Monya’s Mexico Chronicles: Morelia

written by Monya Lemery, Latin America Regional Director

Morelia is a beautiful colonial city in the state of Michoacán, which about 1,000,000 inhabitants. It is easy to get around and there are not a lot of tourists, so it is easy to really experience the Mexican culture here. Interns say that there are tons of activities in the city, such as live music, nightlife, international film festivals, sports, etc. As well, there are lots of interesting places to visit nearby.

Centro Cultural de Lenguas (CCL) is a language school in the central, downtown area of the beautiful city of Morelia. They serve as the local contact for interns during their time in Morelia. Interns take Spanish language and culture classes at CCL and CCL can arrange host families and serve as a liaison with the internship sites located in Morelia. Interns also have free internet access at CCL.

I had the opportunity to live with a homestay family for the few days I was in Morelia, which was wonderful. I had my own room and private bathroom, ate meals with the family and shared stories (in Spanish, of course). The food was delicious – lots of fresh fruit and lots of meat. Mexico is not such an easy place for vegetarians because the middle and upper middle classes do eat a lot of red meat. Most all of the interns live in the central, downtown area of Morelia.

IMSS No. 1 Hospital

This was my first visit to the IMSS Hospital in Morelia. This is a large, public hospital where we have been sending interns for about 1.5 years. Because of an official agreement between IMSS and CCL and the agreement between CCL and IE₃ Global Internships, we have the privilege of being able to sending interns to IMSS for a very small fee. This is unusual.

Pre-medical students are able to rotate through several different departments of the hospital during their stay. They work directly with doctors and Mexican medical students who are completing their medical internship. I met with Dr. Villareal who coordinates the incoming interns and he took me on a tour of the hospital. He has really enjoyed receiving IE₃ interns and says that OB/GYN and surgery seem to be the most popular rotations. Although, students can learn a lot in the E.R., since there is constantly so much activity going on there.

Interns coming to IMSS need strong Spanish skills and need to be independent, self-starter types with an outgoing personality. If that is the case, then this is an excellent place to get hands-on medical experience and learn medical Spanish. The hospital is also a teaching hospital, so the IE₃ interns usually make friends with the Mexican medical students, and they can also attend lectures on medical topics of interest.

MESE Street Kids Project

This was my second visit to MESE. They had just recently moved into new facilities – their own building – that they were able to purchase with assisting from federal, state and local assistance. MESE had recently won an award for the most transparent NGO in Mexico which says a lot for them as an organization. They are now located a bit farther away from the center, which is not as convenient, but the facilities are much bigger and better.

I was able to see some of the projects that previous interns had worked on and meet the 4 social workers, the lead social worker, and one of the two on-staff psychologists and a few other people. This is such a dedicated project involved with really helping the most needy people – those who live in extreme poverty. They have seen such positive outcomes for the kids and families that they serve.

Interns coming to MESE need strong Spanish skills. This is an excellent internship for students of social work, psychology (interns staying 6 months can take on some of their own cases), nutrition, public health and pre-med or pre-nursing.

Other opportunities in Morelia

For interns in Morelia who are interested in some additional volunteer work, there are some great opportunities to work at an orphanage, homeless shelter, nursing home and other locations. These opportunities may be available on a full-time basis if a student makes a special request.

Monya’s Mexico Chronicles: Guadalajara

written by Monya Lemery, Latin America Regional Director

The city of Guadalajara is a very large metropolitan area in the state of Jalisco. The population is somewhere between 4 and 8 million, depending on who you talk to. It is the second largest city in Mexico and a very important business center. It is a colonial style city with traditional Spanish architecture. Boasting a warm climate and palm trees, the city feels safe and the people are friendly. Learning to take the bus proves a challenge at first for many interns, but later on they describe it as an adventure. Guadalajara is modern with traffic problems, large shopping malls, all kinds of activities, and great craft markets, museums, and weekend getaways. The coastal city of Puerto Vallarta is only about 6-7 hours away and makes for a do-able weekend trip.

Teaching Internships in at Private, Bilingual Schools in Mexico

I visited the four schools in Guadalajara where we send interns: Francis Bacon School, Ker Liber School, John F Kennedy School, and Colegio La Paz School. These are all private, bi-lingual schools who have been receiving interns through the IE₃ Global Internships Program and Lane Community College for at least 10 years. It is possible for interns to work with kids at any level between pre-school and high school. As well, the schools offer free room and board with a homestay family in order to offset the costs of interning abroad. This makes these internships very affordable – generally less expensive than living and studying at your home university.

I visited with 3 current interns: Kristy, Lauren and Sarah, who all had a marvelous time in Guadalajara. Kristy worked with groups of middle and high school students to improve their English at Colegio La Paz. Lauren worked as a teacher’s aide in several different English classes at the primary level at Francis Bacon School. Sarah worked as an aide to the art teacher at John F Kennedy School. They learned a lot about Mexican culture and about teaching. They all hope to pursue a graduate degree in teaching and a career in education.

American Chamber of Commerce offers a great internship opportunity for majors of business, international business, trade, economics, and marketing, event planning and similar areas. The staff is small, but mostly young professionals and there are often Mexican interns also working in the office. This is a great opportunity for students to learn about business and gain experience, but also to learn about how business is conducted in Mexico and Mexico/US trade relations. Interns improve their Spanish and learn business-related vocabulary while being fully immersed in a Spanish speaking work environment. They love IE₃ interns and hope to receive more in the future.

Monya’s Mexico Chronicles: Oaxaca

This was my first visit to the city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Oaxaca is famous for it’s bright colors, craft markets, modern art, indigenous culture, cathedrals, museums and it’s exquisite cuisine. I was stunned by the color and beauty of this colonial city of about 500,000 inhabitants. The large zocalo, or central square, is filled with people and surrounded by several outdoor cafes and a cathedral. There are lots of activities to take part in during your stay in Oaxaca, including lots of fun weekend excursions. Oaxaca is the center of modern Mexico’s art scene and as such, there are many workshops available in a variety of medium – including painting, textiles/weaving, pottery and others. Nearby archeological sites and craft markets attract a lot of US and European tourists. Outdoors sports and recreation abound – rock climbing, ecotourism and other activities are available. If one travels about 7 hours to the coast, the surfing community of Puerto Escondido awaits. I did not notice any of the political unrest that struck the city in 2006. In sum, Oaxaca would be an amazing place to spend several months.

CFHI Cultural Crossroads in Health Program
IE3 Global Internships and Child Family Health International (CFHI) offer a joint program for 10 weeks to IE3 interns to participate in Spanish language classes at Becari Language School and to participate in medical rotations at a variety of public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the city. Interns spend about 4-6 hours per day on their rotations and 2 hours a day in Spanish classes. They also live with local, middle class host families. I was able to visit a few host families and sit in on a Spanish class, and visit a couple of the clinical sites.

Students also get to participate in some lectures about healthcare in Mexico in order to gain a broader understanding of the local healthcare system.

In Oaxaca, interns get exposure to various aspects of the Mexican healthcare system and get the opportunity to see the vast difference in care between the public and private facilities. There are opportunities here for almost any interest. I have had several inquiries about internship opportunities for pre-dental students and I learned that this would be a fantastic site. The Centro de Salud or public Health Center offers dental services and they are quite busy. This would be an ideal setting for a pre-dental student. As well, the Centro de Salud would be great for students of public health, as they offer health classes and training on-site and in rural areas surrounding the city.

There is fantastic on-the-ground support through the local Medical Director, and the two directors of Becari Language school who arrange the language classes and homestay families.

I was also able to visit the Casa de la Mujer Rosario Castellanos, which is a small NGO dedicated to women’s rights and serving women, especially the young, indigenous women of Oaxaca. We are hoping to be able to offer an internship at the Casa de la Mujer for IE3 students. There are several faculty members at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University who have an on-going relationship with the Casa de la Mujer and we would like to be able to extend the opportunity to students to be able to work with this amazing organization.