My Journey
I am from Indianapolis, and by fortune we also have a town called Peru in Indiana!
My name is Katie Melloh, and I'm a junior here at Notre Dame. I am an anthropology major with a minor in Latin American studies, putting both of those to the test this past summer at an anthropological field school in the northern Peruvian Andes. Thanks to a grant from the Kellogg Institute for International Studies (Experiencing the World Fellowship), I was able to experience a completely different and unique culture and meet some amazing people. The field school had a focus on cultural immersion by joining the community in everything from agriculture to medicine to education. The organization I worked with is called the Center for Social Well Being in South America (for more information, click here!), a group that focuses on community improvement in various sectors through participatory action research (PAR). It proved difficult for me to isolate one part of my journey to expand and reflect upon, but I eventually chose the theme of traditional medicine for this project. It is a topic that has become very personal to me, not just because of the research I have done (both in Peru and here), but also because of the actual experiences I have had with traditional medicine and healers.
This Project
A Quechua-speaking health promoter with his daughters (photo by Jack Lazar)
In this project and website, I attempt to negotiate between my experiences abroad and translating them to an academic framework, using both to pose questions about how we can create a better future for health. I want to shed light on the rich cultural traditions of the Andes and demonstrate how traditional knowledge can have benefits for other parts of society. I also want to question the best way to navigate the integration of traditional and Western medicine (or if this is even a good idea), and what effects this has. By presenting this information I hope to interest you in the lives of Andean peoples, the importance and legitimacy of traditional medicine, and the issues facing those who utilize these kinds of health choices. I want to create a framework through which to look at this topic in the only way I really can: by reflecting on my experiences and my research that barely scratches the surface of the subject. I do not have all the answers--in fact, I have many more questions than answers--but only by asking these questions can we begin to make sense of the world around us and how we can create a better place for all its members.
Click to begin with the Background!