On May 29th, I got the opportunity to visit my dream job. Well not exactly, but the Casa Materna house was founded in the 90s. To this current day, there’s been over 16,000 women that have been helped through their services. The main idea here is to provide and supply resources for pregnant women before and after their labor. Many women turned to the Casa Materna House in need of a place to stay. While at this program, we learned that many of the women that come through here would be what is considered “high risked” due to being pregnant with twins or having previous C-sections. We discovered that mothers here face more risks when having twins and this is due to the complication of one twin being in the correct position (when it’s time to push ) while the other twin is not. We also discovered that teenagers are at high risk as well due to their bodies not being fully mature. Also, when referring back to high risks due to C-sections, we learned that mothers that have had nearly 8-10 children typically have a much loser uterus. Therefore when it is time to push, their muscles aren’t as strong.

This casa maternal house is a private practice and not a part of government. Casa Materna offers services that are include pre natural care, exercise, etc. It is recommended through the casa house that the mothers come here a week before their due dates. Midwives are also a part of this program and help provide services for the mothers. Women here would rather have a mid-wife than a doctor. We were told that mid wives are more loving, caring, and considerate with the mothers here, compared to doctors. We also learned that all the services here free. This amazing visit has encouraged me to expand my research and knowledge on the rates upon pregnant women in the US who face finical issues when it comes to health care and their babies. This visit has inspired me to open up my own practice that to can provide the services for all pregnant women for free.

Student, Beyla Hood

This past Sunday, we visited San Juan, Nicaragua. We discovered that San Juan was one of many indigenous towns here in Nicaragua. In San Juan, we had the opportunity to speak with an indigenous leader, Valentin Lopez. Lopez introduced us to some of the important culture traditions that included what we would call back home, pottery. Lopez also explained to us how the indigenous clay is still located in the town of San Juan and eventually demonstrated the process on how to break down the clay and create pottery with it. Most people begin working with clay at the age of 8. We learned that Lopez has been working with clay for 20 years. The first step within the process is something that I found to be obvious which happened to be using tools to break down the clay. Although this was an obvious first step, there was something surprising about the kind of tools that were used for this process. According to Lopez, it is our own feet that is considered the tool to break down the clay. Lopez explained that we “dance” on the clay with our feet to break it down. The next step includes a kick-wheel like machine that breaks down the clay even more. After the clay goes through the entire break down process, it is ready to be created into different pottery pieces. This tradition runs through many families in San Juan. Lopez explained to us that beginners take up to 2 hours or more with this entire process where as to those with experience can take up to 5-10 minutes. It took Lopez around 8 minutes to show us the entire process from start to finish.

Student, Beyla Hood.

After safe travels, my Nicaragua study buddies and I were able to make it to Nicaragua from the U.S in about 6 hours. We traveled from Columbus, Ohio to Miami, Florida and then finally to Managua, Nicaragua. When arriving to Nicaragua’s airport, I expected my group and I to run into confusion with the security since we were previously warned from last year’s Nicaragua trip group that they had some minor encounters with them. Fortunately, my group and I faced no trouble with the Nicaragua airport security, and we made it in the country safely. Once we left the airport we headed straight to our hotel, San Agustin, to get some lunch and settle in a bit. All of our rooms were very nice and everyone was comfortable with their stay. After settling into our rooms, we then had lunch. Our first meal in Nicaragua included grilled chicken, rice, beans, plantain chips and fresh vegetables. The plantain chips were my favorite and this was my first time trying them. After our late lunch, we had a brief discussion with our directors on board, Dr. Theresa Early and César, with what we would be doing for the next couple of days in Nicaragua. We went over introductions, schedule overviews, safety, and security. This brought a sense of excitement and safety for us all. Next, we took a driving tour of Managua. We went through the Old downtown, Lake Xolotlan, an old Cathedral, and the National Palace. Finally, we headed back to our hotel to call it a night. I cannot wait to experience and explore what all Nicaragua has to offer for us all.

Student, Beyla Hood.