Traditional Indigenous Midwifery and Amazonian Plant Medicine
internship Overview
The Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, with over 40,000 plant species and 2.5 million insect species! Also, many species of Amazonian flora and fauna have medicinal properties, and about 25 percent of pharmaceutical drugs are derived from the rainforest. The main indigenous group in the region, the Kichwa nation, is known for their midwives who use natural healing and plant medicine for maternal care and births. Despite the existence of both traditional and Western medicine, this province has disproportionate access to healthcare and a lack of resources for expecting mothers, maternal care, and postpartum care; the province also has higher rates of infant mortality compared to other provinces in Ecuador.
Interns work with an association of indigenous midwives who are working to preserve their culture and traditional birthing practices by receiving patients, visitors, and volunteers at their birthing center. Internship benefits:
Work with an association of indigenous midwives who run their own birthing center
Live with one of the midwives and her family in a rural community or at the birthing center
Gain an understanding of traditional midwifery practices, plant medicine, traditional farming, and indigenous culture
Support the birthing center with fundraising and grant writing, tourism, and the elaboration of natural products to sell
Collaborate with other health clinics, hospitals, or government public health organizations
Research & dissertation support available with partner organizations and universities, if requested.
***NOTE: Specific projects change throughout the year depending on the needs of our partner organizations. The projects interns work on during their internships are based on the organization’s’ immediate needs and workflow.***
Daily Life
Internships begin with an orientation in the city of Tena. After, interns spend the first few weeks getting to know their host family and getting introduced to their placements. Depending on the needs of the placement, potential internship activities include:
Shadow the midwives and assist with patient check-ups, births, and postpartum evaluations
Learn about midwifery practices by accompanying the midwives in their daily lives [e.g. when they go into the field, prepare medicine, receive patients, carry-out daily operations at the center]
Collaborate on projects with the midwives to get more patients to come to their center [e.g. find ways to subsidize patient care, create promotional or educational material to disseminate, find local midwives who are interested in working at the center, etc.]
Support eco-toursim projects and guide visitors as they learn about medicinal plants and traditional midwifery; assist the midwives preparing for visitors by cooking traditional foods, making beds, etc.
Identify medicinal plants and learn how they are used for check-ups, births, and postpartum care
Learn how to make natural products from plants including salves, tinctures, soaps, and shampoos
Contribute to work in the chakra (traditionally-planted agroforestry farm) by planting, weeding, and harvesting
An average day for a midwifery intern looks like:
***NOTE: Schedules can differ based on the intern’s placement and projects interns collaborate on. The following sample schedule is based off of past interns’ experiences.***
Wake up and have breakfast with host family (***If you are with a very traditional indigenous family, you can wake up with them at 4 or 5am and share in the ritual of drinking guayusa tea as a family***)
Head to the birthing center around 7:30/8am
Go into the medicinal chakra (agroforestry farm), prepare for visitors, shadow patient check-ups, prepare medicine, etc
Free time for making lunch with the midwives, independent research, or research to support on-going projects Lunch with family or at the center (***OR: When interns are in the field they can buy lunch or bring a packed lunch***)
Continue research and/or finish up daily tasks. Opportunity to participate in other activities with the midwives and volunteers, such as weaving, cooking, learning Kichwa language, and participating in a dance group
Return home around 5/6 pm for dinner with the family (***We encourage interns to spend as many evenings and weekends as possible with their host families to make the most of their immersions, learn about the culture, and practice their Spanish***)
Other activities to get involved in after work and on the weekends: sports, clubs, teaching English, meeting up with other interns, going on weekend trips to nearby tourist destinations, swimming in rivers, rafting, hikes to waterfalls and swimming holes, chocolate-making