When I was initially applying to the Loewenstern Fellowship and looking at the different programs I could do, I was immediately drawn to CFHI’s program in Quito, Ecuador: Sexual Health as a Human Right. Partially because when I in high school I had the opportunity to visit the Galapagos Islands and spent a few days in Quito, which I thought was a beautiful and interesting city. Ever since then I’ve wanted to go back to Ecuador and spend more time exploring the country and Quito. Additionally, since I came to Rice and started volunteering at the Women’s Resource Center, I’ve become very interested in women’s health and rights as well as topics like sexual education. I grew up in a pretty liberal town in Massachusetts so it has been interesting living in Texas where many people are much more conservative than I’m used to. I think the opportunity to work with CFHI in Ecuador will help me combine my interests in Spanish and Latin America with my interest in women’s health and sexual education.
Researching and writing this independent study project, I’ve learned so much about Ecuador and the history and current status of women’s health and sexual and reproductive rights in Ecuador. This project has also made me even more excited for my experience abroad working with CFHI in Quito. However, there are still a lot of questions I want to answer. Primarily I’m interested in seeing how the NGO I will be working with, CEMOPLAF is able to operate within such a strongly Catholic and conservative society and political environment. CEMOPLAF provides many services relating to women’s health and sexual and reproductive health, similar to Planned Parenthood in the United States. I think about all the backlash and controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood here in a generally much more liberal environment and wonder how CEMOPLAF is able to achieve its goals in a much more conservative setting. I’m looking forward to talking with employees and volunteers at the NGO to hear about their experiences and their thoughts on the conservative politics and society in Ecuador and how that relates to and affects the goals of the NGO.
I am also curious about the seeming contrast between official policy surrounding sexual and reproductive health in Ecuador and the actual reality women are facing there. Although Ecuador is the only Latin American country to have explicitly guaranteed the right to sexual and reproductive health in its constitution, from my research many of the actions of the president and other policies surrounding women’s health seem to go against the official policy. Many articles I read suggest that women are losing ground in the struggle for sexual and reproductive rights despite the constitutional guarantee. It will be interesting to hear people’s opinions on official policy surrounding these issues so that I can learn more about the actual situation.
Overall, this research project has definitely helped me prepare myself for my experience abroad and I’m more excited than ever for this new experience. I’m looking forward to getting firsthand experience at the NGO because I think I will be able to learn a lot more than I can from articles and online resources. I think that meeting with the employees and volunteers and hearing about their experiences will be very interesting and that I’m going to learn a lot more.
