On Sunday, August 1…
The topic for week seven was global mental health. I chose to double major with psychology because I want to get involved in mental health counseling. Learning about mental health projects at FIMRC’s sites was eye opening. The resources at these sites are different, yet FIMRC puts in a lot of effort to ensure that people in the regions have access to mental healthcare. I specifically enjoyed completing a mental health case study concerning a patient that had migrated out of a warzone and was trying to build a new life in Costa Rica. By attending psychology clinical observations throughout the internship, I had the opportunity to learn from FIMRC’s psychologist. She not only allowed us to listen to her conversations with patients, but also explained her methods of work after the conversations. The case study was similar to these observations because the same psychologist explained how she would interact with the specific patient to solve deep-rooted issues related to migration.
Over the past two weeks, I concluded my eight-week volunteer project for the Portawawa, Peru site. Another student and I designed and created 40 pamphlets each focused on a specific week of pregnancy. Diana, the manager in charge of this project, explained that our work will be very helpful for the mothers at the site who have not received any education concerning their own bodies and pregnancy. She was very grateful for our work and will continue to update us on the success of our pamphlets for the mothers in Portawawa.