A great way for students to broaden their horizons is to experience another culture, according to some Wayne State students who spent three weeks this past summer in Peru.
Three of the 10 students who went to Peru through WSU’s Study Abroad program spoke on Nov. 20 in the Bernath Auditorium about what they learned and enjoyed most about their trip.
Sarah Kirk, a third year pharmacy student, said that during the first two weeks, they attended in-class lectures that covered a variety of topics, including the emerging medicinal plant industry in Peru and how this new enterprise might help to resolve the country’s economic problems. She said the lectures also stressed the importance of respecting the environment.
“Most of the lectures were given by Dr. Roberto Ichanstigui, the head of the research hospital that we were at,” Kirk said. “Dr. Roberto’s lectures were all in Spanish.”
An interpreter explained the lectures to the students, Kirk said, but the language barrier presented a new challenge to most of the group throughout the trip.
Peru is known for its rainforest, and Kirk explained that discovering plants that may offer new cures for diseases involved collecting them, drying them out and then testing them for active compounds. She said that advancements have already been made in the fields of autoimmune diseases, cancer and fungal infections.
Jason Watt, a pharmacy student, said going to Peru was the first time he has traveled outside of the U.S., except to visit Canada. Among other firsts for Watt, was the sampling of new dishes like beef heart, alligator and roasted guinea pig.
“If you had told me before that I would be eating guinea pig, I would have laughed,” Watt said. A self-described picky eater, he convinced himself to try something new. As a result, Watt found out that the food was “not too bad.”
He said he enjoyed having the opportunity to network with students from other universities and to make friends with some of the Peruvians that he met. He was also pleased that the trip gave him a chance to explore a facet of medicine not practiced in this country.
One example of this was Rosanna, the shaman, who introduced the students to some traditional forms of medicine. Slides from the students’ presentation showed them sitting while Rosanna performed cleansing rituals on them using herbs, flowers and tobacco smoke.
The tobacco was so pure that there was no odor at all, Kirk said. She said there was also a fire ceremony where the students wrote down the good and bad things in their lives on pieces of paper and then tossed them into the fire.
“That was to cleanse our spirits,” Kirk said.
Karen Meraw, a pharmacy student, explained how the study program made traveling more affordable. She said the students paid $2,800, covering all in-country flights (the students visited several cities within Peru), meals and other travel costs and fees.
“It would cost about $4,000 if you had to get all these things by yourself,” Meraw said.
During their lecture, the students showed breathtaking slides of the Amazon River, the Andes Mountains, Incan ruins and the seventh wonder of the world, Machu Picchu. The slides also provided glimpses of traditional Peruvian costumes and dances.
Watt said he gained a lot from the trip, including a better understanding of cultural differences, an empathy for non-English speakers who come to the U.S., ideas on how to incorporate natural medicine into western lifestyles and knowledge about how to live more “green.”
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