Why Nicaragua CCESP and LACS 20?
the first course I will take that focuses on the political history of a country in Latin America, and I’m very eager to learn more about the country I will be serving in the winter. I hope that through this course, I am able to contextualize my experience in Nicaragua and understand how the local people may receive my presence in the country. I’m also looking forward to learning more about the cultural and colonial history that takes place in Nicaragua. At Dartmouth, I’m double majoring in Biology and African and African American Studies, with hopes of applying for the Global Health Certificate. I hope to work in healthcare policy, or foreign aid policy and administration. This field of work requires an understanding of other cultures worldwide in order to create effective policies that will help improve healthcare globally.
I wanted to participate in the CCESP program because it offered an opportunity to serve communities in Nicaragua sustainably and purposefully. My prior experience as a medical translator in El Rosario, Honduras changed my views about service trips abroad. I was overjoyed that members of the community were given exceptional care and education year after year, and that Hondurans were trained as pharmacists and community organizers in order to maintain a clinic in El Rosario, where the nearest hospital was an hour away. Though my time there was not substantial, translating for the doctors was incredibly important and I was happy to help people receive the care they needed. When I looked into CCESP, I realized that the process of development and the partnership with Bridges to Community gave exceptional and continuing support to the communities they served, which is one of the main reasons I decided to apply. I hope that during this trip I’m able to connect with local people of Siuna and help improve the quality of life for the people in the community.