Following my second year of high school, I had the opportunity to volunteer with an organization based out of Duke and Harvard University spending my summer in Guatemala doing medical work. This was both an exciting and terrifying experience to me as it was the first time I had been out of the country, excluding Canada. I prepared as any would, spending my days collecting various bits of gear and reading book after book on survival tips and tricks to keep myself alive if I ever became stranded in the slums at 2:00 a.m.. Little did I know, none of these precautions prepared for what was yet to come.
When I first arrived, I met all of my fellow volunteers and professors involved in the program as we gathered in a gated hotel on the outskirts of Guatemala city. We were warned not to leave the gates before dusk or after dawn to avoid becoming the victim of extremely prevalent crimes that were constantly being committed. After a few days of intensive medical training, including how to prepare and give vaccinations, aid in child birth alongside comodronas, and basic suture techniques, we scurried up the mountainside to one of Guatemala’s most isolated villages to begin our first month serving the community of Calhuitz.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with open arms by a parade of all the townspeople. It was an extreme case of culture shock for me, seeing all the different styles of dress, listening to people talk in their native Mayan tongue, and witnessing acts that I cannot imagine any person from the United States would deem safe. We managed to get our hands on some dynamite-sized fireworks and had our hand in blowing up piñatas from a “safe” distance. It was my first taste of freedom, my first step towards realizing my dream of traveling the world and helping others along the way.
It wasn’t until my second night there I began to see the harsh realities of life in the poverty-stricken slums. A woman came in beaten quite badly, burns across her face from being pushed into a pit of coals, seconds away from going into labor. We rushed to help calm her as we prepared to deliver a baby. After two hours of intense contractions, we came to realize that the baby was lying transverse meaning that instead of the head crowning, we started to see an arm. We advised the woman to be transported to a hospital in order to save both herself and the baby but because of her religious beliefs, there was nothing we could do. After four hours had passed, she died on the table she lay on.
While this was an extreme example, the culture shock I experienced led me to understand the truth that not every place is going to be normal to an outsider’s perspective and expectations. This experience led me to desire traveling the globe so that I can participate in as many cultures as customs as possible before I to come to face the end of my life.
