On Sunday afternoon, a few day prior to our departure, we visited the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, that illustrates the attempts against life and dignity against Chileans from 1973 to 1990. Whiling touring the museum we were filled with emotions of sadness, anger, fear, and sympathy for these innocent people. The museum depicted the 3185 executions and disappearances that were related to the new found dictatorship and political unrest.

One of the early exhibits that we saw was large a map of Chile made of stone lying on the ground. Throughout this stone were many markers with pictures of current memorials to honor and remember the people affected by violation of human rights. It was shocking to learn and visualize that human torture and political imprisonment took place throughout all of Chile, not just in one area.

We learned about the history of Chile while touring the museum. On September 11, 1973 La Moneda palace was surrounded by soldiers, tanks, and helicopters as the Military demands President Salvador Allende’s resignation. With President Allende the military opens fire and many people die or are captured and disappear forever. President Allende was found dead and the Military Junta takes over control of the country. It’s interesting that 9/11 is a significant day in other countries as well.

The new Government Junta, a dictatorship, sets new laws in which strict curfews were implemented for the Chilean citizens, the approval of the death penalty, closing of Congress, and prohibition of all political parties. Civil liberties were restrained under this new government, and fear among Chileans grew as persecution, torture, assassinations, and covert burials increased. There were exhibits about the use of electrocuting beds, drowning related to cement blocks being attached to people, and shootings just as a few examples. It is unbelievable what people went through. Additionally, thousands of Chilleans were kidnapped, exiled, or expelled from the country. A quote from a relative of a disappeared detainee states, ‘It’s terrible when somebody is executed, but you see it happen. You can bury him or her, take flowers to the grave and be in mourning. But in the case of those arrested and disappeared you don’t know where he is, you don’t know what happened to him, whether he is cold, hungry or if he’s really dead. This is something for the entire family to go mad.’ Thinking about this quote, one can only imagine how devastating it must have been for a loved one to just disappear and know nothing.

Age was not a factor, as thousands of children observed their parents being kidnapped and tortured, or their homes being searched. Many children were forced into exile and hundreds were tortured, assassinated, or disappeared. One of the exhibits was pictures and quotes by the Chillean children during this horrible time. Art therapy (a form of therapy we have used during our psychiatric nursing rotations at home and observed here in Chile), was used to help the children express their feelings. Some of the pictures showed fighting between the military and residents, people being taken away by the military, and people behind bars. There were pictures of cemeteries, and people caring for those injured. The faces on the pictures showed fear and sadness with tears. There were no happy pictures displayed in the exhibit.

The Military dictatorship lasted 17 years. During that time the Chilleans did all that they could in terms of protesting to restore peace and human rights. Other nations and human rights originations became involved in the fight over time, and helped expose what was occurring in Chile.

The most memorable exhibit is a mural that is 3 stories high and the length of a very long wall that displays photos of the victims who did not survive the dictatorship. Throughout the display are empty frames for additional photos to be added and account for those still missing. There were electric candles placed as a vigil to help remember and denounce the loss of these people. It was mind-blowing to learn that something like this happened for so many years, and for us to be in college and just learning about it now. Reading some of these peoples stories and quotes, and watching short movie documentaries was heartbreaking. Words cannot describe how we felt.

~Sara and Mariah

On the Monday before we left Chile, we spent the day in Valparaiso, a coastal city about 2.5 hours from Santiago. The city is made up of many steep hills and valleys, much like San Francisco. Even here, there was definite evidence between the rich and the poor. Some homes had eccentric architecture, built on top of the hills overlooking the water. Others were more noticeably poor, with rusty tin roofs and walls made from mismatched wood. Graffiti was everywhere, though much of it was actually quite beautiful.

Professor King had downloaded a book on her kindle that gave a step by step (no pun intended) tour of ‘Valpo,’ complete with anecdotes about the historical buildings and landmarks. We walked around the city, admiring the landscape, architecture, and view of the ocean. One of the unique hallmarks of Valpo is the sight of funiculars going up and down the side of the steep hills. Funiculars are railways on which rides a small wooden boxcar that can fit around 10 people. This wooden car moves along the railway, up and down the hills, giving peoples’ legs a break but still allowing them to reach their destination. The funicular we went on was at about a 60 degree angle and very old looking (yikes!), but gave us a beautiful view of the city as it went up the side of the hill.

As we walked around the city, Professor King told us a brief history of Valpo. In the 1500’s and 1600’s, Valparaiso (meaning Paradise Valley) was the site of the Chilean navy. Later, still before the Panama Canal was built, Valparaiso was an essential stop for food and water for large boats rounding Cape Horn. Currently, it functions both as an important seaport and tourist destination.

Valparaiso definitely rivals the other places we saw in Chile in terms of beauty and charm. My only complaint? That we did not have enough time to see everything the city has to offer!

It is very important for myself and the students at UMass Lowellwho traveled to Chile to thank Javier Cifuentes. He is the son of Manuel Cifuentes who works for UMass Lowell.

Javier is a student at BU and a previous resident of Chile before moving to the United States at age nine. He is fluent in Spanish and knows Chile. This young man took upon the huge responsibility of being our liaison and translator. He willingly gave up his own semester break to travel with us and listened to our many questions such as “what does this mean,” “can you tell me how to ask the patient (bus driver, waiter, banker etc.)” and a million other questions.

He is a kind, generous and joyful person to travel with. This trip challenged him as well as us and we thank him for his invaluable assistance.

Thanks Javi!

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Today is our last full day in Santiago. Many of the students are tired and I am sure would like to sleep in.I have decided to go to Valparaiso and have invited anyone who would like to come with me.I am pleasantly surprised that instead of hanging around the pool today they are willing to go to a historical site.

Earthquake damaged home in Constitucion, Chile.

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On Friday, we went to a city called Constituci’n. We traveled via train from Talca and that was the first exciting part of the trip. All of us were expecting a large modern train but we were all surprised when a tiny, old, rickety train pulled up to get us that had to date back to the early 1900s. It was a loud, bumpy train ride and the conductor honked an extremely loud horn throughout the trip that made many of us jump with surprise even after hearing it several times already.

It is hard to believe that we have been here for a week now. The experiences have been varied and challenging. I have just read the student blog entries for the last few days and I am impressed with their ability to capture the moments.

The people of Chile have been so welcoming and warm. I know that when we walk down the street we look different and we collect some stares. We are a funny looking group of nine as we walk through the streets of Talca with our backpacks and stop to take pictures or to watch a stray dog. There are lots of stray dogs and it is interesting how this interests the students.

Talca is also a city but of course not as big as Santiago. It is has taken us a few days but we are finally getting a sense of direction. The streets are laid out in a grid so the streets are either parallel or perpendicular with an occasional rotary. Transportation is readily available but we are finding that our clinic locations are walkable so we have been walking and exploring a bit in the last few days.

Yesterday we had some great experiences that the students blogged about at Hospital de Dia. We were able to watch multiple patient evaluations by the multidisciplinary team. Half of the student group was in the room with the patient and the team and the other half was behind one way glass wall. Patient permission was obtained to have the students present. It was a bit difficult to follow the exact conversation due to language barriers and translation but what was so apparent to me and the students is that the team of health care professionals care deeply about these patients and each use their own skills in helping to address issues.

Mid way through the day we have “breakfast” with the staff, students and doctor. We are all impressed by these people but today we are especially impressed with the doctor who describes his passion and involvement in the movement in Chile to address the delivery of psychiatric care and make it more community based with varying levels of care that depend on the acuity and disability of the patient illness. He takes that time to draw a schematic so that the students can see the relationship between the various types of care and the multiple “safety nets” that are designed to prevent hospitalization of the psychiatric patient. He is also very appreciative and respectful of the nurse’s role in the care of the patients and truly partners with the nurse to improve the care. He was very generous with his time to explain various points with the students.

After a lunch we went to the outpatient evaluation center which is actually only a few blocks away. The facility was small with a crowded waiting room. There was a nurse who manages a special government sponsored program for anti-psychotics but she was the only nurse. This facility seems to employ more therapists, social workers and psychologists. It is small and crowded and we were surprised to see children in the waiting room. This is the first time we have seen children as patients.

All of these agencies have had to relocate orrenovatedue to earthquake damage. Some are still in temporary quarters and waiting for the new hospital to be built or for resources to build or rent a permanent home.

Earthquake damage to a bridge in Talca, Chile.

One question I have asked at multiple locations is to what extent the earthquake had on the incidence of mental illness or exacerbation of current known patients. Surprisinglymany of the health care workers respond that they do not feel that there was a significant change in the number or severity of mental health patients post earthquake. This seems to be contrary to what one might expect. It is a very interestingcommentaryon the Chilean Health care system.

Overall I am impressed with what I have seen for mental health services in the public health system. We have not seen any private health care but it makes us feel good that the most vulnerable in the system seem to be getting good care.

The students will have more to BLOG about tomorrow so I am going to let them tell you some more….

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