San Miguel de Allende, and initial impressions (Week One)

Well, it look’s like I’ve begun a BLOG. I’ve been trying to hold off, but, it just may be a decent way to share my summer experience.

Before I get into my first week’s activities let me give a little background to explain how I got here. The summer internship is a requirement for the two-year MPH program at the school of public health at Berkeley. The requirements of the internship are broad in order to give students a chance to pursue a topic or issue that they are interested in. Through María Hernandez of the Center for Public Health Practice, I was connected with María Aguilar and Juan Camacho. These two are former public health professionals living in San Miguel de Allende working on projects in the local community and in the state.

Talking with Juan and María, the three of us were able to identify a project that could be the focus my summer internship. Like the rest of the world, HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination is a serious issue, and can prevent people from receiving medical services they need. The project would be to conduct a workshop to sensitize health care workers to the issue, and my role would be to evaluate the workshop, to determine if it’s an effective intervention. Over the spring 2009 semester, María, Juan, a few others from Guanajuato, and I have been preparing for the summer by creating the evaluation tool, developing the workshop, and figuring out the other logistics.

I arrived to the state Tuesday, June 2, and have been slowly acclimating to the weather and getting familiar with the area. María, Juan and I are waiting for movement from state health folks to officially sanction the project. In the meantime, I have been acquainting myself with the town of SMA and accompanying M&J to a local non-profit called CASA (Centro de Adolescentes de San Miguel de Allende).

La Parroquía, an familiar icon of SMA

SMA is a colonial town, one of those UNESCO world heritage sites I am told. A beautiful old town with colonial features similar to every other Latin American town that has a history of European occupation. The town has an unusually large population of ex-patriate United Statsians, Canadians, and Europeans. Sometimes walking around the central square (el jardin), it feels as if it were a southern extension of a Florida retirement community. Wikipedia tells me that the influx of my fair skinned compatriots begun with soldiers from WWII who would use their GI Bill monies at the art school that the town housed, Instituto de Bellas Artes. Along with assisting a substantial tourist economy, the population of foreigners created wealth of money for the area and local non-profits. J&M tell me that the area has the highest amount of non-profits per capita in México.

CASA, one of those non-profits has done some impressive work, and it reminds of Tenderloin Health, an agency I used to work for before starting the school of public health. CASA is ambitious, has a variety of health and social programs based in the community, and represents a progressive method of promoting health. CASA's main programs are health education (using peer educators from communities), a weekly radionovela (soap opera), a theatre group that incorporate "healthy living"messages into the running story, a well run child care for low-income children, a hospital, and most famously, the only accredited mid-wifery school in Mexico.

At CASA I have offered my experience and education, and have already been taken up on the offer. I have revised and helped edit an evaluation for a program that uses the radionovela and theater to promote nutrition. Also, it looks as if I will be helping the development director with fundraisers for CASA, possibly using my English prowess to loosen purse-strings.

A side from the internship work I have gotten familiar with SMA, walking all over the complex but small "downtown area." I have also had, displeasure of witnessing a bullfight on Saturday. The crowd and the atmosphere was a lot of fun, kinda like the bleachers stand of a baseball game. People getting rowdy, drinking, heckling, then, as the "bullfight," went on, I realized that it wasn't much of a fight at all. I found myself rooting for the bull, but to no avail. The matadors basically tease, poke, and stab the bull until its really pissed off, then the veteran matador stabs it with a sword through its heart. The bull staggers and falls within ten seconds, and another matador comes with a small knife and severs the the bulls spinal cord. Afterward, a chain is wrapped around the bulls horns and a big strong horse drags off the dead beast. After seeing two bulls processed in this manner, I felt like had the general idea.

Score one for the bull!

Olé.

End of the road

Death row

Next week, I will be starting to meet with state health officials along with M&J, to begin the the planning of the logistics of the project. Also, I suppose that I will continue to assist CASA as time allows. The area is crazy relaxing, but I am anxious to get moving on the work that I am here to do.

ok, hasta la próxima.