Submitted by Selkirk College International Community Health Nursing Program
Selkirk College’s International Community Health Nursing Program is returning to Guatemala this year, and the local rice and beans fundraiser is back as well.
This May, a group of three senior Selkirk College nursing students will be participating in a four-week international community health nursing practice experience in Guatemala.
Castlegar residents may remember the annual rice and beans dinner fundraiser put on by participants in the program from 2006 to 2019. This year marks the return of the Guatemala Community Health Practice Experience, following a pause during the years of the pandemic. Students are excited to welcome Castlegar community members back to share a meal and learn about this international community health initiative.
The Rice and Beans Dinner will take place at Castlegar’s St. Rita’s Parish (513–7th Ave.) on Friday, April 12 at 5:30 p.m. Dinner is a $15 minimum donation. Guests will enjoy a simple but delicious meal of rice and beans along with cornbread, coleslaw and a variety of desserts. There will also be a silent auction with fabulous items generously donated by local businesses.
The dinner is the project’s biggest fundraiser and has been a part of the program for as long as it has existed. The dinner is accompanied by a presentation by the students and instructors about community health nursing, what the students will be doing in Guatemala and the work of the community organizations they are partnered with. The meal is an opportunity for members of the community here in the Kootenays to be included as partners in the project.
The nursing students will be welcomed by their Guatemalan practice partners to learn from their experience how community development and health are positively linked. Students explore the impact and influence of health inequities on specific populations of Guatemala with a social justice lens.
Working directly with community members and organizations, students explore concepts such as empowerment, capacity building, resilience, solidarity, and equity as they relate to health. The students engage in teaching and learning activities focusing on diabetes education, sexual health, oral hygiene and handwashing with adults, youth and children.
Students work in collaboration with a number of rural and remote communities in Guatemala. Students will work in urban Guatemala City and in the rural north of the country, specifically at Cooperative Nuevo Horizonte in the Peten region. All student work is community-based. Students are there to engage in relationship building, sharing knowledge and experiences, and learning from each other. The program’s community partners are well-established members of the communities they will be visiting, many of whom have worked with Selkirk College students since the program’s inception in 2006.
The program is an example of a local initiative with a global reach, it is an opportunity for local students and nurses to stand with the Guatemalan people in solidarity with grassroots community health initiatives.
Many past participants have described the experience as life-changing. Students bring the lessons they have learned from this international community health program home with them and apply their knowledge to their nursing practice here in Canada.
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