Teaching Self Love in Paradise

I passed my first hour on Isabela supine under palm shade, legs and arms akimbo as I released into the kind of deep sleep that occurs only when your body knows it can finally and fully give in. When my eyelids eventually fluttered open, they took in the white sand, tropical palm fronds, turquoise water, and blue sky. 'Am I in paradise?'

I remember asking myself.  Indeed, I had landed in an eden of wild and endemic species, varying landscapes from black lava fields and flamingo-lined ponds to ominously overgrown forests and endless coastlines.  However, as much as my two years in the Galápagos Islands were characterized by unparalleled nature, the experience was boldly defined by the unique opportunity to teach and learn from the local villagers, los isabeleños.

From 2007-2009, I lived in Puerto Villamil, Isabela, where I taught at the Colegio Fray Agustín Azkúnaga, in collaboration with the non-profit Isabela Oceanographic Institute.  With less than a year teaching experience, and a brand new teaching certificate, I entered the open-air classrooms of the high school with equal parts naïveté and enthusiasm.  Over the course of the next two years, I came to know my students alongside their families, all part of an interconnected community on a small island in the Pacific.  It is the mix of Latin American culture woven into interdependence and intimacy, set within a dramatically unique environment.  For me, this was paradise.

English class began with group projects surveying and analyzing the level and type of English usage on the island.  From here, students discussed advantages of learning English, including the potential for becoming a naturalist guide, a career that many aspired to attain. With this motivation, students researched, practiced and finally performed interpretive talks on animals and tourist destinations during field trips with a panel of invited guests.  Other highlights included guest speaker question and answer sessions, student-written role-plays, interactive games, and even having students come voluntarily to my free evening English classes for adults.

However, class time wasn’t always easy, as any teacher can attest. As I learned more about my students’ backgrounds and histories, I understood the many challenges they had overcome, as well as the trials they were still battling: broken families, alcoholism, abandonment, abuse, and teenage pregnancies. Laying in a hammock with a pile of homework papers, my heart broke to read a 13-year-old girl’s wish to have her dad, who lived on the island, give her a hug or say happy birthday, just once. I soon realized my biggest hurdle wasn’t teaching grammar; my struggle came in helping my students recognize their self worth and potential. While I found small rewards in team building activities, self-reflection surveys, and letter writing, I also saw how home struggles correlate into disruptive or defiant behavior, or a simple lack of hope for future successes.

The excitement, stimulation, reward, and tribulations of the classroom were balanced out by the friendships I made within the community. Walking home from school, a family would invite me over to eat freshly prepared ceviche, from fish caught that morning. Surfer friends would daily whistle from outside the mission gates where I lived to call me out for an afternoon session. Doña Fanny would cheerfully call my name, “¡Laurita, tienes una carta!” from the seascape painted mural outside the post office. Everyone, from the 4-year-old daughter of the neighboring grocer, to toothless, smiling Don Plutarco, would greet me with kind words and big smiles. For Thanksgiving, the handful of other international friends gathered with locals to celebrate our U.S. traditions of sharing food together. Each day was truly a shining shell, resplendent in its beauty and simplicity.

Now, looking back, I am still ever grateful for the experience I had on Isabela. Four years later, I am still teaching, now with a master’s in Spanish and ESL (English as a Second Language), working with junior and high school age kids in Utah. Working in education on Isabela taught me that teaching is never easy, that victories can be subtle or hidden, and that all humans deserve support and self-love. I look forward to the day when I go back, when I swim with sea turtles, drink fresh agua de coco, and surf perfect waves. But mostly, I look forward to seeing the faces of my old friends, perhaps grown, perhaps changed, but always rooted in the magic and love that is Isabela.

Laura B. – english teacher volunteer

Anyone need a dentist?

Several months ago my son Eric (NFHS 2001) now a third year student at UConn Dental School informed me that for spring break 2013 he and four of his classmates were planning a trip to the Galapagos Islands. This was not to be a total fun in the sun event but rather a service trip to provide much needed dental care to some of the approximately 2500 inhabitants of Isabela Island.

These international service trips have been a regular part of the curriculum at UConn Dental School for many years. This was to be the 1st mission to the Galapagos and to complete the team they needed an experienced restorative dentist and I was invited to fill that position. The group was led by Dean Michael Goupil.

We departed JFK Airport on Friday night, March 22nd at 11:00 PM. After 2 flights, a bus ride, a ferry boat, a taxi trip and an another 60 mile boat ride we arrived on Isabella Island at 6AM the 23rd of March. Our accommodations were pretty typical for Galapagos hostels, a comfortable bed, toilet, shower and much needed air conditioning which worked well enough to keep the 90 degree temperatures outside.

To establish an outreach dental program on foreign shores is not a simple task. Firstly, we needed a local organization on Isabella to act as our sponsor. Fortunately the Intercultural Outreach Initiative, which provides educational programs on the Island, acted as our representative. They helped us with the visa requirements for both Ecuador and the Galapagos. Most importantly the IOI made the arrangements with local officials on Isabella to provide space for our dental clinic. We would operate out of the Island’s library.

As this was the first dental mission for UConn to the Galapagos we had no idea as to what the dental needs of the population would be. The students loaded four pieces of luggage with a large supply of gloves, masks, surgical instruments, antibiotics, pain medication, filling materials, hand instruments and topical fluoride
treatments. For operating lights the students wore battery operated head lamps, we had no dental drills or x-ray equipment.

The Galapagos is a chain of 42 islands all formed by volcanic activity. People live on only four of the islands. We had one free day before out clinic was scheduled to open and most of our group opted for a 12 mile hike to the mouth of an inactive volcano. The hike took us through woodlands and old lava fields.

The afternoon of our “free” day was spent exploring a small island noted for it’s
abundance of Galapagos lizards. Day one ended with dinner at a local open air restaurant. For five dollars we enjoyed fish soup, guava juice and fish and rice – Which I, might add was what we ate for most all of our lunches and dinners.

For weeks prior to our arrival on Isabela our local contact Amanda, from the IOI got the word out to the locals that the Brigade Ondontologistas from UConn was coming to their island. As there are few roads on the island most of the 2500 people tend to live in and around a small village near the port or in the highlands.

Dean Goupil had previously made 20 service trips to remote locations such as Amazon River Basin Villages, Honduras and Paraguay. His experiences dictated which supplies to bring, and how to manage them in the field in terms of logistics and disinfection. 7:30 AM on day one of clinic the students were briefed on how the day would unfold. Before too long patients began to show up. Some patients had already made appointments and others simply appeared at the door. No one was turned away and we attempted to take care of whatever needs the people had. Based on similar projects we were prepared for extracting many teeth. We were not prepared for how many cavities the people had in teeth that could still be saved. Using only the hand tools and materials that we brought and the students did what they could. Approximately 100 fillings were done with this method thereby saving as many teeth . Day one ended with 45 patients being treated including the town mayor’s mother. On day two we treated about the same number of patients. We took a traditional two hour break for siesta but rather than sleep we took this opportunity to use visit the Galapagos Tortoise Breeding Center. Looking like boulders and weighing hundreds of pounds, feet like an elephant’s with claws, looking like ET, and some being over 100 years they are a national treasure. Few are now left in the wild as their babies are targets for the wild dogs and cats which are not native to the Island but were brought there by man.By our third and last day the word was out in this small community that the American Dental Brigade was performing excellent no cost, no pain treatment. Even the town Mayor came for his treatment and Eric successfully, and painlessly, removed two infected teeth.We communicated quite successfully with the indigenous Spanish speaking population. We had Alex, a former dental student now spending several months a year living on Isabella, and Amanda as translators plus two of the students and I were reasonably able to speak Spanish.I have practiced in New Fairfield for 37 years with countless satisfying moments. Never, however, have I felt to be so fortunate as to be able to give so much to people who had so little. Eric stated that the time he spent treating patients on Isabella was his “best week in dental school”. Our five student dentists plan to go into general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, orthodontics and oral surgery at the conclusion of their training. Next year another trip to Isabella is planned for UConn Dental Students. I am sure that they too will find that the Galapagos Islands are a world treasure. I am equally sure that they too will find their mission to be one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives.


Doctor Robert Jacobs

Don't You Just Love Puppet Shows?

While tourists come to the Galapagos to see the animals, it is the residents whose interactions affect animals and the environment the most. During our semester here on Isabela, we’ve been able to get to know both the animals and people of these islands. We’ve fished with local fishermen, learning their methods and seeing how they rely on the oceans.

Just as the ocean influences their actions, their actions influence the ocean. While studying tide pools once, I was approached by a few local children who came over and asked me what I was doing. I told them I was looking at the animals and pointed out tiny hermit crabs and small fish. The kids then started to look in the tide pools themselves, and brought things over to show me because I knew the names.

Perhaps the most significant human-nature interaction I saw this semester was the puppet show presented by local kids attending a summer camp at IOI. We sat down as the kids brought out their hand-made puppets of all of the Galapagos’ main players: sea lions, sea turtles, blue-booted boobies. As part of learning about the environment around them, the kids had put together a story about a day in the life of the Mangrove Finch. This finch, which is only found on Isabela, is critically endangered because of the destruction of its habitat. The kids’ story had the finches facing all kinds of problems, such as not having a place to live and invasive species. In the end, the finches were helped out by humans, who had learned to take care of the environment. I was really excited to see that these kids actually seemed to care about the environment, which is rare in a place where the streets are often filled with basura (trash). Many of the people here are not aware of the unique environment in which they live. Even living right on the ocean, many do not know how to swim. People can’t be expected to conserve what they don’t care about, and education is the best way to spark an interest. Hopefully, these kids will remember some of the cool things they learned in summer camp, and, as future leaders in the Galapagos, will help protect this valuable place for their children.

Katie R. – spring semester student

IOI’s Evolution in Galapagos - Johann Besserer's Story

Profile of the Director

Johann Besserer, founder and executive director of IOI refers to himself as a, “marine science groupie.”

This so called groupie-ness, coupled with a deep, fundamental desire to help people and the environment, was the basis for IOI, an organization dedicated to creating environmental stewardship in communities that support some of the most ecologically diverse marine habitats on Earth.

It all began in April 2005 when Besserer, then a Marine Affairs and Policy graduate student at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, traveled to Belize for an anthropology spring break course with Dr. Sarah Meltzoff.

“It [the trip] changed my perception of what was this world, and what I wanted to do with my life,” he said in a podcast interview with Tangentially Speaking host, Dr. Christopher Ryan. “People were so seemingly poor, they had so little […] but I’d never seen happier people, they were just living, and I felt like I hadn’t been somehow.”

It was an ‘ah-ha’ moment in the purest sense.

Eager to deepen this understanding, Besserer immediately signed up for Dr. Meltzoff’s next trip to Latin America, which happened to be to the Galapagos Islands. It was Besserer’s time there, in the small village town of Puerto Villamil on the island of Isabela, that set IOI in motion. At this time, sea cucumber fisheries were a high value fishery on Isabela, and there were few opportunities for work outside of this ecologically harmful industry. These people need alternatives, Besserer thought – for conservation’s and social stability’s sake.

Upon returning to Miami, this idea became the topic for his graduate thesis, titled: “Establishing a Non-Profit organization to Benefit Education and Conservation in the Galapagos Islands.” The premise (including an annex that read much like a business plan) centered around the notion that introducing tourism, and educating local populations about sustainability and conservation, could have long-lasting, positive effects on their communities and ecosystems.

Pretty soon, Besserer was back in Ecuador writing his thesis, and what began as a three month research trip quickly turned into six. He began working with an Ecuadorian University that wanted to establish the “biggest and best oceanographic institute in the tropical eastern pacific,” calling it, the Isabela Oceanographic Institute. Besserer, who had been an international business administration major in his home country of Germany, established and ran their corporate social responsibility program.

After 15 months (working from their base in San Cristobal) it was clear that Besserer and the University had extremely different objectives for the project and that it was time for him to move on. The next few months were a whirlwind. In the same weekend that Besserer said goodbye to the work he had been doing for nearly a year and a half, a colleague, understanding Besserer’s vision for sustainable education focused social development and conservation, suggested that he speak to the local priest in Puerto Villamil. This meeting, coupled with the support of a few coincidentally visiting professors of another Ecuadorian University, opened doors to a new partner, and new facilities.

As it turned out, Angel Calderon, the local priest, needed help renovating the abandoned mission in the center of town. Besserer stayed for the next year, fundraising, recruiting the support of family and friends, and—even though the organization didn’t officially take on its current name until April 2013—establishing the Intercultural Outreach Initiative.

After renovating the abandoned mission in 2007, and keeping the entire organization alive with odd jobs ranging from trucking across the United States to being a chauffeur during the Miami Superbowl in 2007, Besserer realized that he needed a more sustainable source of income.

He recalled how he ended up in the Galapagos in the first place, and in the holiday intersession of 2007-2008, IOI opened its doors to study abroad groups. Study abroad is now IOI’s largest and most important source of income.

“The feedback we often get [from study abroad participants],” he said in the Tangentially Speaking interview, “what sticks afterward, is the cultural impact […] the horizon broadening part.”

The very things that led Besserer down the path to founding IOI, are also the aspects of the program that its primary supporters now appreciate the most. Education, experience, and most importantly, the invitation to change your perceptions.

Besserer was born and raised in Germany, and the last thing he imagined as an undergraduate business major was that he would come to the United States and start a nonprofit in Latin America. Alas, here we are.

In 2012, Besserer handed over operational responsibility to a local director, and through an organization-wide restructuring, defined IOI’s areas of intervention more clearly, and developed standard procedures for its processes ranging from salary standardization to support project application formats.

Today, Besserer is based in Miami where he is pursuing his PhD at the University of Miami, and overseeing IOI’s more strategic, legal, fiscal, and developmental tasks. That professor, Dr. Meltzoff, who originally took him to the Galapagos, sat on the board of IOI for 10 years, and like many others, continues to support the organization as it grows and develops.

It is clear that for IOI, and its founder, this is just the beginning.