User:Gsakoda/sandbox

Be bold in Wikipedia!

Selecting Possible Articles
Gsakoda (talk) 07:33, 1 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Indigenous people in Peru
 * Healthcare in Peru
 * Shamans
 * Mixing traditional and modern medicine
 * Healthcare in tropical regions
 * NGOs in Peru
 * History of the Incas
 * Life zones of Peru
 * Inca Empire

Final Picks for Articles
Region: Indigenous Peoples in Peru

Sector: Healthcare in Peru

While both seemingly rather obtuse and obvious in regards to my PE, both of these articles are great foundational starting points. I believe I'll be able to contribute a lot to these important articles (one being rated top-importance, though a start article), and push myself through these to go beyond into the nuances and intricacies.

Inca Empire
(as a small aside, I just wrote out so much stuff from my two articles and then did a dumb and closed the window without saving, and lost it all, so unconsciously this might end up being a little shorter and stunted)

This article is rated as top importance and and a start article, but with a C-class rating, as it says it needs more citations. There are many WikiProjects interested in the page, and it's been delineated as a top priority, and almost gained status of a "good" article. The Talk page is very robust and has many collaborators.

The article is well-balanced and covers many aspects of the history of the Inca Empire. To me, it seems fairly unbiased, and seems to represent most viewpoints fairly evenly.

There's a sentence about chuño (and a few other sentences about food) in the antecedents section that seems out of place, particularly as most of the rest of the section focuses on the people coming before the Incas. In fact, the whole paragraph about Troll and his findings seems ill-placed, and should probably go to a different section, if kept at all.

I clicked on a few of the citations and they led to seemingly reputable journal articles and papers; the few I looked at also looked fairly unbiased. There were many internal links to other Wikipedia sites and I did not feel necessarily that many more were needed.

One thing is the mention of Quipu's is a little excessive. Quipu's being their form of communication and record keeping (in place of a written system), it's mentioned probably 5 times over the course of the article and explained at length in each. It could be explained once, i.e. in the introduction, then simply mentioned in every other part of the article. This, however, feels like a very particular point.

The "Population" section could certainly be expanded, as well as the "Economy" section. Perhaps there just isn't too much information on the economical structure of the Incan Empire, but the section is lacking in specifics, and could expand upon the last sentence "The economy rested on the material foundations of the vertical archipelago, a system of ecological complementarity in accessing resources and the cultural foundation of ayni, or reciprocal exchange." which is rather ambiguous.

This article doesn't have as much to do with my PE, other than to serve as historical context for the region. However, economic structures and religious customs and other aspects of Incan civilization certainly persist to the present day, so knowing more about it and indigenous populations would be beneficial.

Healthcare in Peru
The article is rated as C-class and only has one WikiProject invested, and it's the Articles for Creation WikiProject that's interested, which doesn't have anything to do with Peru. The Talk page also is rather silent, with just one comment (before my own) from another student proposing changes for her own school assignment!

The article is comprehensive, but lacks details and explanations for most of the sections. It could expand a lot more on the 5 sectors that administer healthcare to the people of Peru. The "History" section is also very stunted, entailing only history involving the Inca Empire, and the health effects associated with them and the subsequent Spanish Conquest. There is very little on the history of the development of healthcare systems following the arrival of the Spanish into the region.

There is a sub-section entitled "Increasing the efficiency of resources assigned to provide care for the poor" which should be changed, and could be removed altogether, with the information in the section moved to another part of the article. The section and title is ambiguous and should be explained and expanded if it is to be kept.

There are not too many internal links, so those could certainly be added. In addition, other pages could likely stand to have links added that direct to this page. There are many places where citations are needed, and many statements that aren't necessarily accompanied by facts. The citations that are there and the few I clicked on were journal articles or reports from independent organizations (like WHO). However, more sources would be very beneficial.

This article is a lot more relevant to my PE, and I'd like to expand on the section about healthcare access for poor and rural areas of the country. The article spends a good amount of time talking about the gap between poor and non-poor access to healthcare, but lacks specifics. I'd like to see if I can add any. I would also like to find some more information and specifics on what is entailed in what the mix of traditional and modern medicine entails.

Indigenous People in Peru
Quality of Schooling and Quality of Schools for Indigenous Students in Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru

Many sources I've looked at in relation to indigenous groups in Peru talk about education, and this section is lacking from the article, so I'd definitely like to add it. This source in particular looks at test score gaps in elementary schools between indigenous and non-indigenous students. They also look into familial and scholastic inputs that contribute to this gap, finding that family affects this gap more than school factors. My PE organization works a lot with supporting students in their education, having after-school programs and a Special Needs School, among others. I'll be volunteering in the Student Needs School, and the org works with many people with indigenous backgrounds, so learning more about the unique factors contributing to indigenous education challenges would be helpful.

Indigenous women's movements in Latin America: Gender and ethnicity in Peru, Mexico, and Bolivia

The article I'm editing also lacks any information on how gender plays into indigenous groups living in Peru, and that would be a great addition to the page. This book goes into past women's movements, and as it pertains to Peru, entails the history and degrees of success of these movements. Indigenous rights seeking often minimizes the voices of women in seeking a unified front. My PE org endeavors to bring everyone to a level playing field so to speak, helping people achieve success irregardless of their social/economical standing. As such, they work a lot with women, particularly as maternal care is particularly poor in Peru (maternal mortality rates in Peru are one of the highest in Latin America).

Estado de la niñez indígena en el Perú

So this is a source in Spanish, and many of the sources I've looked through are in Spanish. However, this source seems to have wonderful data and information that would greatly contribute to my article and my own knowledge of Peruvian children, which is the population I'll be primarily working with during my PE. The source entails health and hygiene and outlines the social conditions Peruvian indigenous children contend with and have contended with. This would contribute to the education section I'm hoping to develop with this article, and help with explaining the factors contributing to education gaps.

Indígenas, mestizos, y criollos en Cusco y el Alto Perú, 1780-1815

The Origins section of this article is really rough and short, and this source would help expand this, particularly going into the mixing of indigenous people and Spanish people. They go into many aspects of the history of how the various populations came together. Understanding the history gives me context in engaging with people there. This source is also in Spanish, so translating correctly (as with the other source) and getting useful information out of this source will be a challenge but will also help me in brushing up on my language abilities.

Healthcare in Peru
Tropical medicine in the rainforest (videorecording!)

This is not a scholastic source, but it will be very interesting to go and watch this videorecording. From the summary given, which is not as in depth a sense of what the "argument" is but which I think suffices for this, the workshop videorecorded explores the impact of western-style medical care being brought into remote regions. The presenter goes into some of the implications of bringing such care into these new places, and talks about the impact of the cultural and religious needs of the community served on how they provided treatments. I think it's a really important thing to consider the impact one can have in bringing in "advanced technology", or "better" care, especially with groups that have very different systems of healing. My PE has a medical clinic, so it'll be interesting to go into the space with at least a rudimentary knowledge of the mix of "traditional" and "modern" medicine.

The Right to Health: a Multi-Country Study of Law, Policy and Practice

This source goes into a lot of regions around the globe, but does have a section and an article specific to Peru, in the context of HIV/AIDS. One overarching theme I've noted with healthcare in Peru through looking at a lot of these sources is the lack of action on the part of the government in widespread healthcare access, and this multi-country case study looks into health law and policy to see how the "right to health", guaranteed internationally, actually manifests in different countries. With Peru, and looking at HIV/AIDs specifically, the result is as expected, with Peruvian government unable to really address the epidemic on a national scale. The article I'm looking to work on goes a little into government healthcare versus other sources of healthcare, but I'd like to expand more upon those sections. I'd like to learn more about the reasons why other sources of healthcare are having to step up, the background for the current healthcare system set-up, and the larger acting factors contributing to the current structure.

Medicine and politics in colonial Peru: population growth and the Bourbon reforms

This book would provide a lot of historical context for the current health system in Peru, something the article at present really lacks. It's history section is really a history of decimation of the population, without entailing how healthcare played into that. This book provides a picture of the health systems in place before colonization, and how medical care changed through colonial periods. This is also a great opportunity to see how "traditional" and more "modern" forms of medicine were brought together, through the 19th century. This would also provide me with more historical context for the present medical system in Peru, since even today, "traditional" medicine plays a big role in healthcare in Peru. This would help me expand on the government section of the article, and expand upon the politics behind the governmental role currently adopted towards health care.

Medicina folklórica en el antiguo Perú y su proyección en el mundo moderno

This is another book in Spanish! But it serves as another great foundational source for understanding (as the title implies) "folk" medicine's history and it's projection into modern Peru and the modern world. It goes into much of the history of "folk" medicine as it ties to the Incas and as it developed throughout the indigenous populations. It also details how it's changed to adapt to the modern world of healthcare, and how it manifests today. This will help in my expansion of the history section of this article, as well as in the traditional and indigenous medicine section, expanding these two sections that lack a lot of depth.

Traditional and indigenous medicine
In this section, a lot could be said about the intersection of traditional and modern medicine. The section focuses on indigenous peoples, which doesn't say much about their medicine at all, and instead expounds upon medical concerns seen within indigenous populations. I'd like to write a subsection about that intersection.

There's a citation needed on the first sentence under this section. I have a source that corroborates very closely the information requiring citation (I went ahead and edited it, adding the citation I found):

Today, approximately 45% of the Peruvian population is considered indigenous.

Intersection of traditional and modern medicine (ADD FOLLOWING SECTION)
Shamanism is still an important part of medical care in Peru, with curanderos, traditional healers, serving local communities, often free of charge. One important aspect of Peruvian Amazon's curanderos is their use of ayahuasca, a brew with a long ceremonial history, traditionally used by the shaman to help in his/her healing work. With the introduction of Western medicine to many areas in Peru, however, interest in undergoing the training to become a curandero is diminishing, and shamans are innovating new avenues to use ayahuasca. Young individuals have increasingly been using the popular interest of tourists in the brew and its psychotherapeutic properties as a reason to undergo the training to become a curandero and continue the traditions.

From: "Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare?..."


 * study conducted in Pitumarca, rural district in southern peruvian andes, 2006-2010
 * even with the presence of affordable and accessible biomedical facilities and services, study shows Andean households still prefer natural remedies over pharmaceuticals
 * the view of "medical hegemony", rather than coexistence, is the most commonly held view, wherein once biomedicine is made available and affordable, it replaces traditional medicine
 * biomedicine dominates and is global and state supported, whereas indigenous medicine is viewed as a local cultural model
 * nearly all households' first response to a health emergency is to rely on local medicinal knowledge, namely the self-treatment and use of medicinal plants, before local healers, then going to the health center and seeking biomedical solutions. The reason behind this was a high valuation of self-sufficiency and knowledge of local natural resources, and biomedical treatment was viewed with suspicion and critical evaluation.
 * The treatment sought depends on the complaint or health issue as well; even when both are available, many seek help from a local healer for "unknown" or "serious" (when their plants don't suffice) illnesses (like fright sickness and soul loss), or illnesses with cultural significance, i.e. those endemic to the region in question. Households will seek biomedical care when they know the posts have the particular treatment for a "known" illness, like "pain, fever and common cold; wounds and fractures; pediatric issues" etc.
 * categorization of illness, and folk dichotomy: seeking different care depending on the illness in question.
 * treatments are viewed as complementary rather than as mutually exclusive, and next steps in individuals' treatment itinerary is based on perceived efficacy of treatments proposed and socioeconomic factors that might make some options unavailable.
 * cultural resistance in the form of women carrying out indigenous herbal treatments in conjunction with going to health centers for childbirth, as mandated by the government. however, health-seeking behavior is independent of access to biomedical care (corroborated by other studies i.e. )
 * Natural remedies viewed as healthier than pharmaceuticals
 * valorization of local remedies upon biomedicine becoming available in a region
 * culture-bound illnesses

From "Blending Traditional and Western Medicine"


 * Study takes place in El Porvenir, shantytown on outskirts of Trujillo
 * The body of traditional knowledge is being maintained by fewer and fewer people, meaning more and more of it is lost.
 * Medicinal herbal-based treatments were primarily employed to treat psychosocial conditions, like fright (susto) and mal de ojo (evil eye).
 * also found that accessibility or affordability to biomedical services were less of a factor, compared to factors like patient age, gender, and illness type. Traditional treatments continued to be used to treat illnesses and needs outside the scope of Western medicine.
 * This study found that more people used pharmaceuticals than medicinal plants, because they were "more effective, were doctor prescribed, and use of the medications was backed by scientific research".
 * Many in agreement that pharmaceuticals are more effective, but often at a cost with negative side effects. Conversely, medicinal plants were viewed as healthier.

"History (copied from Healthcare in Peru)
Before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the early 1500s, the population of the Inca Empire which covered five countries - Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northern and central Chile, northwest Argentina - is estimated at between 9 million and 16 million people. The Andean people had been isolated for millennia and therefore had no reason to build up any sort of immunity against foreign diseases. This meant that the introduction of a non-native population had the potential to spell disaster for the Andeans. Even before Francisco Pizarro arrived on the coast of Peru, the Spaniards had spread diseases such as smallpox, malaria, typhus, influenza, and the common cold to the people of South America. Forty years after the arrival of European explorers and conquistadors, Peru’s native population had decreased by about 80%. Population recovery was made almost impossible by the killer pandemics that occurred approximately every ten years. Additionally, the stress caused by war, exploitation, socioeconomic change, and psychological trauma caused by the conquests was enough to further weaken the indigenous people and render recovery impossible. "

(unsure exactly how to transition into more current information pertaining to the history of healthcare in Peru but will work on bridging that gap later).

(ADD FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH)

In 2009, the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA) passed a Universal Health Insurance Law in an effort to achieve universal health coverage. The law introduces a mandatory health insurance system as well, registering everyone, regardless of age, living in extreme poverty, automatically under Integral Health Insurance (Seguro Integral de Salud, SIS). As a result, coverage has increased to over 80% of the Peruvian population having some form of health insurance. Health workers and access to healthcare continue to be concentrated in cities and coastal regions, with many areas of the country having few to no medical resources. However, the country has seen success in distributing and keeping health workers in more rural and remote regions through a decentralized human resources for health (HRH) retention plan. This plan, also known as SERUMS, involves having every Peruvian medical student spend a year as a primary care physician in a region or pueblo lacking medical providers, after which they go on to specialize in their own profession.

Conflicts
I want to get rid of this section altogether. The two sentences in it can be moved to another section, or can be put in a new section particularly pertaining to healthcare (or can be moved to the healthcare in Peru article I'm also working on!) Or it could go into its own section titled Indigenous Healthcare and that could be expanded upon (but I feel as if I'd be double dipping at that point). "Conflicts" riddle the history of indigenous groups in Peru from the start, so it seems rather silly to have a section devoted to it, with just two sentences about healthcare. If the section stays, it really needs to be expanded and have subsections relating to education, policy, healthcare, culture, and more, but (some of) these are addressed in their own sections.

Education and language (ADD FOLLOWING SECTION)
Significant test score gaps exist between indigenous students and non-indigenous students in elementary schools. In addition, Peru has over 60 distinct Amerindian linguistic groups, speaking languages beyond Spanish and the Incan Quechua, not all of which are recognized. Indigenous groups, and therefore language barriers to education, remain a problem primarily in the sierra (Andean highlands) and the selva (Amazon jungle) regions of Peru, less in the cities of the costa (coast). Throughout the second half of the 20th century, steps have been made to target and strengthen indigenous communities' education, starting with the introduction of bilingual education throughout the country, promoting teaching in both Spanish and Quechua or other indigenous languages. Quechua was made an official language of Peru in 1975, and while it was later qualified to specific regions of the country and for specific purposes, it is still recognized as equal to Spanish in some regions. The National Division of Intercultural Bilingual Education (DINEBI) was started, among other efforts, and worked to further incorporate bilingual and intercultural education. The Program for the Training of Native Bilingual Teachers (FORMABIAP) is another example of intercultural education efforts, focusing particularly on the Amazon regions of Peru.

Activists promoting intercultural bilingual education view it as being the solution for a more "equitable, diverse, and respectful society", garnering social economic, political, and cultural rights for indigenous groups while simultaneously encouraging "indigenous autonomy and cultural pride". Criticisms of bilingual education have been raised, in some cases most strongly by Quechua-speaking highlanders themselves, strongly opposing intercultural efforts. These indigenous highlanders view intercultural efforts as an imposition of "disadvantageous educational changes" blocking their economic and social advancement, historically seen as only possible through learning to read and write Spanish. The implementation of these educational programs has also been technically challenging, with teachers agreeing in theory but finding it impossible in practice to bring an intercultural mindset and facilitate bilingualism, particularly with often very limited resources. However, in contrast, studies by Nancy Hornberger and others have shown that the use of children's native language in schools did allow for far greater "oral and written pupil participation - in absolute, linguistic, and sociolinguistic terms".

Quote I like: "Intercultural bilingual education holds the promise of a more equitable, diverse, and respectful society... promoting indigenous autonomy and cultural pride, and demanding social, cultural, economic, and political rights."

The Politics of Community


 * language rights and higher-quality education in Peru is at the center of indigenous rights debates.
 * activists working for "the incorporation of indigenous languages and cultural practices into national language and education policy" better equips indigenous people to demand rights from the state as an indigenous group
 * activists w demands for the government to recognize and legitimate linguistic and ethnic differences, and the cultural and political rights of indigenous groups
 * some indigenous highlanders are among the biggest opposers to intercultural movements, as it's seen as a block to citizenship and an imposition of "disadvantageous educational changes", and by extension economic and social advancement, something achievable only by conforming and learning Spanish. "The right to language"
 * implementation of the programs are impossible
 * In Peru, there is no national highland indigenous organization, something that exists in many other Andean countries (Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia) - many reasons for the "absence of ethnic mobilization"
 * Long history of strong repression of grassroots movements and organization

Voice and Biliteracy in Indigenous Language Revitalization



Political Organizations (add to existing)
National highland indigenous organizations are notably lacking in Peru, though they exist in other Andean countries, such as Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia. This is a result of a long history of repression of grassroots movements and organization by the Peruvian Government.

History (edits to existing)
In 2009, the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA) passed a Universal Health Insurance Law in an effort to achieve universal health coverage. The law introduces a mandatory health insurance system as well, automatically registering everyone, regardless of age, who living in extreme poverty under Integral Health Insurance (Seguro Integral de Salud, SIS). As a result, coverage has increased to over 80% of the Peruvian population having some form of health insurance. Health workers and access to healthcare continue to be concentrated in cities and coastal regions, with many areas of the country having few to no medical resources. However, the country has seen success in distributing and keeping health workers in more rural and remote regions through a decentralized human resources for health (HRH) retention plan. This plan, also known as SERUMS, involves having every Peruvian medical student spend a year as a primary care physician in a region or pueblo lacking medical providers, after which they go on to specialize in their own profession.

Intersection of traditional and modern medicine (new section)
Shamanism is still an important part of medical care in Peru, with curanderos, traditional healers, serving local communities, often free of charge. One important aspect of Peruvian Amazon's curanderos is their use of ayahuasca, a brew with a long ceremonial history, traditionally used by the shaman to help in his/her healing work. With the introduction of Western medicine to many areas in Peru, however, interest in undergoing the training to become a curandero is diminishing, and shamans are innovating new avenues to use ayahuasca. Young individuals have increasingly been using the popular interest of tourists in the brew and its psychotherapeutic properties as a reason to undergo the training to become a curandero and continue the traditions.

Curanderos, medicinal plants, and traditional medicine still have a place in the Peruvian healthcare system, even as biomedicine (Western Medicine) is made available and affordable for all, including rural communities. In fact, it's been seen that the continued use of traditional medical treatments is independent of access or affordability of biomedical care, in Peru and in many other indigenous regions in Latin America. There is a strong reliance on medicinal plant use within households, especially as a first response to a health emergency. Many households maintain a strong base of knowledge of medicinal plants, valuing independence in being able to address health emergencies, though the emphasis on maintaining this store of knowledge is decreasing. Studies show that Peruvian households, like ones in the Andean region near Pitumarca, and ones in the shantytown of El Porvenir near Trujillo, still prefer herbal treatments to the use of pharmaceuticals, particularly for specific cultural, or psychosocial illnesses. Though some preferred pharmaceuticals to household herbal solutions, because they are more effective, prescribed by doctors, and backed scientific research, others had many reasons for preferring traditional solutions. Reasons included a view that medicinal plants are more natural and healthy, are less expensive, and are able to treat cultural and regional illnesses outside the scope of biomedicine. One study also pointed to continued reliance on medicinal plants as a form of "cultural resistance"; despite biomedicine's domination over indigenous health systems, local communities use both in conjunction and perceive local remedies as both effective and a representation of cultural identity. With the emergence of biomedicine in these communities, they saw a valorization of traditional and local remedies as a response.

However, many Peruvians exercise "medical pluralism" in their health-seeking behavior, employing a combination of different health systems. For example, some women encouraged and coerced into going to the medical clinic for childbirth too the pharmaceutical pills prescribed with medicinal herbal tea. Western medicine and traditional medicine are not viewed as mutually exclusive, and instead are used complementarily, with households' often passing judgement on treatment they think will be most effective with each medical emergency.

Education and language (new section)
Significant test score gaps exist between indigenous students and non-indigenous students in elementary schools. In addition, Peru has over 60 distinct Amerindian linguistic groups, speaking languages beyond Spanish and the Incan Quechua, not all of which are recognized. Indigenous groups, and therefore language barriers to education, remain a problem primarily in the sierra (Andean highlands) and the selva (Amazon jungle) regions of Peru, less in the cities of the costa (coast). Throughout the second half of the 20th century, steps have been made to target and strengthen indigenous communities' education, starting with the introduction of bilingual education throughout the country, promoting teaching in both Spanish and Quechua or other indigenous languages. Quechua was made an official language of Peru in 1975, and while it was later qualified to specific regions of the country and for specific purposes, it is still recognized as equal to Spanish in some regions.

Activists promoting intercultural bilingual education view it as being the solution for a more "equitable, diverse, and respectful society", garnering social economic, political, and cultural rights for indigenous groups while simultaneously encouraging "indigenous autonomy and cultural pride". Criticisms of bilingual education have been raised, in some cases most strongly by Quechua-speaking highlanders themselves, strongly opposing intercultural efforts. These indigenous highlanders view intercultural efforts as an imposition of "disadvantageous educational changes" blocking their economic and social advancement, historically seen as only possible through learning to read and write Spanish. While the legislation has been one of the most forward in Latin America concerning indigenous education, the implementation of these educational programs has been technically challenging, with teachers agreeing in theory but finding it impossible in practice to bring an intercultural mindset and facilitate bilingualism, particularly with often very limited resources. However, in contrast, studies by Nancy Hornberger and others have shown that the use of children's native language in schools did allow for far greater "oral and written pupil participation - in absolute, linguistic, and sociolinguistic terms".

With a lack of political will and economic force to push a nationally unified bilingual education program, many disconnected efforts have been put forth. The National Division of Intercultural Bilingual Education (DINEBI) was started, among other efforts, and worked to further incorporate bilingual and intercultural education. The Program for the Training of Native Bilingual Teachers (FORMABIAP) is another example of intercultural education efforts, focusing particularly on the Amazon regions of Peru.