Written by: Pallavi Oruganti, MPH Student at The Ohio State University
Thank you Comunidad Connect for allowing me to share my experience in Los Robles with you! My name is Pallavi Oruganti, and I am currently a Master of Public Health student at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. My concentration is in Veterinary Public Health, and I’m specifically interested in global health, zoonotic diseases and human-animal interactions. This summer, I had the opportunity to work and live in Los Robles, Jinotega, Nicaragua as part of a interdisciplinary research team from Ohio State made up of students from Public Health, Anthropology, and Veterinary Medicine. Our project centers around infant and child gut micriobiomes, and how interactions with soil, water, animals, and others in the household may impact microbiome makeup, and ultimately diarrheal disease risk. To do this, we worked in the community with several households collecting biological samples of children, animals, soil, and water. Additionally, we observed children and babies and conducted interviews with several moms in the community to ascertain cultural ideas of raising children and animals in Los Robles.
Alba Mayta and Helena Fox organize their research samples at the end of the day.
Our experience in Los Robles was incredibly rewarding and unforgettable. Partnering with Comunidad Connect allowed us to gain our footing in Nicaragua and the community, as they were able to arrange our stays with host families. The love, hospitality, home-cooked meals, and patience with our Spanish we experienced in our homes made our research possible and also allowed us to better understand daily life in the community. We are endlessly thankful for every single household that agreed to partiicpate in our study, and for their genuine interest and willingness to share their experiences. We are also incredibly indebted to the Brigadistas of Los Robles for sacrificing their time to assist us with identifying households, sharing their public health knowledge, and becoming our friends along the way. One of the main observations we had about the community is the sheer strength and work ethic of the women in this community, and the Brigadistas are a testament to this. Thank you so much ladies for all you did for us the past two months!
My favorite memory of our time in Los Robles is the surprise going-away fiesta my host-family and neighbors threw for us. It was a great way to celebrate with the amazing people we have met in the community and it truly warmed our hearts that in such a short time we experienced such love and care.
We hope next year we are able to return to Los Robles to share the results of our study, reconnect with all the amazing people we met, and additionally work more with Comunidad Connect in identifying areas of outreach to further promote health and wellness within the community. It was tough so say our last “Adios!” but we are so thankful to Comunidad Connect and la comunidad for our incredible first experience working in Nicaragua.