Querido Mundo,
I am writing this blog from Clinica Almas in Alamos. I cannot believe how fast this internship has passed by. It still feels like just yesterday I arrived and met my crazy mentor Elizabeth. But at the same time, I can definitely feel a state of complete home and family here in Alamos and I know it will be difficult to leave. I have built up relationships not only with the doctor, and all of the staff here at the clinic., but also with Berta and her beautiful family. For my project, I have completed a packet of research for the Indigenous Music Workshop that they are going to be creating later on this year. I am bringing three violins down to Alamos to donate and found a harp that a lady donated to us. Overall, I couldn't have found a better internship.. This kind of work was exactly what I was looking for, the energy and the people fit completely with my personality, and I have learned so much about myself and what I will strive doing. Being exposed to a completely different lifestyle, like the one of the Guarijios, reminds one of the values that can be had. These people truly taught me so many different things, from their beautiful outlook on the life that they live, to their dance, I am so grateful to be able to interact with such beautiful souls. Almost every day I rode up with Elizabeth and whoever else was coming, to the mountains outside of Alamos. This journey took about 2 hours there and back, sometimes crossing a river. The other journey we took was first driving the 1 hour and 30 minutes up to a small village, getting on some mules, and riding 2 hours in and 2 hours out of the village of Todos Santos. This was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. As I mentioned in previous blog posts, we went to talk with the girl "Maria Irma" about her cleft palet and the surgery that was coming up. She is completely indigenous, blind to the outside world, meaning that she has almost no exposure to anything outside of her village, and speaks Guarijio. It was amazing to meet these people because they have truth in their hearts. I feel like in the outside "modern" world, one can tend to have ulterior motives. These people are so genuine with true intentions.
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Hola mundo,
I am writing this blog post for my LINK Internship at the end of my second week here in Alamos, Mexico. This week has truly been one of the most amazing of my entire life. This past Sunday, I rode two hours in and two hours back to a small village called Todos Santos (All Saints). We took the journey with my Mentor (Elizabeth), my new found friend (Fiona), Berta (an indigenous woman who is also the healthcare promoter for her village), and Coyo (Berta's daughter). We went up to Todos Santos because there is an indigenous girl Maria Irma, who lives there. She is Guarijia and has a cleft palet. In a couple of weeks, my mentor will be taking her and her mother to Los Angeles to have the surgery and have it removed. We traveled to her because my mentor needed to talk details with her and her Mother. Berta came with us because Maria and her family don't speak Spanish, but only the Indigenous language of Guarijio. This experience of going to the United States, and to a place like Los Angeles, will be a very big deal to these people. They have never been outside of their village, never seen running water, let alone a vehicle. Living in such a big place, with so many people, having to use a toilette and not a whole in the ground, will be a very big change, and an experience that is going to affect their lives and the way they live them so much. As I sat on the dirt floor of the stick house high up in these mountains, I realized that my Internship was definitely about more than just be completing a task that would allow me to graduate. We were giving opportunities to people that had no hope. It gives me such faith in the world to know that there are people like Elizabeth Pettit, my Mentor, who live simply to help others. They live only to do what is right and what is needed in the world. That is what I want to do with my life. Hello world,
Dana here. I'm writing to you from Alamos, Mexico! I have been down here for the last 5 days and let me just say, this place is called "pueblo mágico" for a reason. I wake up every morning to walk through the cobblestone streets to wherever i'm going. I am staying with my mentor, Dr. Elizabeth Pettit, She is an amazing woman who has started a medical clinic down here and works with surrounding indigenous tribes. Today I was able to accompany her to the village of San Bernardo, where we had a meeting to talk to the village with an organization called "Christensen". The organization is working with the village to try to find a place for them when their valley is flooded by a lake that is being put in. The problem right now is that these people's identity will be lost, as well as their homes and cultures. So we are working with the organization to try to help them maintain their identity. On Sunday I will accompany her as well to go up into the mountain villages to do some work for my Internship project. My project will be a musical instrument workshop. My mentor Elizabeth is hoping to construct a workshop in a village where the people will have the materials to build violins and harps. I will begin my first designing the structure of the workshop, and then going from there. I cannot wait to start! Here are some photos of my experience so far. As I get ready to head out on this big adventure in less than 24 days, I couldn't be more excited. Having such an amazing opportunity like this one makes me really see how lucky I am. I will be working in a medical clinic and in villages surrounding the beautiful, architectually pleasing pueblo, of Alamos, MExico.
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Dana StahlI am a 17 year old junior at Animas High School ArchivesCategories |