Two case studies on Transition in life stages: an ecuadoran woman(33) forced to move to germany with husband; a venezuelan man (35) unemployed, victim of the media in a corruption case

1. Empathize
by Lucia Alvarez-corvaia
for Stanford University DESIGN THINKING LAB, August, 2013
Two interviews, both at distance (phone and Skype), one in Caracas,
Venezuela, another in Germany
Please Note: 1.names, sex and places are fictitious for privacy rights
2. Interview is written with different types of letters: arial, the
Interviewee; Bel l o Pr o, Interviewer
3. Words said by interviewee are always in quotes, self description
and other

2. Erika Montes, driven by family ties
• Subject description: ecuadorian
woman (33), married to a german
craftman, one five y-o child;
studying nursery in Quito, dropped
out since husband pressed to
move to his country to try fortune.
Recently arrived to Baviera, Erika
sits at husband parents´ home,
looking after her child and talking
with her ecuadorian friends by
skype; she moved to germany in
July this year. I met her at a
Health care encounter in Caracas
two yers ago
• She looked as a good subject for
this topic because she is in a
transition, having a hard time
adapting to a foreign culture and
language, dropped out of school

3. Interview with Erika
• A few quotes will reflect what she
seems to feel about this move
• “I am afraid I will be an outcast
here”- j ust a mont h f r om
ar r i val , you ar e af r ai d
of mi smat ch her e…
• “It is like I was brought here by
someone else, not my own will”. -
I t l ooks l i ke you f eel
you have l ost cont r ol
over your l i f e
• “I sometimes think of going back
home; I miss my birdies!”- you do
not f eel at home i n t hi s
count r y…have you l ooked
ar ound f or gr een ar eas, a
par k?
• “German language is tough!”-ar e
t her e any r el at i ves you
can hang- out wi t h and

4. …Erika´s Interview, continued…
• “I love him but…He made me
drop out of school, that was
tough!”- you f eel
di vi ded…
• “I came to Germany mostly to
keep the family together”-you
st and up f or your
f ami l y, even i f your
per sonal goal s st ay
behi nd…
• “It was not my choice”- you
f eel you have been
f or ced somehow t o l eave
home…you wer e not
pr epar ed…
• “we have little money for
language education”-you ar e
f r ust r at ed, f eel i n a

5. say-do-think-feel
• Inferences:
• 1. I think Erika is experiencing a culture shock: -“…outcast”-,
• -“German lang. is tough”-; staying in the house, not going out…
• 2. I feel Erika's conflict between her own self determination “not my
choice” and her husband's desire to “go back” to his home land
• 3. I think that she does not accept her present reality -“sometimes I
think about going back home”, so she is negative-minded –”I fear
not to be able to adapt here”
• 3. I think E. strongly values family ties, neglecting her own goals and
personal development –”… “to keep the family together”-
• 4. My feeling is that she is little aware of her frustration and anger
with her husband and/ does not know what to do with it
• 5. I think E. sees no way out at this point; her feelings are blocking
her mind to positive view of the change of residence –”going back
home”

6. Aaron Gutiérrez – back in the desert
• Subject description: a male Venezuelan (35), unemployed
criminologist, single, one 8 y-o child, oldest in a family of eight,
grew up believing he was responsible for the younger
crowd ,“workaholic”, values and follows norms and efficiency at
work; personally “very insecure”, self-criticizing, positive about
others”; worked for a corruption-control government agency for 9
years. Aaron found himself involved in a corruption case, which
was very much up in the news, names and all. His best friend at
work got into jail and feels very sad –he said- about this.
• A.´s words: “I am fearful, I try to do all very orderly; I do not know
what my passion is, I am trying to identify it; I got involved with my
boss (woman) and perhaps that saved me from jail”

7. …Aaron Gutierrez, continued…
• “I was so addicted to work, that I did not give myself a chance to further prepare myself –
dropped out graduate school twice” –Have you consi der ed goi ng back t o gr ad
school , even on l i ne? “ Hmmm, I am not sure…perhaps a masters in bussiness
administration…but they do not offer it here…” woul d you move t o anot her ci t y? “Not
sure, I am suffocated by debts now, credit card, my apartment that I am trying to rent…you see,
but I am been selective about the people I let in there: singles, no children, no couples, no older
people”
• you must have r ecei ve good benef i t s f r om over - wor ki ng so much, can you
pi npoi nt t hem?
• “yes, aside from my salary, my boss always rewarded me, praised me in front of others, plus I
experienced great satisfaction for a successful case”
• How do you manage st r ess? ”( …) psychotherapy, he also recommends yoga and
meditation…”
• “At my mother's home where I live now, I feel trapped: she always wants to control what I do and
who I am going with. She keeps banging me with “you must get busy cleaning your name up”.
The media did a strong coverage to this case and my name was out in the public arena…” Have
you t hought about usi ng t hat f ame t o your benef i t , exampl e: speaki ng
out , maki ng a case publ i c, et c… “No, I surely would not do that, I don´t think so, it is all
dirty stuff! Now, Who is going to give me a job?!”
• At the end, he says:” I hope you find the interview useful for your work” Yes! , i t has been
gr eat : …your openness and cooper at i on, t hanks a l ot . I am al ways open t o
gi ve you yoga cl asses at a mi ni mum or cer o r at e. Thanks a l ot , see you
ar ound!

8. Inferences:
• I feel A. is very stressed and hopeless for what happened with his whole
career –”I am fearful”; “who is going to give me a job?”-
• I think A. also feels guilty about his friend being in jail
• I think A.´s public image is badly stained, and he feels dirty-”It´s all dirty
stuff”- and get “bugged” by mother who reminds him of his responsibility in
cleaning up such image

9. …Inferences from Aaron´s interview, continued…
• I think A. feels powerless about the media; he does not see an opportunity
to clean his image, he is ignoring it and letting time do its forgetful effect
–”…(mother) keeps banging me with “you must get busy cleaning your name up”.
The media did a strong coverage to this case and my name was out in the public
arena…” Have you t hought about usi ng t hat f ame t o your benef i t ,
exampl e: speaki ng out , maki ng a case publ i c, et c…No!,…hmmm, I do
not think so, it is all dirty stuff!
• I also think that A. has a “straw tail” (rabo e´paja), that is, he does not want to get too
close to the fire (opening his case again into the media); I say that from his…
defensive? reaction to my suggesting his using that fame he now has, to turn things
around to his benefit. Perhaps, he is too, responsible for some of the accusations he
was fingered about in public, and perhaps that makes him feel guiltier about his friend
in jail –”…feels very sad –he said- about this.”-
• I feel moved by A´s situation and sense that this interview must be followed up by
another, so our interaction gives him some light and also helps him as it has helped
me out with my assignment
• I think that he will be more than willing to do it –”I hope you find the interview useful
for your work”; inferring from his words: I want to be useful, pardon!, let me in!

10. Define the problem
• 1. two key words here: TRANSITION, and DISCONNECTION
• 2. the individual person is in pain, troubled, worried and overloaded
with bills and responsibilities and/or with anger, guilt and shame, or
both

11. • 3. the person's emotional situation prevents him/her from having a
whole view, a more complete perspective of the situation
• 4. If aside from transition there is disconnection from community,
family or public/private supportive sectors, the person is stagnated
• 5. Community support Services do not usually reach out people who
are mostly needing them
• 6. In the case of recent graduates not finding a job, the educational
system and find-a-job services are not always matching the
numbers of people graduating; the planning aspect of the ed.
system is failing
• 7. In the case of international migration, there are no outreach
services in Germany to deal with language barriers and cultural
adaptation
• 8. In the case of ethical issues, both the person and the media have
their views; the individual (Aaron) timidly seeks healing from the
damage to his public image and tends to avoid the person who
reminds him of that. The media accomplished its role of ventilating
the issue (corruption) and is continuing following it up as a general
governmental policy for this administration

12. …Define the problem, continued…
• In Erika's case, there is dependency from the husband, family
responsibilities, child rearing
• In Aaron's case, he is in an ethical, existential bound: well qualified for
public arena jobs in Venezuela, but immersed in the muddy terrain of media
speculation-truth and his deteriorated public image
• Who is out there to help Erika and Aaron out?
– Erika, the woman case –at interview's date- is not seeking or even sensing any
helpful connections with the outside world; not even from the inside the husband
parent's home or relatives; she in in a culture shock and she does not know the
way out. I, as a friend and a concerned psychologist, could give her a “hand”
through the web. I would suggest going to a public school and offering help as as
an apprentice nurse, as an exchange for language learning
– Aaron, the man –he is afraid to be caught or too guilty to seek public
recognition and clean his image, making him visible and a potential candidate for
jobs; on the other hand, he seems to be interested in covering up what really
happened as much as he can. Support from family members, he has, support
from the psychotherapy, he has. Money, does he have and does not want to
show it for some time? This last aspect to be further confirmed
One hopes that –as in the image of a broken bridge-, the female energies
(supportive, grounded, protecting, loving) be there to repair, as well as the
male energies (focused, penetrating, assertive)

13. …Define the problem, continued…
Depression
Isolation
Low self esteem
Support/Help from
community workers
Family
Unemployed
Profesional/
Uprooted student
Language barrier
comm
unicat
e

14. You are part of the problem
1. Put gears to work for you! Move
around and make connections
2. Use the tools available: phone,
computer, paper and pencil
3. Search self-help aids such as
yoga classes, Tai-Chi, Meditation
groups
4. Register in a community center
class, even if it is vegetarian
cooking
5. Talk to people, find things in
common, do things together, help
out in others tribulations