FOUR DAYS

FOUR DAYS

FOUR DAYS

Pre-Trip Self-Reflection

Last March, I was sitting in the lecture hall, getting ready to listen to another lecture on one of my most favorite topics -- infectious disease -- when two students walked in and gave us a mini-presentation about their trip to Belize the previous January. These students told us what the trip entailed and that because the trip was a huge success, another was being planned for the following January, with an elective being offered to prepare students for their 'adventure' in Belize. Right then and there, I knew that I wanted to do it. I knew that it would be an experience that would help me grow as a person, increase my confidence in my skills that I have tried hard to hone over the past five years, and be able to help people in need, which is what I strive to do most in my life.

Prior to hearing about the course and the mission trip, I am ashamed to admit that I had little-to-no information about the country; I only knew that it was a country because I remember seeing them at the previous Summer Olympic Games. As we started learning more about the history and culture of the country I felt myself becoming more interested and amazed at the pride that Belizeans had; I was especially amazed at their desire to maintain a national identity, while keeping with and celebrating the traditions of their ancestors. This really captivated me, because it reminded me of Native Americans in the United States, and the barriers that they have to overcome in order to maintain their identity.

Throughout the class, we had several student-led discussions/presentations on various topics, and one of these topics included comparing the health systems of Guatemala, Belize, and the United States.  If a Belizean has a medical problem, they are more likely to go to a Traditional Medicine Healer than to a Hospital or Health center; this could be due to the impaired availability of Western Medical clinics or simply to the cost of Western Medical Treatments.

This is drastically different from the way in which the majority of Americans act; of course, some will prefer to self-medicate with herbal medications prior to seeking treatment, however when looked as a whole, the majority of Americans will prefer to take a synthetic medication rather than an herbal product. When in Belize, I hope to take advantage of this situation in terms of being able to experience first-hand the types of herbal and natural medications which both my host family and others utilize for their most common ailments, as I am extremely interested in herbal medications and ethnobotany.

During the time when we were introduced to the entire pharmacy practice faculty in our third year, we were given the generic talk about "not learning simply for grades, but learning for your future patients." Even now, I sometimes find myself having a hard time remembering the future patients I will be treating when exams loom above my head.  However, this course has forever turned on a primordial switch, which has given me the ability to look at my schooling from a different perspective; its allowed me to truly appreciate the impact that I will be having on my future patients. I look forward to going to the wonderful country of Belize to not only experience its beauty first-hand, but to impact the lives of Belizeans.

Not Exactly Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Whether it’s Avatar, Pocahontas, or The Lion King, we are all aware of the notion that we, as people -- as a planet-- are connected to one another. Be it the simple fact that we are human beings or something more complicated, the idea still remains. Try as we might, we all have similar personality traits/habits that we would never imagine anyone else having, for example, everyone has experienced a moment right after finishing an amazing book and not knowing how to proceed with your life, knowing full well what you have just experienced or something more simple like writing novels in our heads because we are battling with insomnia. It has nothing to do with culture – these things are just universal and I wholeheartedly believe that it is because we are all humans and are interconnected. One of the most interconnecting things that we as humans have is music. 

After reading that you might be thinking one of several things; first – wow I didn’t know she could be so creative, two – wow I never thought of things that way, or three – what does this have to do with Belize?

And seeing as I'm not psychic, I can only answer the third. 

In our class last week, we watched a documentary about the Garifuna people of Belize; they are the descendants of Carib, Arawak, and West African People.  The documentary gave the basic details about their culture, heritage, and a traditional ceremony known as Dugu that brings the community together in honoring the ancestors. I was very amazed and quite impressed that the Garifuna people strive so hard to preserve their ancient ways and seek to not only educate but also impact the importance of their culture on their children. 

Throughout the video, there was examples of Garifuna drumming. Here's a sample video 

For me, there is something very raw and...natural for lack of a better word about drumming. It seems to elicit a kind of response in me that no other music type can bring to life. I can get on a whole rant on how amazing music is and its invention but I won't bore you with that...for now. 

Recently, I've started watching a TV mini-series called Into The West. The mini-series takes place in the 1860s and tells the story of the Lakota and several frontier men.  

So, whilst watching the video in class, Native American music and language was stuck in my head, and I realized just how similar Garifuna and Native American drumming is. (I'm more then sure that there are a lot of drumming types which are similar as well, but these two are the ones that I thought of that connected). 

I've tried to figure out how two cultures which potentially never got a chance to interact have very similar musical styles, and for that matter spiritualistic values. I've had a few thoughts but none seemed full enough. 

My first thought that I've stuck with was that because these practices originated in a time when people were very in tuned with nature and their surroundings and not so much concerned about the latest pop gossip (hmm that makes me wonder if there was any pop gossip in those days). 

The fact that drumming is seen in many ancient cultures is most likely due to the fact that it is extremely similar to the beating of a heart, which, in essence, is the source of life. Well, depending on which therapeutics professor you talk to. 

I won't dwell too much on the subject because then this blog would turn into something else, so for sake of time and subject I'll say this:

It really boggles my mind to think that, several hundreds of years ago, cultures were alive which got the basics of human nature to such a "T" that they were able to simply 'bang' on an object and not only have people react to it, but become so entranced by it that it became their culture and way of life. 

[Some creative first title here]

Last March, I was sitting in the lecture hall, getting ready to listen to another lecture on one of my most favorite topics -- infectious disease -- when two students walked in and gave us a mini-presentation about their trip to Belize the previous January.

I had heard that students were going to Belize on a medical mission, but that was all I had heard. These students told us in more detail what the trip entailed and that because the trip was a huge success, another was being planned for the following January, with an elective being offered to prepare students for their 'adventure' in Belize.

Right then and there, I knew that I wanted to do it. I knew that it would be an experience that would help me grow as a person, increase my confidence in my medical abilities, and be able to help people in need, which is what I strive to do most in my life.

Yesterday was the first day of my Customs, Culture, and Health Care of Belize class. One of the things that interests me was that every week, we are supposed to read Belize newspaper articles to get "more accustomed to the culture and what is going on in the country." I really like this idea and I am already looking for articles to read for the upcoming class.

So what exactly are we going to be doing in Belize you may be wondering. Well, we are going to help do health checks (very simple ones) to members of different communities; we will be checking blood pressure, blood glucose, diet, etc. We will also be visiting schools and teaching students about the importance of hygiene and addressing other health care concerns.

In terms of what I expect out of the course and the trip, well I would say a few things. First, I hope that I could help a few people out and see their smiling faces after I explain to them that they are alright or, even if they are not alright, that there is something that can be done to help them. I also hope that I can learn another culture and see how people view medicine and health care providers in another country. Other than that I just expect to have an amazing time at an amazing place.

That is about it for this blog post; I won't have a schedule on which I post, it'll be random and when something happens. So for now, I say adieu.