I returned from Ecuador un poco
differente than when I left Norfolk. La Iglesia de la Comañìa de Jesùs,
made of gold, was a divine place where we weren’t allowed to take photos
because on the alter rests the bones of the Holy Queen and Virgin Mary; but of course,
I snuck a few images. I lit candles in La Basìlica del Voto nacional, which was
built by the Spanish to content with the grandeur of Notre Dame. 10,598 steps
later, I arrived atop Cotopaxi, the highest volcano in the world. Here at
16,000 feet, I stood at the closet point to our Sun on Earth.
I am honored to have worked with the Quechua communities of Ecuador’s
Andean rurality, who welcomed this pale faced memory of colonialism into their
village and home. My experience with this ancient complex culture system has
changed me, and shaped my understanding of health and well-being; and I am
humbled by this new cosmovision. A piece of my heart now lives in the city of
Quito, in the cloud forest of Mendu, on the mountains and volleys of Volcano
alley, and in the homes of the indigenous peoples of the beautiful county of
Ecuador.
This essay describes my medical anthropological and
epidemiological research and fieldwork experience in Ecuador, and surmises the
role of global health practice in urban and rural contexts.
Ecuador, like most countries is
defined by its name. Ecuador is the term used to describe the geopolitical
communities of the equator. Home to the native peoples of the Quechua language
and culture system, this community represents the largest minority in the
region. It was conquered by the Inca, whose leaders died of smallpox after
diplomatic exchange with European & Native American leadership- who had
contact with Europeans in the 1500s. In this vulnerable moment, the Spanish
arrived, taking advantage of the vacuum caused by the death and despair in the
context of an empire collapsing. They brought with them terror, Catholicism, and
a cultural inquisition that transformed the social economic and medical structures
for the region.
El Fundacion Campamento Cristiano
Esperanza
Working with Camp Hope was not the
first time I’ve had to dig for data to report on the health status of
communities under the auspices of a particular organization or funding source.
Reviewing medical charts is part of the reporting process, be it for grant
writing or municipal fund renewal; the work done at Camp Hope was a glimpse
into the resource bereavement associated with global non-profit, non-governmental
organizations, and served as a snapshot into what it takes to sustain public
health projects and program development.
Our work with Camp Hope strengthened
the global health system by collaborating to build organizational capacity,
efficiency, and evidence-informed equity, which is the result of our research
and analysis. It was an incredible experience that afforded me the opportunity
to see the many hats the NGO leadership wear and the myriad of ways in which
they use outside resources to achieve their mission. I am glad that I was able
to lessen the burden of proof in helping this organization with its data
management, and I hope our work serves their interest in securing additional
funding for the community they serve.
Health and Wellness in
Oltavalo’s Indigenous Communities
Critical
medical anthropology is a field that examines that examines the intersections
of medicine and social theory, as well as the ethnographic and epidemiologic
scholarship that comprises its topicality.
In the Andean
mountains of Ecuador, I found our focus groups with the indigenous Kechwa
communities to be transformative. For many it was upsetting to hear about their
lives, the conditions of their everyday, and their common perceptions of
health- which we inquired about on a scale that measured from 1-5. To me, I was
fascinated with how this community was making life beautiful DESPITE the gross
inequalities and lack of resources that circumscribed their experiences. Our
specific insight into their Cosmovision, and the ethnomedicine they used to
treat illness and wellness, was paramount to our fieldwork. I was grateful to
be able to have the director of the local traditional medical organization
provide us with an insider’s perspective. In the field, questions about
development, the role of capitalism and the global health system, psychiatric
anthropology, gender theory, disability studies, citizen, immigration, violence
in wartime and peacetime as a medical topic, technology and modernity, and the
political and economic imperatives of biomedicines coalesced around my first
attempt of epidemiological fieldwork. The most important thing I’ve learned
from this trip was to refuse the theory/ applied divide that charactizes so
many departments and programs, and argue the impossibility of separating
"theoretical" debate in social science and the human sciences on the
one hand and more engaged commitment to the health and
survival of communities and groups, on the other.
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