Edith Llyod-Etuwewe

International Experience Country:
India
Cohort Year:
2015
Home Institution:

University of Pittsburgh | Bradford

Heinz Programming Area:
Children, Youth, and Families
International Experience Summary:

Edith Lloyd-Etuwewe is very passionate about medicine and her future career goal to become an Obstetrician. Edith had the opportunity to study abroad in New Delhi, India and was introduced to various topics about traditional medicine and healthcare practices for six weeks. She traveled to Nainital, India and stayed in a village for 12 days with a homestay family where she was able to learn more about the importance of healthcare for both women and children. She was able to interact one on one with Trained Birth Attendants (TBAs), Nurses, and one of the only Midwifes in the Kumauni village. She gained knowledge about women’s healthcare, maternal women’s healthcare, and children who often faced many issues with obtaining healthcare that was affordable, accessible, and available. In addition, Edith was able to interact with her homestay family and learn more about living in the Kumauni village. She was introduced to several different cultural experiences that required her to learn how to live in the village.

She even had the opportunity to travel to Palampur where she was able to interview physicians who had experience in Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Acupressure, and Yoga. This exposure to a completely different insight on medicine, stimulated her thinking and allowed her to compare and contrast commercialized medicine so often seen in the Western world, to traditional medicine and healthcare practices in India. Throughout her stay in India, she was able to analytically think and make observations through fieldwork research that allowed her to better understand several challenges that many often face with not only healthcare, but culture as well. In fact, Edith has had the opportunity to learn what it means to actually be a stranger to a different culture. While in India, she was able to understand many cultural differences and acknowledge her biases. She was able understand what it actually means to be a privileged American who experiences cultural shock in both India and America. Not to mention, Edith believes that not only has India taught her to accept cultural differences and learn how to immerse herself into understanding a different culture, but she was able to become a much better analytical thinker and an observer.  Overall, India has given Edith the most rewarding cultural learning experience that will definitely benefit her in her future academic goals in medicine, as well as in her future career goals of becoming an Obstetrician.  

Community Engagement Experience Summary:

CEE Title: Cultural Diversity among Study Abroad Students

My CEE "Cultural Diversity among Study Abroad Students," was held on November 18, 2015 in the Harriett B. Wick Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. When I studied abroad in India, I was the only African American woman in my group. Although, a majority of my peers were labeled as white Americans, I was labeled as an African woman from Nigeria. Before planning for my CEE, I had to think deeply about an issue that I believed affected people throughout the world and also within my community. In order to gain a better understanding of various students’ perspectives, I spoke with students on campus about studying abroad, and what they believed cultural diversity meant to them. I finally realized that some minority students were dealing with racial issues and feared that they would not be accepted if they did study abroad, based on their ethnicity or religion. As a result, I organized the CEE so that students could express their thoughts on the importance of studying abroad and acknowledging cultural diversity. The CEE consisted of a student film and a panel discussion that included minority students who had not studied abroad, who were interested in studying abroad, or who had already studied abroad. These students volunteered to help me put together a film and participate in a panel discussion, where they provided their insights on studying abroad and helped spread awareness about cultural diversity.