We’re Better Together

Genesis Regalado
Privett Global Scholars
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Because teamwork makes the dream work. 

Being far from home and integrating yourself into a new culture is challenging and intimidating to say the least. It takes a lot of time and a lot of trust in the process–there’s no one moment when you are completely integrated or completely comfortable. It’s the perfect opportunity to learn about yourself because you’re in an environment in which it is okay to ask a trillion questions and be confused. I’d like to say that my transition has been flawless and brag about how good I am at picking up local lingo, but the truth is that living in Cochabamba has turned me into a confused extranjera who always has to ask for guidance, which is so different from the self-sufficient, U.S. me. I’d also like to say that I’ve done it all on my own, but again the truth is that I’ve had lots of help from my peers, the site team, my host family, friends and kind strangers.

I work with Movimiento Sonrisa and my job is to go around the pediatric wards of the very run-down Hospital Viedma and play with the children and make them laugh. Loving them is not in my job description but I do it anyway. It’s impossible not to love every single one of them and want to cover them in bubble wrap and store them in my suitcase so they never get hurt again. There’s a certain magic to working with children. The power dynamic is interesting because you know you hold authority over them because you’re older, but they know that they hold a certain power over you because they’re little and sick. They have a way of opening you up and making you vulnerable that allows you to get out of your head and be your true self. I love working with them and I love reflecting on the way I act when I’m with them as opposed to the way I act in other settings. I d0n’t have any pictures with them because I have a real problem with volunteers who take photos with children for show. They aren’t a circus attraction, they’re tiny humans who would rather you interact with them than post about them on your summer blog.

Read the rest of Genesis’s blog on the Privett Global Scholars blog.