Michael Wauters
Field: Epidemiology
Host: Independent Study, Pastaza Province, Ecuador
Dates of Grant: September 1, 2007-July 1, 2008

Right before I left for Ecuador, I met with a former Fulbrighter. Her parting advice was, “Do not try and predict what your experience will be like, in all likelihood it won’t be anything close to what you are currently imagining, but it will be great.” She could not have been more right.

I came to Ecuador to join a project investigating Chagas disease in a rainforest province. And I am doing this, some of the time, but I am also working on numerous other tropical infectious diseases and learning more than I had ever hoped. I am taking a course in immunology from the medical school associated with the laboratory I work in and I do not think I could have lucked into a better combination of learning, Spanish practice, and meeting new people. The family I had planned to stay with a month, before moving into my own place, has turned out to be such a good fit that I now intend to remain with them for the duration of my grant; my experiences with them have constituted some of my fondest memories here.

One of my passions is cycling. Before coming to Ecuador, I had resigned myself to a year without biking, yet at present I find myself biking to the lab everyday and making numerous excursions to nearby trails. Back in the states I had been told it is almost impossible to break into Ecuadorian’s tight-knit social structure but now count several locals as good friends. None of these was as I imagined.

Prior to coming to Ecuador, I thought I had my life mapped out pretty well. But even in the few short months I have been here, I have found myself changing. I had previously hoped to become a doctor and at this point I still intend to apply to medical school; yet, the longer I am here, the more I realize merely being a doctor will never be enough. As I start to comprehend the magnitude of the suffering, the injustice, and the pain in our world, I cannot just blink and make it all go away; it is being burned onto my retinas. I do not know exactly what this continuing revelation means for my future, I only know I cannot be a bystander. Perhaps working with an organization such as Médecins Sans Frontières or Partners In Health, maybe blazing my own path; there are so many unknowns at this point it is hard to see what is best. And each time these thoughts cross my mind I wonder, can I really go through with this? Do I have what it takes to serve to this degree? And more and more the answer is yes, without a doubt, yes.

So, my advice to Fulbrighters of the future is that which was given to me. Go at it with an open mind; your experience will not be anything like you predicted and will mark you indelibly, but it will be great.

 Back to the U.S.-Ecuador Fulbright Program

 Back to Country Programs in the Western Hemisphere

 Back to Grantees' Stories