Midwifery student Kelena Van chopping leaves in Ecuador, with Mama Flora, a Kichwa midwife.
Amazon experience highlights holistic care
When Courtney Chartrand heard about an opportunity to travel to the Amazon to learn from traditional South American healers, she knew she had to be part of it.
“It came up in an e-mail and talked about natural plants, using plant medicine and Indigenous tribes out in Ecuador. I really had no idea what the experience was going to be, exactly. But all of those words aligned with my spirit,” said Chartrand, a fourth-year student in the College of Nursing.
“I have always been drawn to holistic, community-based care and natural plant medicines, as it is reflective of the ways my ancestors survived for thousands of years before we had western medicine. It’s important for us to consider that in modern-day health care.”
Chartrand, a mother of three, grew up in Winnipeg, but is a member of Sagkeeng First Nation. She was one of five College of Nursing students to take part in the trip thanks to a $6,000 College of Nursing Endowment Fund. The group included four nursing students and one from the midwifery program.
Nursing student Courtney Chartrand in a jungle in the Amazon.
Students from the College of Pharmacy and College of Rehabilitation Sciences also took part.
This was the third trip to the Amazon organized by the Office of Interprofessional Collaboration (OIPC) in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences over the last two years. The students travelled from February 14-23 and spent most of that time in the rainforest in Amupakin, a birthing centre run by a collective of traditional Kichwa midwives known as “mamas.”
The group took part in hands-on workshops, cultural exchanges and harvested medicinal plants. Chartrand said she felt a connection between the culture she experienced and Indigenous culture in Manitoba.
“I remember a prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor shared by an elder from the Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation that speaks to a time of the joining of Indigenous peoples from all four directions of the world,” she said.
“The Eagle represents the Indigenous nations of the northern hemisphere, and the Condor, the Indigenous nations of the southern hemisphere. Although they are very different cultures, different languages and different tribes, the issues we face and the missions in our walks of life are very similar. I kept thinking of that teaching while I was there.”
Kelena Van, a third-year midwifery student, joined the trip because of her interest in Indigenous cultures and preventative health care. Van was born and raised in Vietnam as part of a Cantonese family and was raised with Chinese culture and medicines before moving to Canada in 2015.
“I’ve found that many Indigenous cultures are similar to my culture in the way they look at health care, including the use of plant medicines and ceremonies,” she said.
“For example, the mamas prepared these plants for us that were boiled together and said that if we drank that every day, that would prevent urinary tract infections. That’s very similar to my background, but the plants are different.”
Both Chartrand and Van said a highlight of the trip was hiking through the jungle in the rain to visit one of the mamas in their home.
“There was green everywhere, and we were going further and further into the jungle and I kept thinking, ‘This is just their way of life. This is just natural to them,’” Chartrand said.
“It was the first hike in my life. I never thought I’d be in the Amazon, hiking with my peers for an hour through the mud and the rain,” added Van. “But when we got to the house it was so satisfying. We listened to the pouring rain and it was so relaxing. I even recorded the sound of the rain and still listen to it once in a while at night.”
The OIPC is planning another trip to Ecuador in May 2025 where 12 students in rehabilitation sciences and pharmacy will participate.
“This experience allows the students to come together to collectively deepen their understanding of the importance of holistic, culturally safe and relationship focused care,” said Lisa Mendez, occupational therapy instructor and interprofessional practice coordinator with OIPC.
“Respecting and making space for Indigenous knowledges are important steps towards reconciliation and improving the health outcomes of Indigenous peoples.”
To see more from the trip, watch an Instagram reel created by Chartrand.