Amazonian Indigenous Plant Medicine & Herbalism

I interned with Amazon Learning from May to July 2018. Over the course of 6 weeks, I participated in their Public Health and Traditional Medicine internship in completion of my MPH program’s curriculum. Given my concentration in global health and strong interest in investigating the intersection between Western and traditional health care practices/systems, this direction seemed suitable because it would allow me to engage in an under-researched topic within a global setting. During my interview process, my interviewer was attentive to my interests and expressed flexibility in allowing me to combine aspects of different internships to meet my learning objectives. As part of my internship orientation, I received a cultural competency training in a group setting (this was my first time being exposed to a training of this nature). Take away points from this training established the foundation for my research (including ethical data collection methods). During my internship, I was placed in contact with local community members and experts (I lived with a local family), which enabled me to conduct ethnographic fieldwork. This facilitated a community-involved needs assessment, that informed the development and implementation of a culturally humble health promotion program for older adults. In short, this experienced encouraged my professional growth. Beyond putting theories into practice, I took initiative to achieve my learning objectives, which helped me hone research and leadership skills. Drawing from the successes and challenges of this experience, I feel confident engaging in community needs assessments, as well as developing and implementing health programs in underinvested settings. For anybody wondering, staff members were accessible and responsive to my physical, mental, and spiritual well-being throughout the entirety of my internship. I would highly recommend interning with Amazon Learning!

I was paired with the most amazing host family, who are growing dozens, if not hundreds of medicinal plants in their chakra (permaculture rainforest garden). I learned so much from them, and it was also a good learning experience to be volunteering with Amu Pakín, the Kichwa midwives association. There are also lots of botanical gardens you can go to that have information about medicinal plants. There’s so much to learn, I will definitely be coming back because in two months I barely scratched the surface!

Choosing to go to Ecuador’s Amazon with Amazon Learning was one of the best decisions I ever made. Andy connected me with just the kind of people I wanted to live and work with. It is 6 months later and I still regularly call my host family. I grew so much as a person while I was there and I got to learn and experience things that most people in the world will never get to experience!