GRIP, Internships Abroad Shifting Perceptions of Diversity

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) - Asunción, Paraguay

I come from a mixed background (Pakistani/British on my mother's side, and French on my father's). While it can be challenging to balance these sometimes clashing identities, this blend has also given me advantages in terms of adaptability as I have grown accustomed over the years to sometimes feeling out of depth in terms of language and norms. Because of this, I was reasonably confident that with time and patience I would be able to navigate my life in Asunción.

My experiences in Paraguay was nevertheless, completely different than any travel experience I had previously been exposed to and presented new challenges. I had no prior social connections in Paraguay, and there were no other interns in my office in Asunción. I had to build up a social life from scratch, with a personality dulled by the limits of my Spanish (especially slang). Paraguayan culture, with its blend of indigenous Guarani customs and Spanish Catholicism, was also extremely different from anything I had ever experienced. However, the experience of building a routine and navigating my life in Asunción was extremely rewarding, as I independently lived and worked in a new country, culture, and environment.

While I tend to consider my identity in terms of my cultural and ethnic background, my time abroad also emphasized for me the ways in which my perspective is shaped by the American context in which I grew up. As I was walking by the river in Asunción one day, I saw a Muslim woman for the first time in months. While no longer a practicing Muslim, I felt a surprising wave of emotion as I realized that I had been desperately craving interaction with someone who might regard me as similar--an experience often afforded to me in a city like Philadelphia. Paraguay is a strikingly homogeneous country, partly because of a 20th-century policy that mandated that European Paraguayans marry indigenous Paraguayans, and because of a lack of immigration and tourism. To nuance this point, however, in conversation with a Paraguayan friend I mentioned how much I missed the diversity of the US. He was surprised, noting that he had always been impressed with the diversity of Paraguay as he had classmates from all over Latin America. In an instant, I realized how distinctly shaped by the context of the United States my perspective was. I was not considering diversity through the lens of the various nationalities present in Paraguay, and instead was thinking of diversity in very broad, racial terms. There are very few people of African or Asian descent in Paraguay, and this was the kind of diversity I was referring to, but I was forced to shift my understanding and perspective in fundamental ways.

Working abroad helped me think about my identity in distinct ways, but also the ways in which it has changed over the years. Despite being at an early stage in my life, I found myself limiting myself to a very narrow path moving forward with less room for experimentation, social impact, and travel. This experience in Paraguay helped me realize how important these aspects are for my happiness, professionally and socially, and I am more excited than ever to pursue my goals in global health.