Majors: Feminist, Gender, Sexuality Studies (FGSS); Education (EDST)
Minor: Global Engagement
What was the name of the organization you worked for over the summer?
GESMujer Rosario Castellanos in Oaxaca, Mexico.
What was your role and what did you work on?
I enjoyed working with the GesMujer team to promote gender equality, childcare,
entrepreneurship, and welfare services for women and girls in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. I had
the pleasure of working with the community members of San Juan Mixtepec to better understand
the lived realities of native and indigenous women in Mexico, with deep respect for their
knowledge systems, cultural practices, and the structural obstacles they face in accessing
healthcare and education. The fruit of our collective labor resulted in the successful execution of
a 3-week summer literacy PK-8 course, “Big and Small Acts of Care,” and a series of 20
community workshops focusing on herbal medicine, maternal care, and children’s rights in 10
localities.
What was a highlight of your experience?
I made durable friendships with my coworkers, elder mentors, and many university students in
the various career projects we were all conducting. I learned to expand my horizons and ground
myself in the often raw emotions of living in off-grid areas. As the daughter of Mexican
immigrants, it was a full-circle moment to connect with a community I’d never witnessed
firsthand, but felt echoes of throughout my life. Aside from guiding collaborative public health
workhops in local casas de salud, I spent much of my time at the plaza and library playing
educational games with my students.
How did your summer experience impact you?
Beyond the personal lessons, this experience taught me practical skills that I will carry beyond
Wesleyan. I learned how to design and deliver an independent curriculum, prepare an array of
physical teaching materials, and practice the guidelines of ethnographic research. I learned
Mixtec over a one-to two-month period. I improved my language skills by interviewing various
community members about their parenthood journeys and received their insight on what
government interventions they want to alleviate the social-eco-political pressures they encounter
within Mexico’s healthcare system.
Jazmín completed this experience in Summer 2025
