Author: Ricardo Segovia

The reading that we did for this week: “Perceptions of short-term medical volunteer work: A qualitative study in Guatemala,” made me think and feel deeply into what type of “help” truly comes from short term care/aid. I felt like my thoughts and feelings would be reflected best through poetry. I wrote it through my eyes as if I were an adolescent living in El Salvador, in a very impoverished state. Being that this is my country of origin and many organizations do short term aid work there, I reflected by putting myself in the receiving end of that aid, and how I would feel.

You come with a smile and with a “helping hand”
You say you are here to help, but do you really understand
I wake up everyday with pain that cannot be cured with a band aid or a drug
My pain needs more than just a doctor, my pain needs long term care and love
They may think that this is going solve my problems, it may solve one for today
What about tomorrow, what about next month, what about in 10 years
I will still see poverty around me and I will still feel deep fear
I thank you for the clean water and care provided for today
But I am saddened too because you always stay a little while and always go away
Your families are safe,healthy and all have food without any conflict or struggle
My family is sick, dies slowly, starves with tears and blood, while we live in rubble
I cannot share with you how one days relief can sometimes bring me more grief
It reminds me constantly that you will always have more and that I always have less
I pray that one day this “help” stops, the day when all of us are equal
The day when I can also drink clean water, have food to eat and have a home
When I am also healthy from within and all around, the day when I can feel peace and no longer alone

This weeks readings: “Perceptions of short-term medical volunteer work: A qualitative study in Guatemala,” “The ethics of nursing student international clinical experiences,” and “Volunteering: Beyond an act of charity” all seem to run along a similar theme: in all international engagements, it is crucial to take into account the sustainability of one’s work. It is important to bear in mind the needs of the communities so that local members are able to thrive on their own with the existing resources they possess. Most international student volunteering organizations provide programs of two weeks to a month at underserved communities. These short-term volunteer work certainly make a difference during the times they are there, however once the volunteers leave, the underserved communities may not have the capability to maintain the same service to patients as before. Something these organizations may consider is to work with what the communities abroad have and share with the people ideas and practices to help them feel empowered and educated.

What these organizations can also think about is whether the people they want to help actually want their help and think of ways to best approach their presence in a long-term sense. Practices that seem “good” and “right” in the context of healthcare in our communities may not coincide in other communities. For instance, by simply donating unused medical equipment and instruments to a community without research may defeat the purpose of aid, as the supplies may not function properly with the technology in the community and cause more problems. This charitable approach may benefit the donor, but one must ask oneself whether it benefits the receiver. Is the help people are being given truly helpful? Do the people have to reply on temporary service or can they rely on systems that already exist?

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

In the article Community Service Learning in the Face of Globalization: Rethinking Theory and Practice, Novella Zett Keith discusses the contribution of neoliberalism, time-space compression, and globalism to globalization, which is bringing to light the truly interdependent nature of human existence. An example from recent history is the people’s revolution that changed the political landscape of Egypt, and emphasized that small actions can bring about much change through a ripple effect. The poem below reflects some of my thoughts based on our recent class discussions regarding colonization, globalization and motives for international development.

Brother From Another Mother

The air I breathe fills thy lungs too
The water I drink quenches thy thirst too
The earth that nourishes me feeds thy belly too
Then, Brother, why art thou poor?

The air that fills your lungs is made pure
By the lush greens that you saved
But Brother, they wiped away my forests
To build the factories that leach poisons
Into the rivers that my kinsmen bathe in and drink from,
That were the source of my sustenance until the fish died.
The earth, too, was plundered for copper, silver and gold
The metals that adorn you, and the carbons that fuel your way of life
The luxuries you enjoy from methane, oil and coal
Why then, Brother, do you wonder about my poverty?

No! No! It was not I, Brother, that took away thy riches
‘Twere those big corporations, whose greed hath left thee
Without trees to shelter from the heat of the sun
And without land to grow thy nourishment
What was I to do?

But was it not you that wanted independence, Brother?
Did you not vote to for freedom from the state,
For the capitalism that has fueled life into the greedy corporations?
How did the demands for individual freedom from a few
Turn into squashing the rights of entire communities?
Do you not wear the clothes my children sew,
Eat the food that we pick from the fields for you,
Smoke the tobacco and opium my neighbors grow for your pleasure
When they could grow grains, fruits and vegetables
But do I complain of sleeping under a mud thatched roof
While you enjoy fast cars and freedom?

O Brother! I did want to improve the quality of my life,
For what parent would not want their children to enjoy,
A better life without the suffering that they themselves had to live through.
But in my haste and greed I forgot
That this planet is as much yours as is mine
That my actions have consequences
That my privilege means your oppression
That freedom of choice brings with it a moral responsibility.
Brother, I cannot undo the decades of damage
Nor will I play the blame game that leads to nowhere
But hope that my actions now will make your future brighter