Kavya Antony (Community Section 1)
Community Case: Global Health
Case Part 1
In 3 months, a group of nursing students and faculty are scheduled for an international health
promotion experience in Ecuador, South America. As part of their preparation, the faculty and
students meet regularly to start becoming familiar with the community they will be visiting and
their role as international volunteers as well as to prepare for the work they will be doing. The
university sends a group of students to this community twice a year; however, there are many
other “medical missions” that also serve this community.
Questions for students:
1.
What should the students know about the community before they go?
Before going to Ecuador the students should learn about the population such as the
culture, common diet, politics, history and social issues. Additionally students should
identify the most prevalent health issues and identify the community’s access to
healthcare, food, shelter, and other necessities. Students should also be aware of travel
warnings regarding disease or outbreaks.
2.
How will the students find out about the community?
Students can find out about the community by utilizing online resources, asking peers
that have ancestry from the community about the culture, or asking students that went to
the community prior how their experience was.
3.
What sort of burden do short-term mission trips place on communities in
developing countries?
Because short term missions mean that the interventions of the students are temporary the
burden is that the community would have difficulty maintaining the short term
implementations by the students once they are gone. Short term mission trips can be
challenging to the community if the students are not culturally aware or fail to meet
cultural expectations.
