I'm a practicing Family Physician working in rural areas near the city of Cuenca in Ecuador. I work for the public health system (Ecuador’s Ministry of Health). As a physician I am able to work with people with disabilities in their rural homes as well as close to people with mental illnesses on a daily basis and at critical times.
I'm currently completing a master’s degree in Anthropology of the Contemporary at the University of Cuenca. As I work and live in a rural area marked by small family agriculture, for my MA thesis I am interested in researching the use of pesticides among many of my patients. I am documenting the relationship local farmers develop with pesticides, with their crops, and with their environment. In doing so I aim to illustrate the toxic and precarious conditions in which small scale agriculture exists in southern Ecuador.
