We started off the final week in Chile with a workshop looking at interculturality and creating our own diagrams on what different aspects make up interculturality. It was a good activity to help collate all the skills and topics that we’ve learned throughout the programme. After this workshop, I went on a trip to a therapeutic community in Quilicura located on the outskirts of Santiago. I was connected to this therapeutic community through my boss at my current work volunteering at Association Proyecto Hombre, an addiction NGO in Spain. It was a life-changing experience speaking to people about their journeys and struggles with mental health and addiction. Although I’m hoping to do research with people diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, my volunteer work in the addiction field has also instilled newly-found passions, especially after visiting the therapeutic community.
On Tuesday, we visited La Moneda Palace, which had been bombed, marking the start of the 17-year dictatorship in 1973. It was crazy to think that we were walking through a building that went through so much damage during the dictatorship, as we saw in the Museum of Human Rights and Memory the week before.
On Wednesday, we had our final presentations, which was a wonderful way to round up the academic part of the programme, with everyone having the opportunity to have some final intercultural exchanges among us students and also with the UC Chile programme coordinators and lecturers. After this, we had a graduation ceremony, where we each received our certificates! We were incredibly thankful for the love and support given to us by the UC Chile staff and students. They made the experience so much more special and meaningful.
On Thursday, a small group of us went on a tour of Cajon del Maipo. I was so happy I decided to go again as a final goodbye to the magical Andes mountains. On the tour back to Santiago, we stopped by Casa Chocolate, where I tried a spoonful of activated charcoal ice cream and Cherimoya ice cream. Both were surprisingly good!
I spent the morning of Friday shopping for some final souvenirs at the Santa Lucia market. After this, I went to buy some chocolates to bring to the therapeutic community as I decided early that morning that I would pay a surprise visit mainly to thank the people for being so open, kind, warm, and welcoming to me during my visit. They were indeed very surprised when I came walking through the front gate, but they said it was a nice and welcome surprise! At this final visit, I also expressed my desire to continue collaborating in any way possible, from helping design websites to possibly coming to conferences in Latin America in the future. I never expected that I would have the opportunity to gain so many connections in my personal, educational, and work life. At this point, I feel like I have a big family in Chile ready for my next visit!
On our last day in Santiago, Amelie and I walked through the Santiago Central Markets before going up the Gran Torre Costanera to the 62nd floor to view the entire city from 261 meters up in the sky. It was the perfect way to round off the entire month, seeing every part of the city that became our home for the month.
It is extremely difficult to articulate in words how much this scholarship has impacted me in so many aspects of my life, but I think, to keep it simple, the Prime Minister’s Scholarship to Latin America for Intercultural Approaches to Public Health 2024 has opened so many doors for me and given me a myriad of life-changing experiences I never expected! I plan to continue nurturing and expanding my social network and connections in Chile in my personal life, educational journey, and emerging working career. I sincerely hope to have the opportunity to return again in the future!
¡Hasta pronto Chile!
