The Harris College Magazine
- Winter 2008 ·
15
14
· Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences
W
alk inside Doña Aurelia
Moran’s tiny home, and even
when the fre’s out you feel
like coughing. Like every woman in the
mountains above Guanajuato, Mexico,
Aurelia cooks for her family over an open
wood stove. Watch Aurelia and Felicitas
prepare one meal, and you’ll never joke
again about slaving over a hot stove.
According to the World Health
Organization, making meals in the Third
World is a deadly occupation: Lung
disease caused by cooking on indoor
wood stoves kills 1.6 million people
(mainly women) per year. TCU social
work professor Tracy Dietz isn’t willing to
let that statistic stand. This spring break,
she and eight TCU students helped a
Mexican conservation group, Cuerpos
de Conservación, rebuild ovens in seven
houses in Hacienda de Arriba, equipping
them with chimneys to divert the smoke
outdoors.
Now in its third year, the springbreak
program in Guanajuato has become
synonymous with hard work: shoveling
dirt, sand and cement and mixing and
making adobe bricks, the kind of labor
that results in structures you can sit
inside of or cook a meal on when you’re
done. But the more important labor,
Dietz says, is the invisible work of hearts
and minds.
“Students gain through immersion
in another culture an opportunity to
really appreciate diversity and diference.
On their part, the students are faced with
stereotypical views that others may have
of them. They are ambassadors for TCU
but more importantly for the U.S.A., and
they change negative perceptions that
Mexicans may have about Americans.”
At the same time, the students gain
frsthand knowledge of the Mexican
people, shattering stereotypes of their
own. They see how close-knit families
are, andhow impoverished. They begin to
understand why Mexicans might migrate
for jobs so they can send money home.
“These people really don’t want to
leave their loved ones or take something
from us,” Dietz said. “However, they don’t
want to see their families sufer, either.”
Seeingpovertyupclose is something
the students brace themselves for, but it
still afects them. Of even greater impact
is the fact that people who have so little
are so happy to give. Maggie Thiesen
wrote from Guanajuato, on the second
day of the trip:
Work began on the frst stove. The
people of the community were incredibly
friendly and excited that we were there. It
was amazing that with such little they had,
they were still eager to share with us. They
practically force-fed us before we left!
Dietz has taught a fve-week TCU
summer study abroad course in social
work in Guanajuato for nearly 10 years.
Students study the Spanish language
and culture, live with host families and
volunteer with social service agencies, all
while learning to work together across
borders, seeking collaborative solutions.
This summer, students spent fve
weeks in El Monte de San Nicolas, a rural
community of 250 people. Mostly social
work students attended, working with
an elementary school and investigating
interdisciplinary issueswith thewomen in
thevillage.Thewomenexpressed interest
in self-development courses in nutrition
and exercise. At present they help their
children and husbands, but they wanted
to learn how to help themselves.
Since the program’s inception, TCU
has built meaningful relationships with
nongovernmental organizations and
local and state government ofcials. The
projects have been so successful that
Dietz has proposed the idea of a TCU
interdisciplinary center in Guanajuato,
where international service-learning
programs and curricula, internships,
research and faculty/student exchanges
would take place.
She is convinced that TCU should
become a leader in international service
learning. She calls it a “logical ft” with
TCU’s mission statement and dedication
to international education. This fall, she
is teaching a service-learning course on
helpingcommunitieshereathome. Issues
surrounding the Mexican-American
community in FortWorth and connecting
with the local Hispanic community is
the focus. - NA
STAYING STRONG:
New center tackles issues of aging
As boomers push toward retirement, society in the U.S.
moves into new territory: a population that is living longer
and postponing the development of chronic and debilitating
disease. And since Texas has the fourth largest older adult
population in the U.S., the Harris College of Nursing & Health
Sciences has launched a Center for Healthy Aging to tackle
the healthcare, social, and economic issues related to this
demographic shift. Dr. Linda Curry, Director of the Center for
Healthy Aging, reports the center’s goals are to:
•
Serve as a resource center for healthy aging by providing
expertise and leadership to academic, professional and
community organizations.
•
Facilitate on campus services that promote healthy aging
for caregivers and elders.
•
Provide educational programs about healthy aging
for students, faculty, health care professionals, and the
community.
•
Foster scholarly inquiry on healthy aging and promote
interdisciplinary research among faculty, students and
community partners.
The center is an outgrowth of work already being done in
Harris College. In addition to funded research in gerontology
and caregiving by faculty in the nursing school, researchers in
kinesiology focus onexercise inolderwomen and the infuence
of sex hormones on exercise; also, social work faculty research
Mexican, lesbian, gay and other oppressed populations of
older adults, as well as spirituality, forgiveness and resiliency
of older adults.
Teams of students, faculty, and community practitioners
will conduct interdisciplinary research, mentor students and
junior faculty, and educate the current and future workforce.
This collaborative efort will generate new knowledge for
the complex issues facing older adults and their families, and
create innovative interdisciplinary models of service delivery
to the university and community at large.
For more information, contact director Linda Curry at
l.curry@tcu.edu.
Clearing the Air:
Building vented ovens in Guanajuato helps erase international stereotypes
Continued on next page.
Helping Hands:
Top, a view of Guanajuato; left social work students busy working;
bottom left, Tracy Dietz and Maria Carranza taking a short break.