(Editor’s Note: Adriana was one of 12 students who traveled to Uganda this summer as part of a Colgate extended study course.)
As I reflect on my experiences of the past few weeks, I find hard to believe that I actually lived in the middle of a Ugandan village for almost an entire month.
Upon first hearing about the extended study course to Uganda last November, I was immediately drawn to everything the course entailed and if selected, I knew that I would walk away at the very least with a cultural understanding of a country vastly different than my own.
However, after being given the opportunity to partake in this unique endeavor, I can truly say this trip exceeded my expectations and was undoubtedly a life-changing experience.
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| Adriana Lopez ’10 (left), Annie Morrison ’09, and a CTPH translator conduct public health surveys with a village resident. SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE. |
With a concentration in biology and a minor in geography, I knew this course would provide great hands-on experience in both fields of study.
As we were particularly interested in pathogen infection patterns in the mountain gorilla, analyses of DNA extractions from gorilla fecal samples in conjunction with corresponding GPS coordinates led the Colgate team to draw some very interesting conclusions about the health of these endangered creatures.
By tying together microbiology, specialized mapping techniques, and public health issues, we were able to approach our overarching task of mountain gorilla conservation from several critical angles while gaining a wealth of knowledge in an unconventional educational setting.
As I have not done much traveling outside the United States, arriving in Africa was quite a culture shock. Though it became independent in 1962, Uganda is still very much a young developing country and many of its people live in poverty.
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Our role in administering public health surveys really put a lot into perspective. After being paired with translators from the nonprofit organization Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), Annie Morrison ’09 and I, along with fellow teammates Alexandra Dulude ’08 and David McKenzie ’08, were able to see what it was like to live under such impoverished conditions.
For me, this was the most moving and eye-opening part of the trip as I realized how much I take for granted. On one occasion Annie and I interviewed a Ugandan girl who was my age. While we are both young women trying to make it in the world, our circumstances could not be more different and the stark contrast was a very difficult concept for me to grapple with.
As a result of this particular encounter and my work with the surveys in general, this trip has sparked my interest in exploring the field of public health. On the whole this entire experience, led by professors Frank Frey and Peter Scull, has had an incredible impact on my life, both academically and culturally.
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| Cody Cowper ’09 and Kelsey OYong ’09 work on DNA extraction in the CTPH field clinic. SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE. |