Child Family Health International - Bolivia

Final Report: Child Family Health International - Bolivia

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to work with Child Family Health International (CFHI), specifically in their Virtual Global & Public Health Internship in Bolivia. CFHI focuses on true partnership with their colleagues in various countries, emphasizing the successes of the existing health system and takes an asset-based lens to global health. They understand that local practitioners are the experts of their own environment, and I was so grateful to learn from these experts throughout my time with CFHI.

My time at CFHI provided me with so many amazing experiences, and allowed me to develop my understanding of current global health issues, improve upon my Spanish language skills and deepen my cultural competence abilities. Each week was filled with meetings to learn about the most pressing public health concerns for Bolivia, and how the leaders there are currently addressing these issues. I participated in language training classes to increase my confidence in speaking and understanding Spanish, as well as a chance to specifically learn some medical Spanish. In addition to this, I attended lectures from Dra. Cecilia Uribe, our local health practitioner based in La Paz, who discussed her experiences as a pediatrician in Bolivia. The program also included Global Health Round Table meetings, in which the local practitioners from multiple partner countries came together to discuss their realities and perspectives on a given topic, from healthcare inequalities to COVID-19. Director seminars gave even more background on global health, with topics ranging from international development to planetary health. Finally, we ended our week with a cultural activity, which included experiences such as cooking classes making traditional Bolivian dishes and virtual tours of some of Bolivia’s museums and natural landscapes. This was an incredible way to get a feel for my partner country even though I was unable to physically be there.

I ended my internship feeling increased confidence in global health competencies including cultural sensitivity, cross-cultural communication, as well as a greater ability to communicate and understand the Spanish language. Beyond this, I completed my internship having a much broader understanding of global and public health concerns and a greater capacity to analyze these issues and work through possible interventions. My final project for the internship brought together everything I had learned and the skills I had acquired during my time with CFHI, presenting on childhood malnutrition completely in Spanish, while also including educational materials on the topic. This was an incredible opportunity to challenge how I could effectively communicate everything I had learned on the topic. The educational materials produced throughout the course of my internship were helpful not only to my learning of the public health concern, but also for my local partners, who had tangible examples of my peers and my perspectives and solutions.

My time at CFHI was incredibly valuable and I leave my time with CFHI feeling a great sense of accomplishment. The relationships I built with my peers and local partners were such a great chance to broaden my understanding of people’s knowledge and perspectives on global and public health, and I know these perspectives will continue to be fruitful as I continue learning more. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities I had to learn and challenge myself to broaden my perspectives both from the lens of healthcare and cultural communication. I learned so much from my peers, the program directors and my local team in Bolivia and had a fantastic experience working and learning alongside them throughout the summer. I am so grateful for my time at CFHI and look forward to continuing learning and utilizing the skills I developed through my internship.