- Argentina
- Nepal and Sri Lanka
- Peace and Conflict Studies
- Spanish in Argentina
- Introduction to Spanish in Argentina
"Behind numbers and statistics lie countless fates we will never know about."
Have you considered the working conditions of the people who produce the goods and grow the food we eat in Europe? How much suffering might be behind a product you take for granted?
Ingvild (29) has a degree in business economics, and works as a consultant specializing in sustainability and ethics in supply chains. The passion for labor rights that was ignited during her studies abroad is her driving force.
This text is translated using AI.
View the original article here.– Kulturstudier is the reason I chose to study economics. The studies in Nicaragua, Argentina, and Nepal have given me a unique insight into issues that are rarely heard about in Norway.
There are many who want to contribute something positive through their work – to make something a little better for someone somewhere in the world. Often it can be difficult to know how one can get into a position where they can influence something and contribute to change.
Ingvild had an idea of what she wanted to work with before she traveled to Nicaragua and Argentina to study, but experiences from Latin America were decisive for her future path:
– On one of our excursions, we visited a health clinic associated with a banana plantation.
Here we met many workers who had contracted serious illnesses and health problems as a result of dangerous working conditions and poor regulation of chemicals on the plantation.
– It made a strong impression on me to see the conditions and fates that exist in the food industry. The stories the workers told us have stayed with me ever since.
I have always been interested in how people are doing at work, and early on I wanted to educate myself in a field where I could work on improving people's work environment.
The experiences from Latin America gave me a completely new perspective.
It is important to prevent back problems in the office for Norwegian workers – but consider how much attention this receives compared to the suffering of those who made the chair you're sitting on, often have gone through.
– After the year in Latin America, I decided to study economics. I had never considered it before, but now I was motivated to really understand how businesses operate, to later be able to make a difference.
Interested in economics?
From 2025, you can study business economics with Kulturstudier in Da Nang.
For example, you can combine your studies with development studies 1 in the neighboring city of Hoi An, and learn about both economics and development issues.
- The excursions, the opportunity to get up close to everything you learn about in your studies, was the best part of Kulturstudier for me.
The local network that Kulturstudier has made it easy to get in touch with local non-governmental organizations and other community actors, and I learned a lot from these meetings.
In Nicaragua, I worked as a volunteer in a women's organization, and learned a lot from the local activists, about everything from organizing to feminism.
Unfortunately, we no longer offer studies in Nicaragua due to the security situation in the country. We still have a study program in Central America, in the neighboring country Costa Rica.
Ingvild chose to spend her entire stay in Nicaragua with a host family. You also have this opportunity as a student in Costa Rica.
All students have a 5-week stay with a host family included, but if you would like to stay all 16 weeks with a family, please contact us!
– I lived at home with a woman who ran a hair salon from her house. It was both challenging and very rewarding to live so closely with someone.
Every day I was woken up by the barking of a small chihuahua. Many people came and went in the lounge, and I was constantly challenged by having to try to speak Spanish I didn't really know.
– I also learned a lot about how to interact with people who have completely different political opinions and attitudes than myself. My host mother was very conservative, and I often disagreed with her. Nevertheless, we eventually developed a close relationship.
The ability to collaborate with people who have different opinions than your own is extremely important in the workplace, especially if you want to work internationally. The time spent with a host family gave me valuable experiences that I have benefited from in many different situations.
– I was able to transfer the semesters from Nicaragua and Argentina into a bachelor's degree in Spanish that I pursued alongside my business economics studies.
Later, I went on an exchange to Mexico City, where I had the opportunity to work with a local human rights organization. I definitely wouldn't have gotten that opportunity if I didn't speak fluent Spanish.
In 2019, Ingvild took a break from her economics studies to travel on her third semester with Kulturstudier, this time to study peace and conflict in Nepal.
– Here I had the opportunity to explore human rights from a new perspective, and it was also a stay where I developed a lot as a person. It was there I seriously started with yoga, and now I am a certified yoga instructor.
The interplay between human health and the larger structures that surround us has been important to me all along.
– For me, it has been rewarding and motivating to have these experiences in mind throughout my economics studies. The opportunity to travel and study social sciences also made this study more vivid.
I could always relate what we learned in our studies about, for example, international trade, to specific examples from academic excursions and my own travels.
In my master's thesis, I had the opportunity to collaborate with the UN's International Labour Organization ILO on a project concerning the working conditions of textile workers in Pakistan.
At the same time, I have been involved in starting a non-governmental organization, Correspondents of the World. This is a platform where personal stories from individuals all over the world are connected to universally important themes such as sustainability and human rights. The ideas and drive behind Correspondents of the World stem from encounters with people during my time as a student in Nepal.
The economics education that Ingvild chose because of meetings with workers in Latin America turned out to be a right step towards improving people's working conditions.
Not in the form of installing sit-stand desks, but by juggling an understanding of the big picture with the fate of individuals in the process of ensuring more sustainable and ethical value chains:
– In my job as a consultant, I have specialized among other things in corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and human rights. Often, my tasks involve assisting companies through restructuring processes related to value chains.
There are so many complex relationships within the picture, and there's a lot happening from the moment a banana is picked in Nicaragua—perhaps by a person who can barely stand up due to health problems—until it ends up in the fruit basket on your kitchen counter.
Behind numbers and statistics lie countless fates we never get to know about. But that's exactly why it's so important to understand how businesses and international trade are interconnected. Once you learn how this "language" works, it becomes easier to look beyond graphs and charts and see everything that lies behind.
Throughout my semesters with Kulturstudier, I have been fortunate enough to gain a unique insight into many of these processes, which helps me to see the bigger picture and never forget the people involved in it all.
