I come from a humble background, born and raised in an urban area of Michoacán, Mexico where tourism and economic activity eclipsed my experienced poverty and lack of access to affordable and quality health ca re. As a product of the environment I grew up in, I have the responsibility to contribute to efforts in uplifting my community and peoples from conditions that conditions that continue to affect the. This program provided me with the opportunity to return to Latin America and see first-hand how social determinants of health and larger structural barriers continue to the shape the different standards of living for diverse groups in diverse geographic locations. This transcended the idea of immersing myself in an educational experience abroad, it was much personal to my own background. I view ed the program from a social activist perspective so I could capture the multifaceted structural issues that shaped the lives of individuals living in Peru.
As an academic, activist, and individual, I made it my goal to connect at a personal level with people I encountered in Peru. Because I was bilingual, I was able to speak with people in Spanish with the intention to learn about their experience, their world views, and explore the issues they thought to be most important. I kept in mind the issues I learned in my classrooms at UCLA: the exploitation and discrimination committed against indigenous groups, the spread of capitalism and implementation of neoliberal practices, the forms of resistance and activism led by women — my knowledge in all these issues influenced me to remain critical of the information delivered, the conditions in which people lived, and the way in which I integrated myself in various situations. Ultimately, my hope was to document my experience with pictures and videos so I can then share what I learned with future students who are interested in this same program because of similar reasons. I was confident the Global Health program was going to serve as the platform to reach my academic and career goals. As a Global Health minor, not only was I taking courses during this program that counted towards my upper division coursework, but I was also provided with first-hand experience through various visits to local hospitals, health NGO's, and trips outside of Lima to Iquitos. I learned how local health posts, clinics, and regional hospitals play a critical role in implementing quality and affordable interventions to meet the health need, and collaborate (or not) with the Ministry of Health to collect data and establish health and risk priorities. As a result, this program challenged me to tap into my academic and experiential knowledge to further expand my insight and ask more complex questions to my professors and different professionals we met. Truly, this program exceed my academic expectations and became a transformative learning experience as a future scholar. Particularly, I was deeply interested in working with and learning from the faculty that led the program since their research highly resonates with my interests. I was thrilled to work one-on-one with Dr. Konda to explore how alcohol use consumption and risky sexual behavior among men who have sex with men increased the risk of HIV transmission in the United Stated and Perú. I was intrigued by how evidence-based research informed innovative, culturally-relevant strategies to prevent HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) within local, social and epidemiological contexts. This rewarding experience inspired me to explore similar academic interests and conceptualize questions of inquiry that I hope to answer in a graduate program in the future.
0 Comments
The streets of Cusco, PeruWe landed in Cusco's airport at around 8:00am. We were in a major rush because from Cusco, we needed to drive to Ollantaytambo to catch our train at 12:30pm. That train would then take us to the bottom of Machu Picchu. Imagine traveling to a country where your travel study program provides you with the opportunity to visit one the seven new world wonders. A view of Machu PicchuA mural I came across while walking around the market of Belén.About Belén, Iquitos, Perú. El barrio is a touristic destination with tremendous commercial force in Iquitos and is divided into Alto Belén (High) y Belén Bajo (Low). The suburban life changes seasonally with the rising and lowering of the Itaya river which floods Belén Bajo for half of the year. El Mercado de Belén (Market of Belén) is a very important place in Iquitos with vivid movement due to the rapid exchange of goods from the same region. Our tour guide mentioned that merchants start at 4am and finish at 6pm everyday. Now that's what you call hustle.
|