SIMMONS COLLEGE/BOSTON MAY TERM IN NICARAGUA, 2002

SERVICE LEARNING IN NICARAGUA:
PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
David Gullette, Department of English

This two-week two-credit course will focus on the historical and cultural contexts and current challenges facing the Public Health infrastructure in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. The readings will cover the history of the township since the 1970s, the current political situation in the country, the impact of machismo (sexism) on women's sense of entitlement, impediments to women's access to quality healthcare, the links between literacy and self-impowerment, and new initiatives in healthcare delivery in the region.

Students will meet regularly with the instructor to discuss readings and personal observations in the field; keep a journal that will balance empirical data with informed reflection; and participate in commuity service activities with various local Public Health organizations (including participation in an Eyecare and Eye Glass Clinic organized by visiting opthalmologists and optometrists). The course will culminate in a paper examining some aspect of the healthcare situation in the Greater San Juan del Sur area.

Bernstein, Sarada. Simmons College Senior Honors Thesis, 2000

Brentlinger, John. "Norma: On Sexism and Moral Change," from The Best of What We Are: Reflections on the Nicaraguan Revolution (Amherst: UMass Press, 1995)

Gullette, David. !GASPAR! A Spanish Poet/Priest in the Nicaraguan Revolution (Tempe: Bilingual Review Press/Arizona State University, 1994)

--"J.P.'s Nica Lexicon," from Gringo Pinolero (novel in progress)

Gullette, Margaret. "Florcita La Suerte," Indiana Review, Vol 22, #1, 2000

Kinzer, Stephen. "Nicaragua: A Country Without Heroes," The New York Review of Books, July 19, 2001

SIMMONS COLLEGE MAY TERM IN NICARAGUA, 2002

SERVICE LEARNING IN NICARAGUA: PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
David Gullette, Department of English

This course seeks to introduce students to the history, culture, economy, public health and educational infrastructures, and ecosystems of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, and to allow them to participate directly in one or more community service projects. An ability to converse in Spanish is required. This is an ideal international "total immersion" experience for students interested in Latin American culture, the arts, public health, education, and/or the biology of tropical ecosystems.

Features:

*A credit-bearing reading and discussion course on Nicaraguan (and local) history and culture; on the economic problems facing a developing country like Nicaragua; an overview of the public health infrastructure of the region; an examination of the school system; and three environmental foci (local ornithology; a protected sea turtle nesting sanctuary nearby; and the local fishing industry). This course will be taught by Prof. David Gullette of the Simmons English Department. Guest speakers and field trips will be integral parts of the course.
*An opportunity to participate in one or more of the following community service activities:
--volunteering with one of the local health clinics, both in town and in rural areas nearby on such projects as community-based water purification systems, vaccination, cervical cancer screening, healthy baby clinics, and/or helping visiting optometrists and ophthalmologists examine patients and give out recycled eyeglasses;
--volunteering to work with with local pre-school, primary or high school students in such areas as basic reading skills, music, art (including mural-painting), math, sports, oral history, computer skills, photography and English;
--working with high school science teachers and their best students to learn more about one or more of the three environmental subjects listed above, plus experimental projects such as solar cooking, alternative human waste systems, organic gardening and raising community awareness about environmental issues.
--working with the local feminist organization "La Casa de la Mujer" on issues of concern to women
*As part of the credit-bearing aspect of the course, there will be a writing workshop, under the direction of Dr. Gullette, which will involve regular journal keeping, reflection, group discussions, and the drafting and revision of a culminating essay on some major aspect(s) of the student's experience.

Other highlights of the Nicaragua May Term will include:
*Home stays with friendly local families (excellent simple food).
*One-on-one Spanish language tutoring available for those who desire it.
*Trips to beaches, volcanoes, national parks, and historic towns.
*Option of a day-long sailboat trip down the coast

Costs:
--Tuition for one course
--Round trip airfare, about $800
--Room and board (three meals) $10 a day= about $300

About San Juan del Sur: San Juan del Sur is a Pacific Coast port in southern Nicaragua, not far from the border with Costa Rica. About 10,000 people live in the town, with another 10,000 living out in the 250 square miles ofcampo (countryside) that make up most of the municipal district. Fishing, farming and tourism are the mainstays of the economy. There are two health clinics in town, one high school, and about forty primary and pre-schools scattered around the district. The coast nearby is spectacularly beautiful; San Juan itself sits around a sandy half-moon bay. Internet access and high quality telephone service are easily available in San Juan. The big market town of Rivas is about half an hour away. San Juan has enjoyed a "Sister City" relationship with Newton, MA for almost twelve years, during which time the Newton/San Juan del Sur Sister City Project has financed the building or renovation of almost fifteen schools. In 1996 five Simmons students in Nursing, PT and Pre-Med and a Professor of Nursing spent two weeks on an informal, non-credit-bearing "Mid-Winter Public Health Internship" in San Juan, arranged by Professor Gullette, who is Vice President of the Sister City Project. That experiment was very successful. In 1999-2000, a Simmons senior in Sociology, Sarada Bernstein, spent a month in San Juan gathering data for her Senior Honors Thesis on women's access to healthcare in Central America. Both the public health and education systems in San Juan are anxious to cooperate with groups of Americans who want to live in San Juan and learn about the community. And local school teachers have formed a Spanish Language School for foreigners, featuring personal tutoring.

Transportation: American Airlines flies daily from Miami to Managua. San Juan is about two hours south of Managua, just off the Pan American Highway. Ground transportation can be easily arranged.

About Prof. Gullette: David Gullette, Professor of English, has taught at Simmons since 1967. He is the author of two books about the intersection of poetry and revolution in Nicaragua, Nicaraguan Peasant Poetry from Solentiname (1988) and !Gaspar! A Spanish Poet/Priest in the Nicaraguan Revolution (1994). He is currently writing an historical novel set in San Juan del Sur. He was a founder and is currently Vice President of the Newton/SanJuan del Sur Sister City Project. Email: david.gullette@simmons.edu.