UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies

Pictured: puerto mejillones health center in El Alto Pictured: observing Dra. Gutierrez’s consults These last two weeks in La Paz have been very draining, fun, and educating all at the same time. In week 4, I was assigned to go to a small health center far away in the outskirts of El Alto. Meaning I had to leave home at 6:30 in the morning to compensate for an hour and a half commute. The health center is very different to the big hospitals I had gotten used to. There is only one doctor doing consults, and we often only see pregnant women and mothers with small children. They are often underweight and lack the proper nutrition. The doctor we shadowed said this is the fault of the mother, as they dont always listen to her advice. Another common thing I saw was children with early signs of hip dysplasia. This is due to the traditional way mothers bundle their babies to protect from the harsh cold. The final week in La Paz we spent at a school in El Alto for children with disabilities. Th...

Pictured: the outside of hospital del niño Weeks two and three brought about the start of our normal hospital rotations in the city. Our coordinator broke the entire group up into teams of four people, and we will be rotating which health center we go to each week. This first week, me and my classmates were assigned to go to Hospital del Niño, in the Miraflores neighborhood of La Paz. This is a third level hospital, and the largest pediatrics hospital in the city. At first it was overwhelming, as there are so many different wards to go to and everyone seemed to be extremely busy. The first day, my friend and I went to the Burn Unit, where we were immediately thrown in the deep end. Upon entering the room, we were met by a nurse screaming at us for wearing business casual clothes. Our preceptor, who was there to witness this, told us to go his office and change into our scrubs. Once again, upon return we were met with another fit of anger from the charge nurse. She told us we were going...

Pictured: view from the window of our classroom This first week in La Paz has been extremely interesting but also quite overwhelming. This being my first time in Latin America, I was in a bit of a culture shock. The shock came from the very moment I left the airport in La Paz. The airport is located in an adjacent city named El Alto. As we were driving through El Alto to get to my homestay in La Paz, I noticed a few differences. Firstly, the quality and state of the roads and homes in El Alto was much lower than those of La Paz. Secondly, I noticed far more stray dogs in El Alto, and I later found out that many of these dogs are aggressive, unvaccinated and often carry diseases with them. Lastly, I noticed many graffiti messages all saying the same phrase, “Evo Si”. I immediately realized that this was political propaganda, regarding the results of the referendum held by President Evo Morales in November of 2016. President Morales has been in office for 12 years now, and even though co...