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Percepciones De Género En La Medicina Mapuche: Machi, Matriarca, Y Colonización, Krista Douglass

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Gender is a social ordering principle; a definition of masculinity and femininity according to an individual culture. While in Chile gender identity is often shaped by machismo, the Mapuche cosmovision is without gender disparities. Rather, relationships between men and women are governed by principles of equality and duality, just as the Mapuche deities balance both male and female energies. Women hold very important roles in the community as the leaders of the medical community. Although both men and women participate in various roles within this profession, machi, the spiritual healers, are mostly women. Males, or wentru machi, …

More Than Just Biology: Creating An Informational Website For Teens On Sexuality And Lifelong Sexual Health, Sarah Cyr-Mutty

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“More Than Just Biology – Creating an informational website for teens on sexuality and lifelong sexual health” is the product of four weeks’ research in Amsterdam, NL on sexuality education and the use of the Internet as an educational tool for youth. The research defied a “Dutch approach” to sexuality education and used it to create a website for American teenagers to get confidential and accurate information regarding their sexual lives and health. Information was gathered primarily through personal interviews, as well as a review of existing literature on the subject. Through this research, it was found that the Dutch …

El Papel De La Educación Y Las Ong’S En Mejorar El Acceso A Derechos Para Inmigrantes: El Caso De Los Derechos Sexuales Y Reproductivos = The Role Of Education And Ngo’S In Helping Immigrants Obtain Better Access To Their Rights: The Specific Case Of Sexual And Reproductive Rights, Amy Torres

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In January of 2004, Argentina approved a new immigration law that guaranteed the protection of human rights for all immigrants in the country regardless of their legal status with the State. Among the rights explicitly guaranteed by this law were the right to migrate, the right to education and the right to health care. While this law represents a significant advance by the Argentine government in protecting the human rights of immigrants, oppressive mechanisms still remain in everyday practices that inhibit actual access to their rights.

Considering the changes in the law and the breach between the laws and everyday …

Bridging The Gap: Identifying Social Factors That Affect The Knowledge Of Sexually Transmitted Infections And Use Of Prevention Methods In Young Women, Ariel Spigel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study investigates the social factors that affect the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) in young women, focusing on their knowledge of the subject and use of prevention methods in order to discover why STIs, though preventable, are still prevalent in the lives of young adults, and more often, young women. Sixty-one anonymous, closed questionnaires were distributed to female students of at least eighteen years at the Colegio Estadual Francisco da Conceição Menezes in Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia, Brazil, and six structured interviews were conducted with students from the same pool. Results showed varying levels of knowledge, educational …

Education As A Detour On The Path To Inevitable Motherhood: The Acquired Values And Collective Ambitions Of The Students At La Maison D’Education Mariama Ba, Hannah Deangelis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The values young Senegalese women acquire at home revolve around motherhood, domesticity and, above all, solidarity. The students lucky enough to attend La Maison D’Education Mariama Ba, the most elite girl’s high school in all of Senegal carry these community-centered values. Here, young Senegalese women have a chance to take a detour from the prescribed path that their gender has dictated by spending seven years living and studying with their peers in a highly intellectual setting. An understanding of the narratives of their lives before school, time spent at MEMB, and vision of their futures provides a lens through which …

Finding The Right Fit: Unique Challenges Faced By Health Ngos In The Health System Of Lamu District, Lauren Hartel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines how nongovernmental organizations and community-based organizations in Lamu District interact with the governmentally structured health care system at the district level. This is done through participatory observation, interviews and removed observation of NGOs, CBOs and government officials. From these observations, this study then identifies major challenges faced by health NGOs that inhibit them from performing to the best of their ability, and at times even compromise the health of the people they are trying to help. The results of this study show that in Lamu District, the most relevant challenges are continuity of care, dissemination of information, …

The Future Of Tradition: An Ethnographic And Comparative Study Of Social Preference And Medicine In Rural Ghana, Shannon Dick

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In Ghana, there are currently two prevalent forms of medical treatment: traditional and Western medicine. Since Ghana was colonized by the British, Western medicine has spread throughout the country, essentially from south to north. In this ethnographic study, two rural villages are compared, one located in the Central Region and the other in the Upper West Region, in order to evaluate what type of medical treatment people prefer and the reasons for their decisions. The research assesses the social inclination in terms of medicine in these two locations, indicators of Western influences, and gleans a sense of what the future …

Midwives, Rain, And Donkey Carts: Factors Affecting Women’S Decisions To Deliver At Home Or At A Clinic In Rural Mali, Jessica Preslar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study focuses on this complex array of factors that affect women’s decisions or abilities to go to a local clinic, a Centre de Santé Communitaire (CSCOM), to give birth. The influence of money, distance from a CSCOM, and beliefs about the CSCOM and modern medicine are all investigated, as well as an open discussion about the decision and ability surrounding place of delivery.Both qualitative and quantitative data is gathered through interviews regarding these factors to allow for a broad range of data analysis; interviews are used to communicate directly with the women, and to obtain a more thorough understanding …

Hiv Risk Factors Among Moroccan And Turkish Same-Sex Attracted Youth In Amsterdam, Daniel Woznica

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This report is the outcome of a month-long exploratory study on the main HIV risk factors among Moroccan and Turkish same-sex attracted (SSA) youth in Amsterdam. Data was obtained by way of interviews conducted with five experts, categorized as: academics, sexual and ethnic minority activists, and HIV professionals. Five main risk factors were determined: cultural differences; language barriers; stigma and taboo around sexuality and HIV within Islamic communities; socioeconomic marginalization; and lack of a positive term for same-sex sexual behavior and identity among the target group. Recommendations for future research include interviews with Moroccan and Turkish SSA youth themselves. Implications …

75 Hours, 18 Babies, Dozens Of Women, And Me: Exploring Gynecological And Obstetrical Care In Bamako, Minnie Yordon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mali has the third highest total fertility rate in the world, with each woman having an average of 6.62 children in the year 2009. Gynecological and obstetrical care, therefore, plays a large role in the lives of these women; 70% of women attend at least one prenatal consultation over the course of their pregnancy, and a skilled attendant is present at approximately 50% of all births. In this paper, I seek a better understanding of gynecological and obstetrical care in Bamako, the capital, from the perspective of an Ob/Gyn, which often centers on pregnancy and childbirth. Based on real experiences …

Breaking The Cycle Of Domestic Violence, Rebecca Bolden

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Domestic violence is a serious problem that affects women all over the globe. It has been found that children who witness domestic violence in their homes are more likely to be involved in a violent relationship later on in life, perpetuating an intergenerational cycle of violence. This project aims to look at services that exist for women who suffer from domestic violence, in order to suggest future prevention strategies to end the cycle of violence. My methodology was interviewing four different organizations that exist in Salvador that support women who have suffered domestic violence as well as work to prevent …

Factors That Contribute To The Low Uptake Of Skilled Care During Delivery In Malindi, Kenya, Alexandra Carter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In Kenya, maternal mortality ratios remain high and the number of births attended by skilled health attendants hovers at just 44%. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, a study was conducted to determine the uptake of antenatal care and skilled attendance in Malindi District and to explore factors that contribute to the low use of maternal health services during delivery. It was found that after the first antenatal visit attendance to health facilities begins to decline ending in low rates of births attended by skilled care and that socio-cultural and economic factors play a larger role than access alone in …

Living In Pain, Throwing Out Agony: A Health Study Of The Rural Residents Of Three Hani Zu Ethnic Minority Villages In Hong He Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Haley Newman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Nestled in the rice-terraced mountains of Southern Yunnan, there are dozens of small towns of about 300 people. The villagers are physically and emotionally drained and perpetually exhausted. The men smoke over a pack of cigarettes every day and drink five or six small glasses of baijiu, their home-made rice wine. Some have been coughing up blood, others can’t breathe deeply enough to walk, let alone work in the fields anymore, leaving their wives to do all of the farm work.

By bus theses villages are just a few hours away from Mojiang, yet life here feels decades away from …