Hannah Dottor is a UIU Senior majoring in Biology. She participated in the Upper Iowa University & Wartburg University Faculty-led Program: May Term in the Amazon in 2017. The program was an adventurous learning experience. The students got to explore a local Peruvian NGO and complete community projects for several indigenous communities along the Amazon and Napo Rivers.
This program gave Dottor the chance to see and experience different lifestyles in the middle of the Amazon. Dottor interact with various groups on the program, including students from Wartburg University and the native peoples of the Amazon. She also got to experience their different cultures and cuisines.
The program provided students with hands-on experiences in the following Amazon communities: the Maijuna, the Yagua, and the Sucusari. The students also visited a Yanamono Medical Clinic, a local rum factory, and visited a PeNuPeru medicinal garden with the local shaman Guillermo Rodrigez.
Dottor recommends for UIU students to get out of their comfort zones and possibly try a faculty-led program. Instead of only learning from a textbook, a student can experience the different cultures and environments of other places in the world. By having these experiences, students will reflect on their own culture and background.
