making radical changes. Its about humble, small-scale work that makes a difference in individual lives. I was totally inspired by Dr. Saunders’ work with the Mayflower Medical Outreach organization when he came to speak with us. When he first started talking about working with deaf children, it seemed like a somewhat “random” field at first. As I kept listening to him speak, I realized that to think that one group of excited people could ever solve all of the heal problems in an entire country was foolish, since not everyone in the group would be competent or qualified in all areas. This kind of work is all about everybody doing their part, and knocking out issues one-by-one based on individual talents and skills. It is about people specializing in one field and going great work in that one field. All we need is enough people with the desire to help and become experts in these relevant fields, and I hope that I can contribute to that force when I am a doctor someday. After his talk, I certainly became much more confident in our ability to make change, and much more secure in our small-scale role. I actually even sent him an email after the talk and asked about how I can learn more about the project, since the idea of being able to take advantage of my access to a wonderful education here in the U.S. and then take that expertise to places where it is harder to access education and medical resources really excites me about my future and the potential I have to do good. For now, though, I’ll just have to settle for getting a bit of experience watching and helping doctors and medical students do this work. I can’t wait! 

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Click the picture above to watch a video about the work that Mayflower Medical Outreach does for the deaf community in Jinotega.

On environmental issues and Misión Bosawas

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Click the picture above to view a video about the impacts of deforestation on the Bosawas Reserve over the years.

I am really excited that I am getting the chance to share my thoughts with you guys about environmental issues in Nicaragua, especially in the context of the documentary, “Songs from Bosawas,” and the environmental conservation movement, “Misión Bosawas.” As I have been reminded of many times this term and have stated over again in much of my work in this class, it is easy to assume a lot of things about a developing country like Nicaragua, as someone from developed North America. For me, before becoming attuned to the environmental issues facing Nicaragua, especially in the less-developed autonomous regions of the Atlantic coast, it was easy to assume that there couldn’t really be that many environmental issues, simply because the country isn’t particularly developed. Obviously, after reading about the environmental impact of farming by the indigenous people and colonizers in the Bosawas nature reserve in “Indigenous, Colonist, and Government Impacts on Nicaragua’s Bosawas Reserve,” by Anthony Stocks, Benjamin McMahan, and Peter Taber, and viewing “Songs from Bosawas,” I changed my mind. I realized that there is a power dynamic leading to environmental degradation among the different Nicaraguan people, almost analogous to how many of the environmental issues that the U.S. is facing are controlled by large corporations. Nicaragua really isn’t as different from the United States as I thought…

Learning about how the indigenous people who inhabit the Bosawas nature reserve practice much more sustainable farming techniques than people who may colonize the land from the Pacific 11161697_933304670055035_3309209355535593402_ocoast simply because the land there is cheaper shows that not every person in Nicaragua can be characterized by the same high regard for the environment. Although the destruction of the environment in the country as a whole has probably not reached the severity that is has in the United States, there are clearly people who care more about themselves and money (generally, the colonizers) and other people who care more about the community, the environment, and a simpler life (generally, the indigenous people). After reading more about Misión Bosawas on their Facebook page, I have realiz11041441_932656076786561_7561763541876519530_oed how important it is to live sustainably there, not only for Nicaragua, but for the entire planet. According to this page, and as you can see in the two infographics presented here, the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve produces 368 million tons of oxygen in a year, and accounts for 3.5% of the total biodiversity of the world. Without it, I don’t know where we might be as a species, but I certainly don’t want to find out. 

Interestingly, however, I am not alone in my ignorance about the environmental issues facing Nicaragua. The entire reason that “Songs From Bosawas” was filmed was because a Nicaraguan native to the Pacific coast realized that people, even other Nicaraguans, are not aware of the Bosawas reserve and the indigenous people who inhabit it. So, with this realization, he took some American sound engineers to travel out into the reserve to interview the indigenous people about their culture and to film them playing their original music, with the intent of raising awareness about this special part of the country. In the film, many native people explain their culture’s deep connection with nature and the environment. This project was saving these cultures, cultures that were deeply connected to and dependent on the health of the surrounding natural environment. If the environment continued to be disrespected and degraded by people who are not native to those lands, these people will not only lose their nature, but they will lose their culture and their identity as well. This film was truly eye-opening, and I feel extremely passionate about the work that Misión Bosawas does to preserve this area, not only for the health of the planet, but for the the rich culture of these indigenous peoples. I’m definitely going to keep up with the Misión Bosawas Facebook page, and maybe even get involved with the movement in the future.

I’m going to close this post with an example of one of my favorite songs from the film: “Bosawas” by Prícipes de Paz and Carlos Mejía Godoy. This song made me realize how truly rich a culture can be, no matter how far from the “developed world” they are. Enjoy!

On conducting ethnography

Ethnography is a relatively new concept to me. I heard the term used for the first time in my first-year seminar, an introductory Anthropology course, last winter. For me, learning about ethnography was one of the few things that was entirely new to me last year. It was different than anything I had ever done before in an academic setting. It wasn’t simply a much more complex variation of the subjects that I learned in high school like virtually all of my other classes were. Learning about the basis of anthropology and how anthropologists study people, events, and cultures in a qualitative manner was certainly eye opening for someone like me – someone who, having gone to a science and technology focused high school, was consistently taught to value concrete, quantitative data more than anything else. There is so much more to the world than tables and graphs, and discovering ethnography allowed me to discover how people systematically, and, yes, scientifically (or social-scientifically), study these other, less “concrete” parts of the world.

Although I have never practiced ethnography before, I am excited about its potential to contribute to the experience that we have with our Nicaraguan hosts during the CCESP trip this year. Conducting ethnography, mainly via oral history interviews, will allow us to work collaboratively with the local people when we are in Siuna, helping us avoid one of the potential pitfalls – an ignorant, imperialistic approach – of what some certainly consider “voluntourism.” These interviews will allow us to rid ourselves of some of the assumptions that we go into the trip with because we are Americans that have a certain way of thinking deeply ingrained in us. According to William Schneider in chapter 3 of “The Nature of Interviewing,” “an interviewer and an interviewee who come from different backgrounds and have different experiences…may not share common assumptions.” This means that both parties must work collaboratively to establish exactly what they mean when they say something. Through this interviewer-interviewee collaboration, cross-cultural interviewing allows us to see what real people really think about their own cultures, lives, and situations. This insight will allow us to help them with what they feel they need most. These interviews will allow us to see completely real accounts of things that may otherwise be distorted or entirely ignored by the American mainstream media (which would basically be our only source of information about people from other cultures without ethnography). The precision of the descriptions obtained from an interview is much greater than any number or statistic derived from any sort of multiple-choice questionnaire written by people who probably don’t even share many assumptions with the population in study.

Along with the great power of ethnography, even though not always entirely evident, comes a slew of ethical issues associated with the concept of cross-cultural interviewing for the sake of documenting a certain culture. This is something that I am sure I will be incredibly worried about when trying to figure out how to respectfully interact with Nicaraguan people. I will be worried about if I truly have the right to share anything they tell me and with whom I have the right to share it with. I will be worried about if I am even getting everything they say right. I will be worried about some of their stories translating back to English imperfectly, distorting their meaning and misrepresenting the views of the locals. I will be worried about asking loaded questions that evoke skewed answers. Most of all, I will be worried about the things that I will not get an honest answer about when I ask about them – things like emotional discomfort. I am honestly concerned about how I will navigate conversations that may make the interviewee feel emotionally uncomfortable, since most probably will not tell me about anything that I say that may somehow offend them or may be making them feel uncomfortable, of respect for me, or embarrassment for themselves. I am excited and I am worried – we will see how I will deal with jumping out of my comfort zone so much in just about a month now…

Update: After interviewing Professor Raúl Bueno for my oral history project, I would like to confirm that transcribing interview conducting in Spanish for an English-speaking audience is incredibly difficult, as understanding the nuance of spoken Spanish is much, much different than simply understanding written Spanish, as someone who is not a native Spanish speaker. If you are interested in seeing this interview, you can watch it on the “Oral History” page.

On international non-profit organizations

I applied to go on the CCESP with some very mixed feelings about international community service. As someone who just traveled out of the country for the first time about two years ago, I was initially excited to apply for this trip simply because I have been so excited ever since then to be able to explore another country. I know; that’s such a selfish reason to sign up for a service trip. It’s not that I wasn’t excited about the community service aspect of the trip as well. I definitely love helping people in any way that I can, especially since I know that I have been much more fortunate in my life than most people in the world IMG_0809can say about themselves. It’s just that something about my first experience with international service left me sort of confused about what true, meaningful service looks like. When I was in Costa Rica on a trip with my high school (mentioned above), we were sent to the village of Quebradas de Nando for a three-day “homestay/community service experience” while the rest of the trip was spent sightseeing and traveling to other parts of the country. During these three days, I had a ton of fun. I was able to practice speaking Spanish with locals, play games with the kids, teach a bit of English in the school, and paint the local church. It was great, but I certainly didn’t really think I did that much to help. We were there for so little time that it was hard to make connections with people. I remember waking up there the first day, ready to do meaningful service and to help make things better for the “poor people” of the village. I was so naïve. I walked out of our small cement house to meet by the school where we all met with the representatives from the non-profit who organized our trip. They gave us a couple of gallons of white paint andScreen Shot 2015-11-18 at 9.50.17 PM told us that we could work on painting the village church. How was another coat of paint on an already fine-looking church going to really make anybody’s lives better? Were they just giving us something to do so we could feel like we did something useful for them? I had such an amazing time in Costa Rica, but I left feeling so confused. The people there seemed poor, but they had all the essentials – clean water, delicious food, and access to a school. They were happy, too. Why did they need me? Even if they did need me, what could I actually even do to help in such a short time? I came into this experience hesitant about what we could really accomplish in Nicaragua in such a short time, even though the needs in Nicaragua are obviously much different that what you may find in Costa Rica.

After learning more about the Fabretto Foundation, Bridges to Community, and Compas de Nicaragua, I feel much more at ease about the impact that we will be able to make during the trip. I feel empowered to make a real difference, even though we will only be doing down for two weeks. While watching the movie, “Dreaming Nicaragua,” I was getting very emotional about the extreme poverty that some people live with in Nicaragua. I felt very badly for the girl whose family spent every day sifting through trash at the dump just to make enough money to live. I was touched by the way she spoke about how happy she was to get to spend every day with her family, no matter what she was doing. For people like her, just a little bit of money for food could go such a long way. For the boy in the movie with the untreated rash, just one simple visit by a doctor could save his life, not to mention save his family the extreme worry of not having enough money to buy a coffin or to host guests at the house. I’ve realized that we aren’t going to be solving major systemic problems in Nicaragua. We aren’t going to eradicating Dengue fever. We aren’t going to be changing the way the wealth is distributed in the country. We aren’t even going to make sure that everyone has access to food, water, and health care. We are, however, going to make a difference with the local people on a personal level. Watching the Fabretto Foundation’s production of “Dreaming Nicaragua” reassured me that I can make real change in Nicaragua. I don’t have to invest millions of dollars or spend years on end in the country to make a difference. I can do small things that may help just one person, but that make a world of difference. After seeing this, I am excited to go to Nicaragua to realize what true international service looks like.

Watch the trailer for “Dreaming Nicaragua” here:

Also, learning about Compas de Nicaragua from Los Hijos de Maiz gave me some great perspective about the people of Nicaragua. I will not go into this trip with the same vision of “those poor people who need my help” as I did when I went to Costa Rica. Yes, most Nicaraguans certainly don’t have as much money or material goods as many of us in the United States do, but as the director of the organization said, they have full hearts and are truly happy in their lives. The people of “La Primavera” neighborhood have taken it upon themselves to form this dance group and to do projects as Women in Action in order to better their station. They are not helpless, and they are dedicated to making their lives better. Sure, we can help them out with this, but assuming anything else about how happy they are or how much knowledge they have about what is means to have a “good life” is simply ignorant. Having met the amazing people from Compas de Nicaragua, I feel much less naïve, and even a bit embarrassed about the simple, ignorant views that I had before. Now that I have a clearer vision of the people I will be working with, I am even more excited to go down and meet even more Nicaraguans and help where I can. That being said, I am especially excited to be working with Bridges to Community because of the emphasis that they place on working collaboratively with the communities that they are in. I love the fact that all of the people have to help pay for the projects, and that the community leaders are responsible for managing their own money once Bridges leaves. It is an awesome model that allows people with resources to come in and help with what the people need – and what they want want – but it also holds the local people accountable at the end of the day. Learning about all of these wonderful organizations has certainly put me in a better place as far as how I am feeling about international community service, and I hope that I will learn even more as the class goes on, and eventually, on the trip.

On travel and tourism

I have always taken tourism for granted. Although I never travelled much as a kid and I grew up wishing I could be like “everyone else” (or at least a few of my privileged elementary school friends) and take a family trip to Florida to visit Disney World, it always seemed normal to me that someone should be able to just hop on a plane and go somewhere where they can find an elaborate theme park, or somewhere where they can swim with dolphins or something like that. For some reason, I always thought I was missing out on some sort of fundamental human right when I saw the nonchalant nature with which my classmates treated traveling by plane to various locations south of my hometown in NH during Winter Break each year. I do realize that as you (whoever “you” is) read this, you are probably thinking about how incredibly spoiled I must have been because I felt deprived just because I never went to Disney World. As I have grown older and thought about this more and more, I realize that I did grow up spoiled. I grew up in a world where it was normal to leisurely fly somewhere for a week and make a vacation out of it, and where nearly anywhere you went there was some sort of hotel/restaurant/attraction built for and geared toward visitors. At this point in my life, I definitely know that I grew up privileged to even entertain the thought that I was missing out on traveling, which seemed to me like a fundamental human right.

It is clear that traveling is no longer simply for the rich elite, as it has become much more accessible over the years. After watching Gringo Trails, I was intrigued to see the changes made to rural communities once tourists finally discovered all they had to offer, something I never even considered when I was younger. It was almost as if as soon as someone discovered a beautiful, unique place and they let other tourists know, and the local peoples’ desire to make money coupled with the tourist’s desire to be surrounded by some comforts of home (nice restaurants and hotels) lead to the destruction of what was interesting about the place to begin with. It seems to me that development of tourist attractions plays on a desire for “comfortable authenticity,” which basically means experiences that are marketed as authentic, but are still geared toward groups of tourists who may not be ready to fully commit to the ideals of the place that they are visiting. In the article “Why We Travel” by Pico Iyer, Iyer argues that people travel in search of hardship that is not already present in their lives. He also argues there is a difference between people who are willing to leave their assumptions at home (travelers) and those who are not (tourists). It is trendy to be a “traveller” who seeks out authentic experiences, but this search for authenticity seems to only truly be fulfilled when you are one of the first to discover a place, since the more tourists visit a certain location, the more it evolves to fit a certain set of assumptions that are not necessarily authentic. With the development of “expected” tourist attractions at many popular travel destinations, the experience of travel is becoming much more homogenous than ever.

After reading Pico Iyer’s article and watching Gringo Trails, I have a lot more to say about tourism than simply saying its something that I missed out on because I’ve never been to Disney World. Should I be glad that I didn’t go to Disney World? Does a travel destination like Disney take away from the value of true tourism? Is Disney just a hyper-comfortable manifestation of home? There is a responsibility inherent in true tourists to not enter new places with assumptions from home. As tourists, we have the responsibility to seek out new experiences, but to respect the lands that we visit. We have no right to expect that there will be a new theme park or luxury hotel in every “exotic” location that we care to visit just so we can say we’ve been somewhere “off the beaten path.” It is incredibly easy to be attracted to the guaranteed good-time at a place like Disney World or to take advantage of opportunities provided by companies advertising “authentic” experiences, but we must be ready to ditch any assumptions or notions of home in every place that we visit, and to seek out truly authentic and sustainable activities when traveling in order to benefit ourselves and the local people most. Tourists must put their own interests aside, and be completely ready to live as if they were someone from the place they are visiting. Based on these criteria, I guess going to Disney World isn’t exactly the grand tourist experience that I had thought it was…I’m hopeful that our trip to Nicaragua will be more authentic, provided I can truly ditch my assumptions and embrace my discomfort in the new culture.

Watch the trailer for “Gringo Trails” here: