Saying Goodbye

Saying Goodbye

For our last couple of days in Sao Paulo, we decided to head to Iguacu (or Iguazu) which is one of the natural seven wonders located near the Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay border. It took 18 hours by bus to get there, but we roughed it out like we have grown to enjoy. The waterfalls, specifically Devil's Throat, which lines the border of Argentina and Brazil was stunning. This waterfall is twice the size of Niagara Falls. We viewed it from both the Argentinian side as well as the Brazilian side, and both were spectacular. While on the Argentina side, Christinia came up with this great idea to go on a boat tour down the Iguacu River. When we were walking up to the tour, all the people were wearing ponchos and heavy protective rain gear. Sophiana, Christinia, and I were just like "nah... it'll be ok. let's rough it out. if we get wet, we get wet". G, on the other hand, bought a poncho as she refused to get drenched *lame*. Ultimately, the water was FREEEZING, we got beyond soaked. I drank most of the river when I got blindsided by the biggest rapid wave imaginable. G, Christinia, and Sophiana still don't let me forget it. 

While we were in Iguacu, we also visited the Parque das Aves, which is a bird sanctuary located close to the waterfalls. It was very beautiful, and filled with numerous birds of every shape, size, and color. G tried to talk to of the birds, but it didn't work out very well. In addition, we met another MHIRT student from a Californian MHIRT program who was living in Buenos Aires for two months. It was really amazing to talk to him and see how his experience was going. After that we visited the Marco Das Tres Fronteiras, which is a gorgeous spot to view the Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay borders. It was crazy to think about how we've come so far in such a little span of time. 

The day after we got back from our second 18 hour bus ride from Iguacu to Sao Paulo, we had our 'last supper' with our mentors in the lab at the University of Sao Paulo. Almost all the lab was there, and we ate some fabulous foods. After that, we talked. A lot about our travels in Brazil, but also about our futures. To top it all off, we watched YouTube videos of some of the labs favorite artists. For Leo, this included a heavy metal rock band dressed in dinosaur costumes which primary audience was children. I don't know either, but this sums up Leo. 

Saying goodbye was the hardest. After we had built such great friendships after just two months, it was unfathomable to imagine we weren't gonna be there anymore. I would miss Andre's sarcasm and hugs, lunch dates with Maju and Ju, Luiz's incredible wardrobe of Marvel attire, Einat's scolding Leo for playing his music too loud, Diego's 'magic tricks', and Prof. Dora's loving remarks and stories. But, most of all, I would miss Leo. His 'cafe? cafe?' in the morning, his need to change the room's decor around three times, and his need to say 'You look pretty' everyday without fail. But, just like that, the next morning we awoke at 5AM to leave for our flights back to the United States..

In some weird way, I think the world wanted us to stay in Brazil and not go back to our old lives (knowing good and well Julia and Daryl would be beyond furious), because we all ended up missing our flights home due to 'bad weather'. I've never sprinted so fast through an airport so fast with two 50 lb bags. Sophiana, G, and I had to spend the night in Miami while Christinia had to spend the night in North Carolina.

Since our little time being back, we all noticed it was strange. It was weird to see everyone on both sides going up the escalator. The left side is clearly for people walking faster or you will get trampled. It was weird not throwing toilet paper into a bin in the bathroom. Never! throw toilet paper in the toilet or it might clog the entire system. The fork goes in the right hand, and you cut with the knife in the left hand. It is beyond inconvenient to just use the fork in one hand then have to pick up the knife when you can just use both hands. 

Nevertheless, I won't forget my time in Brazil, the memories that were made, or the friendships that have just begun. I am beyond thankful to the MHIRT program for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime.. and I am thankful to everyone who joined my journey along the way. 

What A Time...

As I approach my final week in Florianopolis, I am able to fully reflect on this experience and its overall impact. Before arriving here, my only knowledge of Brazil was its reputation for having the "largest Black population outside of Africa". My eyes were opened soonafter to the wealth of history, culture, and lessons that this country offers. Brazil is still a developing nation, and like any country, it has its own unique social and political problems. What I have found to be amazing is the level of positivity and determination among the people despite the adverse conditions. Here I am, an American student financially equipped to go out, place R$50 Uber Eats orders, and shop freely from being on the benefiting end of a 1:4 currency conversion ratio. Meanwhile, there are Ph.D students in my lab, working to achieve the highest, most respected level of education possible, who make R$700-R$1000 per month. Depending on the job market and city, many will not make significantly more after they graduate, as several recent pharmacology graduates have gone on to only work at drug stores. Nevertheless, they maintain positive attitudes/outlooks, work tirelessly, and passionately perform their jobs based mostly on pure, personal fulfillment of doing so - a refreshing contrast from the capitalistic, money-driven lifestyle we lead.

Day in and day out, we as Americans preach that education is the "way out”, never considering the fact that in many places people don't even have that promise to hold on to. We have done nothing to deserve the benefits we have. Something as seemingly arbitrary as one’s place of birth can subject them to an entirely different reality from what we have come to know. Realizations like these are the reason I travel. A single interaction with an individual with different experiences or perceptions can completely alter your person’s point of view. Brazil has done, and continues to do, that for me with each passing day.

Learning from Capoeira Masters at the market on our trip to Salvador

 Celebration Dinner with my lab group (neuropsychopharmacology)

Floripa Skyline from my room

Last moment together as a group 

CBPR from Managua to Memphis

Over my internship, I learned a lot about the Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) model that AMOS uses to work “with” the community instead of “for” the community, something I had never heard of before. Many organizations go into a project with the idea that they will help or fix a problem that they see is important for the community. With the CBPR model, AMOS meets with the community for community members to discuss what is important to them in the community and what they value most and would like to see change. Then, according to the results from the community meetings, AMOS prioritizes projects according to the community’s values.

I really enjoyed seeing how the projects are truly community centered as the consejeras and other community members are so involved in each part of the programs and research. At the end of research projects, data is presented back to the community so that the community can learn and grow from the results. I also really enjoyed learning about how to many data appropriate for community presentation. I think I am so used to how college research is presented to professors and peers that if was hard for me to understand how to make the data friendly to all people instead of just people educated in statistics. I really enjoyed the community presentations and how they incorporated activities for hands-on learning.

Seeing the community so involved and having fun made me excited to bring what I bring back to Memphis. As a personal trainer, I usually work one on one with my clients, but I look forward to getting involved with bigger projects and initiatives to reach the greater Memphis community. While Memphis does not have the same problems as the communities of Nejapa or San Onofre, I think it is mind-blowing that many families in Memphis are dealing with the same issues: inadequate nutrition, anxiety, depression, etc. I am excited to see what opportunities I can get involved in to help work with the Memphis community to develop better eating and lifestyle practices to see a healthier tomorrow, using the CBPR models and lessons as a guidance for my mentality on this lifelong effort.

A Slice of Heaven

The serene views are endless. In Atlanta I struggle to find connectivity with the land and nature, but here, it is inevitable. 

Even the combination of man and God creates something so intentional. While the sky meets the mountains, it is introduced to the tops of buildings scraping the clouds as their bottoms greet the bluest of views. But there is nothing sad about it. 

Fine time to work on my LinkedIn pose. Lol. I’m usually reserved, but I’m going to enjoy posting this picture on social media and captioning it “No, it’s not Miami #Blessed”.

To commence this 10 week journey, my mentor and his students, who have become A1 friends for me, celebrate with a home-made drink.

As my time in Florianopolis winds down, it is the peaceful serenity of nature I will miss. I hope to carry the warmth of this Brazilian sunrise with me back to the states.

Estoy Agradecida por AMOS

After 8 weeks, we are back home from Nicaragua! What an amazing experience at AMOS and Nejapa. I am so thankful for everything that I have learned from AMOS staff and from the community. Here are some pictures from the last week!

Every week, the AMOS staff does a devotional to get everyone together at the end of the week before we all eat lunch together! Since it was our last week, we led devotional and talked about gratitude.

 All ten of the interns wrote notes to the AMOS staff about something important that we learned from them. I wrote about how I have learned the power and importance of community and how the community at AMOS is one of the most supportive I have ever been in.

The MHIRT Nicaragua team on our last evening at AMOS! 

The Youth Empowerment Research team presenting what they found to the staff and other interns! 

The interns and our project leaders! Some of the most amazing people I got the chance to meet at AMOS.

SALVADOR!!!

SALVADOR!!!

Last week, all of our mentors were out of town so they permitted all of us living in Floripa to take a trip up to Salvador, Bahia. We stayed for 4.5 days and had a great time!! Here are some of my favorite photos:

Enjoy!

This is one of my housemates, Norman! We had just arrived in Salvador the day before and were exploring the historic district of Pelourinho. The weather was perfect for wandering down the streets and experiencing all the authentic Afro-Brazilian culture Pelourinho has to offer.

I took this photo inside the Mercy Museum. This was once a mansion/hospital built by enslaved Africans and commissioned by rich men who wanted to gain mercy from Jesus. They thought that helping poor and sick people would excuse any sinful behavior and send them to heaven. This intricate design was apart of the mini-chapel built next to the hospital. Very beautiful!

Luckily I was able to link with my capoeira mestre while he was home in north Salvador. I met him 2 years ago when he came to Nashville for my first induction ceremony into the capoeira school he founded. This was a full circle moment for me because meeting Mestre Valu in 2017 is what sparked my interest in Portuguese and Afro-Brazilian culture. Truly life-changing!

Pictured: me, my 3 housemates, and some other exchange students from New York. On our last night in Salvador, we visited the “hipster” neighborhood of Rio Vermelho. We stumbled upon this group of young English speakers and made friends! A great way to end a great weekend excursion. Axé!

Food and Views

In my last week at the hospital, my mentor, Dr. Kallene, took me out for a wonderful lunch/dinner at Casa de Porco. All the dishes were absolutely amazing and contained pork of some kind.

Dessert included varying takes on traditional corn recipes. To the right is goat ice cream on top of a bread crumb mixture. 

Pictured above is a view of the city of São Paulo from Edifício Itália. All in all, this night was delicious and memorable. Thank you so much Dr. Kallenne! 

Hasta Pronto

Buenas Noches Amigas y Amigos!!

In our last few days at AMOS, I feel an immense amount of gratitude and inspiration by the stories and passion of the people here. Everyone, all the AMOS staff members, consejeras, health workers, children from San Onofre, mothers and youth of Nejapa truly embody the meaning of “esperanza” as a means of driving social change. The hope you see in others and the constant drive to improve the lives of others.

I cannot believe our flight leaving Nicaragua is tomorrow morning. After presenting the culmination of our sweat and tears from our research this summer, I felt incredibly fortunate to be able to be a small part in such a bigger purpose. Whether it was dying in the heat to gather free-listing interviews about sexual health or tearing up at the profound stories of youth during Photovoice or playing intense games of “Piedra, Papel, Tijeras” (rock, paper, scissors) with our consejeras and youth leaders in the car, all of our experiences in Nicaragua have been absolutely surreal.

Today, we had to say goodbye to all of our consejeras, supporters and AMOS staff members which was bittersweet. This past week has reaffirmed my strong desires to pursue public health and assess structural disparities to health. I cannot wait to run back home and tell all the aspiring pre-med and public health students about how your dreams can be a reality. Don't get caught up in the day to day struggles of life and forget why you're here in the first place. 

Until next time, friends :)

Last Day at AMOS. We thought the hill behind us was a volcano, but turns out its just a pile of dirt. Took us 8 weeks.

Adios y Gracias por Todo

It’s our last week in Nicaragua and we are all so sad to leave.

We have become so invested in our projects over the past five weeks.

My project Crianza con Amor, is focused on parenting and childhood development.

The data that we collected will be used to create the baseline for this study on

childhood development in Nejapa. It will also be used to help create the

intervention, educational material for volunteer mothers. We work with

community members to collect data and create the materials so that it will

be specific and effective for this community. I’m happy that the framework

that AMOS uses, CBPR, allows interventions to be multifaceted and

continuous. 

We have learned and grown so much here, it’s hard to know how to say goodbye.

But we lead our weekly devotion this week and our theme was gratitude.

This theme was important to use because we told the staff thank you for our

time here. Our activity was to write a thank you card to someone in your life.

At the end, we all presented our thank you cards to the staff to express our

gratitude.  AMOS’s work reaches so far in communities, we were glad to

be apart of that for two months. But we know that the real impact comes

from communities that are empowered to change their own health.

Our Little Getaway in Salvador

My time with MHIRT has been phenomenal and I do not think I could have asked for anymore. From Morenike’s expertise on Portuguese and anything Brazilian to Donovan’s willingness to help everyone and to Norman’s very contagious energy and smile, I do not think I would get this attached to this experience and my roommates. We plan on making this last week and a half the best it can be, as we all wrap up our research. Personally, my research is nearing its final stage, and I think I have gained plenty by familiarizing myself with the entire process. My greatest joy has been getting close with the rest of the people in my lab. I have watched two of them defend their theses to get their masters’ degrees, and the joy was palpable. These are the memories that will last. This also stems from slowly growing accustomed to Portuguese.

This week, we got to experience a whole different side of Brazil. We have spent the 7 weeks before this in Florianopolis and we have loved all of our time there. Yet, we knew we wanted to experience another historical and culturally significant city before we leave, which turned out to be Salvador. We have explored so many parts of this wonderful city. We walked around the famous Pelearinho neighborhood. My favorite part of this little getaway was the time we spent in a market on Saturday. I bought a couple jerseys and souvenirs, and I just enjoyed seeing all of the handcrafted goods present. This was an amazing time spent in Salvador.

Cooking the PCR

Cooking the PCR

Welp. We are running out of time. It seems the weeks keep going by faster and faster with each day, and, yet, there is still so much to do, to learn, to experience. I am just now realizing in a few weeks we will be home, and that makes me want to spend more days playing soccer with Leo and Diego (our mentors), more days finding new cappuccino stores on the USP campus, and more days at Caju Verde, our weekly restaurant after lab. I know I'm going to miss every second, but I am going to miss the people the most. 

Yet, the memories we have made so far don't disappoint. Starting with this beautiful view we had at Pão de Acúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) on our escape to Rio de Janeiro. 

Fun fact: the wonderful woman who took this picture for us below was literally lying on the ground to take this photo. If you ever go,

Our AMAZING mentors invited us out to a "bonfire" one night at one of their friends' houses who used to work at the university. We spent the night eating and drinking amazing Brazilian food and drinks as well as meeting lovely new people who were beyond gracious enough to have us in their home.

To cap it all off, yesterday, we had to present the research we have done so far to our entire lab.. While it wasn't supposed to be stressful, I think we all were on edge. At first I was very nervous, like I am to get during normal classroom presentations; however, after I started speaking, I quickly realized I was surrounded by my newly found family (and they are all located below). Whether we are "cooking the PCR", schooling them in soccer (yes Sophiana, G, and I won 4-3 against our Leo, Diego, and Christina), or telling them our crazy adventure stories, I think they are going to miss us too. 

 Furthermore, shoutout to Dr. Diego Decleva for earning his doctorate in Neuroscience! 

Also, let it be known that they invited us back to Sao Paulo despite how crazy we are! No matter what, the story continues..

Obrigada, Sao Paulo!

Here’s a little life update:

We have wrapped up most of our lab work and spent the last week preparing for our presentations to our lab members. It was very nerve-wracking getting everything together, but everyone did a great job! Dr. Dora and all of our mentors were proud of our work, and it is amazing to think back to how far we have come. 

Attached is a photo of me before my presentation. I talked about how the distribution and density of cells in snakes’ retinas have changed over time based on their unique environments. 

We now have less than 2 weeks left in Sao Paulo, and I have so much I’m going to miss. I will miss my daily cappuccinos from the sweet lady outside the lab. I will miss working with Ju and our lunch breaks to USP’s cafeteria. I will miss my and G’s coffee breaks to the candy truck. I will miss our weekend adventures with a never ending list of things to explore. I will miss this childlike curiosity for everything I see and do while here in Brazil.

However, while I have so much that I am going to miss; these are all memories that I have so much to be thankful for. Thank you, MHIRT, for this once in a lifetime opportunity, and thank you to all my amazing lab members for welcoming us into your country! I have learned so much in lab, but- even more importantly- I have learned so much about a new culture of people. Obrigada, Sao Paulo!

Empoderamiento de los Jóvenes

I can’t believe we only have a week left and my time at AMOS is coming to an end. This past week we had our youth group meet along with some new faces that came for a 4-day gender equity training. During the training we defined gender and discussed our perceptions of gender and how structures are set up to keep things “in order” I learned so much from the training every single day and I’m so glad I could be a part of a place where so many youths felt safe to express themselves and share their ideas and experiences.

By the end of the training, we all reflected on our experiences with our parents. When everyone shared there was a common theme that emerged. Many of the traits they liked about their relationship with their parents they also wanted to change. They split into groups and made an action plan on how they could change their relationship with their parents from education programs to something as simple as talking without technology present. Each day we learned something new. Each day we broke down barriers. The final activity we made a promise to ourselves. The promise I made to myself was to work on being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Before coming here, I knew nothing about Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). Now I’m leaving with so much experience on how to use CBPR and why it’s so important to work “with” the community and not “for” the community. There are some many details we don’t think about when we don’t involve the community and I’ve got to see first hand the difference. My time may be ending here for the summer, but it doesn’t stop here. I can’t wait to bring CBPR back and use it in the future.