This month I asked one of my colleagues, Nancie Furgang, to share her summer experiences working with an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty in Guatemala. Nancie is an adjunct lecturer in the University of New Mexico (UNM) occupational therapy graduate program and the program operations director in the neonatology division's developmental care program.

For six weeks this past summer, 14 graduate occupational therapy and anthropology students from around the country came together in Antigua, Guatemala, to launch the first session of the NAPA-OT Field School. Students and faculty from Alvernia University, Colorado State University (CSU), Stanford University, UNM, College of Saint Catherine, Saint Louis University, San Jose State University, Washington University and Wayne State University participated. This group of professionals and students impacted the lives of many children and adults in Guatemala.

The field school is a project of the American Anthropological Association and its sub-section, the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA). The school is unique in that it aims to provide a setting for multidisciplinary teaching, learning and practice between anthropologists, occupational therapists and disability-studies scholars and activists. The field school's mission is to train leaders in anthropology and occupational therapy in order to promote occupational justice through research, practice and program development. Practice opportunities in pediatrics, gerontology and disabilities studies include level-II fieldwork, a non-credit international field work experience, and as a post-professional experience for recent graduates.

Nancie developed and directed the pediatric component of the field school. This past summer, students did home visits with Guatemalan social workers from Common Hope, a non-governmental organization, and worked alongside their Guatemalan counterparts at the Hermano Pedro Hospital in Antigua on both the infants' and children's units. As part of their experience, and at the request of the Guatemalan social work staff and hospital clinicians, the students in the pediatric component designed and presented in-service presentations and trainings on early childhood development, infant touch and massage, and handling and positioning techniques. These presentations were designed for and presented to groups of Guatemalan social workers, early childhood program staff, hospital clinical staff and indigenous families from surrounding villages.

Nicole Milhauser, an occupational therapy level-II fieldwork student from CSU, had no idea of the impact her camera phone would have. Nicole was able to communicate in Spanish, but it was her camera phone that bridged the "culture gap" and brought Juan, a non-verbal Guatemalan toddler, onto her lap and into a world of communication with his family and his environment. Juan deftly manipulated the buttons, to the surprise and delight of his mother and grandmother. He captured images of the corrugated sheet-metal dwelling he shared with his family and started using words to explain his excitement.

For the first time since being re-united with his mother almost a year ago, Juan was playing with his family within his environment. This highlighted for Nicole the potential interplay between cultures, family occupations, environment and development.

Mario Pereyra, an occupational therapy student from UNM, worked with six-month old Mayan twins: "El Gallo" or "Rooster," because of the huge shock of black hair that stood straight up, and his blonde-haired brother whom the family called "El Sol" or "The Sun." Mario at first couldn't understand why the boys seemed so different from each other. But as he accompanied a Guatemalan social worker on weekly home visits, he began to notice significant differences. El Gallo appeared to be following a typical developmental trajectory and was able to sit upright while reaching for objects. His brother, however, was having more difficulty. He had little or no midline stability and could barely prop himself up while prone.

Mario learned from the twins' mother that one twin was carried in his mother's arms while the other child was carried in a sling on her back in the more traditional manner. Mario began to question how culture might impact development and what development and occupation look like in context.

A gerontological practice component was developed at Casa Maria in San Filipe de Jesus, under the direction of anthropologist and gerontologist Margaret A. Perkinson, PhD, associate professor in the department of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University. Casa Maria is a home for the well elderly, as well as adults with dementia, mental and physical disabilities who lack family support and/or economic resources to live in the community.

Level-II occupational therapy fieldwork students worked at Casa Maria under the clinical supervision of Karen Barney, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, chair of the occupational science and occupational therapy department at Saint Louis University, and Jayne Yatczak, MA, OTR/L, assistant professor of occupational therapy at Eastern Michigan University.

The disability studies component of the program is directed by Devva Kasnitz, PhD, an anthropologist and nationally known leader in disability studies. This past summer, anthropology and occupational therapy students worked with Transitions, an independent living center in Antigua that serves mainly young adults with physical disabilities. The program includes a residence, mainstreaming educational program, wheelchair workshop and offset-printing business.

While attending the field school, students were fortunate to live with Guatemalan families and study Spanish daily with their individual instructors. Students also participated in weekly integrative seminars during which occupational therapy, anthropology and disability studies students and faculty were able to learn, explore, investigate and apply concepts and knowledge in new and collaborative ways.

"This fieldwork provides a unique environment in which to grow not only as a professional but also personally," said Josie Gilbert, an occupational therapy student from UNM. "You get to see occupation and it's interaction with environment in an entirely new perspective."

The NAPA-OT Field School is currently accepting applications for the 2010 summer session. For additional information, contact Keri Bronson at keribronson@gmail.com or Nancie Furgang at NFurgang@salud.unm.edu.

Terry K. Crowe, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, was the founding director of the occupational therapy program at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and is currently a full professor in the department of pediatrics at the UNM School of Medicine in Albuquerque. She has worked in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam and traveled in 48 countries around the world. She can be contacted at tcrowe@salud.unm.edu.