Current Fellows
Adanna Chukwuma
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Health Policy Fellow |
| Partner: | City of Newark: Department of Child and Family Well-Being |
| "I am motivated by a desire to be relevant in Africa, the need to find a solution to the problems in African health systems and the will to please God." | |
| Adanna obtained her medical degree from the University of Nigeria in 2009, graduating with multiple distinctions. She joined the National Youth Service Corps, where as a development knowledge facilitator with Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Project, she led several community- and state-wide projects aimed at combating malaria and helminthiasis. For her efforts, she received an outstanding community service award from the state governor and the Nigerian president. Adanna's main interest is health systems innovation in developing countries. She is currently completing a Master's in Global Health Science as an Exxon Mobil Scholar at the University of Oxford. She writes for the public health unit of Consultancy Africa Intelligence on important issues in health policy and public health within Africa. Adanna also recently spent two months in Uganda as a research assistant with the USAID health care improvement project. She loves to sing in choirs, play ping-pong, surf the internet, and make new friends. | |
Adejoke Ogunrinde
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Research Fellow |
| Partner: | Children's Health Fund |
| "I am a GHC fellow to equip me with the leadership skills to achieve my passion to improve health and quality of life." | |
| Adejoke is from Lagos, Nigeria. She earned her medical degree at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. During her studies, she was involved in several community engagement activities that delivered health services such as immunizations, and empowered high school students through career guidance, counseling and mentoring on sexual health and preconception education. After graduation, she practiced for over four years as a family practice physician before deciding to pursue a population-based approach to health equity. She recently earned her Masters in Public Health, which she believes will assist in achieving this dream. She has successfully worked on grants awarded by Beyond the Condom, the national campaign to prevent teen and unplanned pregnancy, to promote use of long-acting reversible contraceptives among college students. She also worked on a University of South Florida student challenge grant that aimed to address issues of paternal involvement during pregnancy amongst a minority population in Tampa, Florida. She enjoys singing, meeting people and reading. | |
Adeline Manikuzwe
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Partners In Health |
| "Health equity means that all people, irrespective of ethnic or socio-economic status, sex or age, have an equal opportunity to develop and maintain health and just access to resources for health." | |
| Adeline is from Kigali, Rwanda, She completed her undergraduate studies at Kibungo University in Rwanda, majoring in Management. While at Kibungo University, she was a member of Basic Brilliant Africa (BBA), a group that, among other activities, connected students by sharing Rwandan history and traditional Rwandan culture. After completing her undergraduate studies in 2009, she worked at Partners in Health Rwanda as a data officer in monitoring and evaluation. In 2010, she was promoted to Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, and worked in that position before joining GHC. During her leisure time she enjoys reading public health and technology books and applying her values of integrity, hard work, honesty, and flexibility to group projects. | |
Alexa Monroy
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Social Protection and Health Fellow |
| Partner: | Inter-American Development Bank |
| "A community allows us to share our hopes and fears, and pushes to build a brighter future." | |
| Alexa grew up in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She completed her undergraduate studies at Duke University, where she obtained a Bachelors of Science in Neuroscience and a certificate in Global Health. During her junior year, Alexa spent a semester abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, studying international health and interning in the Policy and Advocacy office of the International AIDS Society (IAS). The following summer, she worked at the AIDS 2010 Conference in Vienna, Austria, as the liaison between the IAS and UNDP's Red Ribbon Award committee. Her fieldwork has spanned from providing academic support in the Women's Literacy department of Safe Passage in Guatemala City to facilitating a group prenatal care program for Latin American women living in North Carolina. After college, she accepted a position as a clinical research coordinator in the orthopedic trauma department of NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City. Whenever possible, Alexa loves to travel and the opportunity it provides for her to explore new languages, food and cultures. | |
Alexis Barnes
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Program Manager |
| Partner: | Mpoma Community HIV/AIDS Initiative |
| "I strive to work hard within a community of global health professionals who know they are catalysts for change." | |
| Alexis is from Portland, Oregon. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon, majoring in International Studies. Following her degree, Alexis interned in Ethiopia researching adoption and care of orphans in Addis Ababa. She continued with advocacy work in Washington, D.C., through an internship with the international grants department of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an organization supporting compliance of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control around the globe. After receiving her degree, Alexis also spent time working and volunteering South America. Alexis accepted a contract with the Chilean Ministry of Education on a UNDP education initiative in Santiago, Chile. She also spent time in Peru, volunteering in a pharmacy for a maternal health clinic. Recently, Alexis attended the University of Sydney where she completed her Master's in International Public Health. Upon completion of her degree, Alexis moved back to the rainy Pacific Northwest and is excited to spend her fellowship on the equator. | |
Aliane Umukesha
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Community Mobilizer |
| Partner: | Health Poverty Action |
| "I want to improve my skills and knowledge and learn from different people from all over the world to contribute to global health equity." | |
| Aliane is from the Nyamagabe District in Rwanda. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Kigali Institute of Education majoring in Business Studies and Education. She worked at Compassion International as a sponsor-to-child facilitator, where she helped children from impoverished families. While she was a student at the Kigali Institute of Education, she volunteered with the Rotary Club where she visited children in orphanages. There, she offered material support as well as counseling to children with psycho-social needs, especially genocide orphans. She also volunteered at Never Again Rwanda where she taught students in secondary schools about peace and reconciliation. After completing her undergraduate studies she worked with Partners in Health in the department of Community Health as a data collector before joining GHC. Aliane enjoys working with her community and contributing to its well-being. | |
Alina Kostreba
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Procurement Officer |
| Partner: | Village Health Works |
| "Community fosters collaboration and oneness amongst a group of people so that together they can enjoy and improve their lives." | |
| Alina received her Masters in Global Health from George Mason University and her Bachelors in History and Anthropology from the University of Virginia. Alina interned with the East African Center (EAC) in Kenya where she completed a project to revamp and streamline their medication inventory systems. With the EAC, she also formulated an in-country assessment of private and government clinic operations to identify service gaps and patient demographics. Most recently, Alina worked for Noblis, a strategy and technology firm, where she analyzed multi-million dollar source selections for the government and rolled out a health care program employing local services in one national, unified initiative. Alina enjoys working with youth in mentorship and education. In 2006 she spent one year teaching English to Chinese high school students and more recently volunteered with Girls on the Run to promote physical and mental health in elementary school girls. | |
Anastasia Uglova
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | District Health Fellow |
| Partner: | The Access Project |
| "I want to do graduate studies in economic development, and would like to round out academic theories and models with a real-world understanding of the problems facing developing countries." | |
| Anastasia is from Moscow, Russia. She studied Political Science and French at Cornell University and began her career working on Capitol Hill and at various media outlets in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining GHC, she worked in New York City with NBC Universal's advertising partners to plan and execute event campaigns and manage the 2012 London Olympics effort for the NBC stations division. As a volunteer, she translated loan applications from French and Russian into English for the microfinance organization Kiva, co-captained the Kiva New York Lending Team, and chaired the Marketing Committee for ACCION USA's Microfinance Council. After working with The Access Project in Rwanda through GHC, Anastasia hopes to study international economic development in graduate school and to one day save the world by structuring highly exotic microfinance securities. | |
Andrea Garces
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation |
| "I am motivated by my desire to stand up for others who are treated unjustly and to see a world where all people show kindness, acceptance, and respect towards one another." | |
| Andrea is from Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from DePaul University with high honors, earning her Bachelors in Communication with a minor in Spanish and Masters in Multicultural Communication. Andrea conducted community and partnership development work with programs that help disadvantaged populations access economic and educational opportunities, create nurturing communities for adults with developmental disabilities, and support children's rights in health and safety. As director of Safe Kids Illinois at Children's Memorial Hospital, she led a statewide network of child health and injury prevention partners through program development, educational outreach, capacity-building, and community action. Andrea advocated for long-term social change and effective public policies to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable children and families worldwide. She participated in a service trip to New Orleans working with issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, poverty, and homelessness. She also conducted volunteer work in Guatemala, Thailand, and the Philippines. Andrea loves dancing, concerts, sushi, and having fun with family and friends. | |
Angelique Bakunzi
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | District Health Fellow |
| Partner: | The Access Project |
| "I am a GHC fellow because I am an emerging youth leader who shares GHC's mission of promoting health equity. " | |
| Angelique is from Rwanda. She holds a Bachelors in Business Administration from the Independent Institute of Lay Adventist of Kigali and is a Certified Trainer of Trainers in Microfinance by the Jointokyo Learning Centre. She speaks English, Kiswahili, and Kinyarwanda with a solid working knowledge of French. She received a Vocational Pedagogy Specialist Diploma from the Rwanda Workforce Development Authority and today is the founder and president of the Make a Difference Initiative (MDI), a young NGO working on sexual health, HIV/AIDS prevention and entrepreneurial development with a focus on young people. She is a passionate change maker who likes mingling with others for inspiration, networking, experience-sharing and development. | |
Armand Giramahoro
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Management Consultant |
| Partner: | LifeNet International |
| "I want to contribute to the positive change in my community by getting involved in the promotion of health equity. " | |
| Armand is the founder, CEO, and president of the Initiatives and Actions for Peace and Development project (IAP) in Burundi and studied Law at Light University of Bujumbura. He is engaged in national and international youth work through different networks like the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the United Network of Young Peacebuilders and the East African Community. He attended the 2nd Forum of the UNAOC in Istanbul, Turkey, as a Marketplace of Ideas presenter. Furthermore, Armand was one of 150 people representing different youth organizations who founded the Global Youth Movement for the Alliance of Civilizations (GYMAOC). In 2011, Armand worked with Samuel Ross, founder of Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York, under the Dekeyser and Friends Foundation Fellowship. Before joining GHC, Armand worked closely with the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF) in Sweden to develop peace education for youth in Burundi. | |
Ashley Canchola
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Pharmacy Supply Chain Analyst |
| Partner: | Partners In Health |
| "I wish to create change on a global level and educate others; both on the importance of giving back to their communities and the challenges that people face in various parts of the world." | |
| Ashley Canchola is from Tucson, Arizona. She completed her undergraduate studies at Arizona State University and graduated with a degree from the WP Carey School of Business. Her focus was in Supply Chain Management and International Business Studies. While at ASU she was president of the Hispanic Business Student Association. She was a leader in her community and worked hard to provide members with the resources they needed to develop both professionally and socially. She has worked for ING Investment Management and Honeywell Aerospace. Ashley has also volunteered extensively at the Ronald McDonald House. As a member of the Tomorrow's Leaders Program she helped coordinate dinners and fundraising events for the Phoenix Children's Hospital. She was most recently based in San Francisco before joining GHC and had been working for SunEdison, a solar company focusing on best practices in supply chain management and implementing standard operational procedures. She is very excited to take on a new role where she can devote her technical skills towards a mission that she cares deeply about as well as gain a new perspective on the world as whole. Ashley enjoys biking, yoga, and running. | |
Breeanna Lorenzen
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Health Officer |
| Partner: | Action Africa Help |
| "I am motivated by the chance to learn something new, to meet new people, and by the chance to do what I love while making a difference to those around me." | |
| Breeanna graduated in 2011 from University of California at Berkeley with a double major in Biology and Peace and Conflict Studies. At UC Berkeley she was a Health and Medical Apprenticeship Intern, helped teach an anatomy lab as an Undergraduate Student Instructor, and was a Resident Assistant helping incoming first-year students adjust to college life. She also went to Ecuador to volunteer with a mobile medical clinic. Her passion for global health sprang from when she studied abroad in India, and since then she has been working in an emergency room as a medical scribe. Following her drive to end health inequities, Breeanna has volunteered at the Berkeley Free Clinic for the past year serving those that are underrepresented in her community. Breeanna loves to backpack, enjoys learning new languages, and is looking forward to working with GHC this year! | |
Brian Ngwatu
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Access to Medicines Analyst |
| Partner: | Clinton Health Access Initiative |
| "I wish to share my experiences and learn from all the fellows and alumni that will contribute to the movement achieving health equity across borders." | |
| Brian is from Uganda. He is a medical doctor by training with a degree in medicine and surgery from Mbarara University of Science and Technology. He performed a one-year medical internship at St. Mary's Hospital Lacor in the Gulu district of northern Uganda. He was a teaching assistant at Gulu University and has worked predominantly in the field of HIV/AIDS care with community-based programs such as The AIDS Support Organization in Uganda (TASO)-Uganda. There, he worked as a medical officer and medical coordinator before moving on to work as a care and treatment specialist at Baylor-Uganda in a health-systems-strengthening project in the West Nile region. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in Project Planning and Management from the Uganda Management Institute. Brian has an immense passion for community-based work that developed after volunteering at a number of rural health facilities during school breaks and holidays with his friends from medical school. | |
Caitlin Callahan
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Nutrition and Small Business Engagement Fellow |
| Partner: | Public Health Solutions |
| "I am inspired by GHC's confidence in my peers and myself to make a concrete difference." | |
| Caitlin Callahan is from Greenwich, Connecticut. In June, she graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelors in Political Science, International Studies, and Global Health. At Northwestern University, Caitlin was involved with several social justice organizations on campus; she founded and directed the Northwestern Living Wage Campaign and served as an executive board member for the largest service organization on campus for three years. She also spent a semester studying public health systems in Paris at Sciences Po. During her undergraduate career, Caitlin spent her summers working for a United Nations think tank, interning at a nonprofit public health education organization, conducting research about and reinventing metrics for social development, and working in Peru as a consultant to an artisanal company, where she helped identify alternative solutions to the artisans' lack of access to electricity and health care. Caitlin loves traveling and the outdoors. | |
Carolyn Nandozi
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Distance Learning Officer |
| Partner: | Infectious Disease Institute |
| "There should not be discrimination in provisions of health services since we are all equally humans who deserve a right to live." | |
| Carolyn is from Kampala, Uganda. She completed her undergraduate studies at Makerere University, focusing in Information Technology. During her studies she was part of the implementation project "Integrating [Information and Communications Technology (ICT)] into Agriculture for Improvement of Farmers' Livelihoods," a Commonwealth of Learning (COL)-funded project exhibited at the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference during the visit of the Queen of England. She is pursuing her Master's in Environment and Natural Resources at Makerere University. Carolyn worked with the Open Distance Learning Network for Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L4F). Prior to joining GHC, she was working as a virtual ICT intern for the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). She also worked for Access for Action Uganda, an NGO aimed at helping disabled persons, especially those affected with HIV, and teaching vocational skills to youth populations. She enjoys working with children and young adults and sharing agricultural skills gained from the Professional Food Security Fellowship Program she went through in the U.S. | |
Cassandre Man-Bourdon
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Fellow |
| Partner: | Lighthouse Trust |
| "GHC fellows are provided the unique support and mentorship to serve the health interests of those abroad; advance our knowledge of current afflictions; and advocate on behalf of those who lack the ability and means." | |
| Cassandre is a Canadian-born Mississippian who fell in love with fried food and the hot delta blues. This long-term science nerd studied biochemistry and microbiology at Mississippi State University where she volunteered in a number of organizations and co-founded the WeVOW group. That team converted a bus to run off of waste vegetable oil and took a trip across the nation to educate others about the health and environmental benefits of alternative fuel sources. Today, WeVOW continues its mission to promote clean energy solutions through partnerships such as the Southern Energy Network. She recently completed her Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology with a focus in International Health at the University of Michigan. Her studies took her to rural Gabon where she assessed the risk factors associated with neurotropic viral infections among children. She couldn't be more excited to head off to Malawi for the opportunity to combine her passions for traveling and promoting health equity. | |
Catherine Bauman
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Education Director |
| Partner: | Village Health Works |
| "I believe that passionate, dedicated and open-minded young people can and will empower communities." | |
| Catherine is from Danville, Virginia. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, majoring in Government and French. Following graduation, she supported UNICEF's work at sessions of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, confirming her strong interest in children's rights. Next, she taught English in French Guiana for one academic year. She was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and completed a Masters in International Affairs at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Switzerland. Her research focused on empowering unaccompanied child migrants through participation. Prior to joining GHC, she worked as a children's rights consultant with the NGO Group for the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF, and the International Social Service in Switzerland and Guinea-Bissau. | |
Celine Mukasine
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Liberia Program Officer |
| Partner: | Tiyatien Health |
| "Community is important to me because it is the start point of making change, achieving social justice and building strong, sustainable nations." | |
| Celine is from Kigali, Rwanda. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Kigali Independent University, majoring in Economics. Before continuing in graduate school, she worked mostly with startup organizations in the public and nonprofit sectors in which she managed operations and projects and enjoyed being part of small and versatile teams. She has been an active member at her church in Kigali, where she is part of the youth choir. She has also participated in a number of community activities including visiting and feeding the sick in hospitals, raising funds to assist genocide orphans, and other charitable works. She received her Master's in International Economics and Finance from the International Business School at Brandeis University in 2011. Since completion of her graduate studies, she interned with a Dallas, Texas-based think tank focusing on health care policy research and volunteered with the African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries. Celine hopes to be a positive influence and to help the disadvantaged. She enjoys outdoor activities, yoga, and traveling. | |
Choolwe Muzyamba
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Program Assistant |
| Partner: | Action Africa Help |
| "I am a GHC fellow to make the world a better place for all." | |
| Choolwe is a Zambian economist who has a keen interest in sexual reproductive health rights. He is widely recognized for his contribution to the fight for equal opportunities and the rights of women, people living with HIV, and LGTBIs in Zambia. He was a guest speaker at several human rights conferences in the area of sexual reproductive health. Coming from a country that is badly affected by HIV/AIDS and the spread of dogmatic cultural beliefs that have disadvantaged women and minority groups, Choolwe has played a major role in ensuring that human rights are respected regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. He has worked for the University of Zambia (UNZA) HIV Response Office, ZAMANAWE, Population Council, UNHCR, UNZA Radio, and a regional organization called the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). This organization comprises 19 Member countries in eastern and southern Africa. He is committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty, and for the rights of minorities.He has worked for the following organisations in the past; UNZA HIV Response Office, ZAMANAWE, Population council, UNHCR, UNZA Radio and a regional organization called Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). This is a regional organization for 19 Member countries in East and Southern Africa. He has interest in the fight against HIV/AIDS, poverty, and fighting for the rights of people who are considered to be in the minority. | |
Christine Coscia
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Public Affairs & Project Management Director |
| Partner: | Cries of a Child |
| "I want to be part of the conversation about global health equity and believe in the power of a unified community to effect change." | |
| Christine is from North Caldwell, New Jersey. She completed her undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, with a major in English and minors in Justice and Peace Studies and in Spanish. She authored a thesis examining the role of collective memory in societal healing in post-dictatorship Argentina. During college, Christine interned with The Clinton Foundation and with Search for Common Ground, where she worked on sustainable economic development and social entrepreneurship initiatives and assisted with the implementation of monitoring and evaluation practices. After her graduation in 2010, Christine served as Special Assistant in the Executive Office of the United Nations Foundation. In this role she worked with senior management on all aspects of the organization's operations, including strategic planning and reporting on program work in the fields of energy, population, and global health, the latter of which solidified her interest in the health equity movement. | |
CJ Schellack
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Access to Medicines Analyst |
| Partner: | Clinton Health Access Initiative |
| "To quote Dr. King, 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.' Every day is an opportunity to bend the arc a bit more." | |
| CJ is from New Jersey and Vermont. She completed her undergraduate studies at Duke University, where she concentrated on Literary Theory, French, and Arabic. While at Duke, she received funding to conduct several months of research in Senegal for her thesis, and served as the vice president of the university's equestrian team. Since graduating in 2007, CJ served as a staff member on the Obama for America campaign, logging over eighteen months working on field strategy in five battleground states. Following the campaign, CJ joined the Obama Administration, most recently appointed as a policy director in the National Security Council in the White House. In this position, she advised senior White House staff, managed the U.S. Government policymaking process, and authored reports for the President and National Security Advisor. CJ is a certified doula, and has assisted in six natural childbirths since 2009. She enjoys reading, the slow food movement, and iyengar yoga. | |
Denis Saire
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Health Officer |
| Partner: | Action Africa Help |
| "Since healthcare decisions are made at the managerial level, the fellowship is grooming me into a future healthcare manager who will make decisions and health policies that are pro-health equity." | |
| Denis is from Uganda. He graduated from International Health Sciences University in Kampala, Uganda, with a Bachelors of Science in Public Health. He also holds a diploma in Clinical Medicine and Community Health from Mbale School of Clinical Officers in Uganda. While practicing medicine at Kyetume Health Center, a faith-based nonprofit health unit in the rural areas of the Mukono district in Uganda, he changed the approach to disease management from curative to preventive. With his help, community-based disease prevention programs were initiated. Notably, he initiated the very successful water and sanitation program that reduced the incidence of diarrheal diseases among local children by more than a half. Denis worked at Kyetume Health Center for five years before joining GHC. He is motivated by present and anticipated challenges and he works hard to achieve set goals. | |
Devy Emperador
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Distance Learning Officer |
| Partner: | Infectious Disease Institute |
| "In our connected world, it's imperative to understand how our interactions with our communities impact the globe. Positive change will occur if we start working together as a community, not solely as individuals." | |
| Devy was born in Manila, the Philippines, and now lives in San Francisco, California. She completed her undergraduate studies at Dickinson College, majoring in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. While at Dickinson, she conducted molecular biology research under Dr. David Kushner. After college, she worked for two years as a microbiology lab technician for Abbott Vascular. This spring, Devy received her Masters in Public Health with a focus in infectious diseases and vaccinology at UC Berkeley School of Public Health. There, Devy discovered her passion for science and public health education. During her studies, she interned at the California Department of Public Health Immunization Branch's Health Education Section, where she helped develop social media and print media messages for the state's Tdap vaccination requirement and preteen vaccine project. Devy was also a graduate student instructor, teaching and helping to develop curricula for undergraduate classes in microbiology and immunology. When she is not geeking out about the latest infectious disease outbreak, Devy enjoys playing video games with her younger brothers, exploring new places to eat around her neighborhood, and practicing Choy Li Fut Kung Fu at the Doc Fai Wong Martial Arts Center in San Francisco. | |
Eliza Ramos
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Rwanda Program Manager |
| Partner: | FACE AIDS |
| "Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to live a healthy life." | |
| Eliza is from Beaverton, Oregon. She received her Bachelor's in Psychology from the University of Southern California. During her undergraduate studies she discovered her passion for social welfare as the Executive Director of Troy Camp, a nonprofit organization serving immigrant youth, and as the president of Helenes, the university's official women's service organization. Eliza then worked to develop social health programs for at-risk children and youth in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, and continued on to pursue a Master's of Science in Social Enterprise Administration from Columbia University. During her studies, she interned with the United Nations Children's Fund, the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and was the president of the Columbia University Partnership for International Development. A certified emergency medical technician, Eliza's other interests include wilderness medicine and exploring the outdoors. | |
Elizabeth Mkandawire
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Fellow |
| Partner: | Lighthouse Trust |
| "Being a part of a community myself, their needs are my needs and their problems are mine as well." | |
| Elizabeth is from the Mzimba district in Malawi. She performed her undergraduate studies at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, where she earned a Bachelor's of Science in Demography and Statistics. During her undergraduate study, she worked as a data entry intern for the Invest in Knowledge Initiative. She has also worked as a gender program officer at the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Development under their internship program. Prior to joining GHC, she worked as a secondary school teacher under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Being a Global Health Corps fellow is the start of a health-related career path for Elizabeth. She has plans to pursue a Master's in Public Health, focusing on women's reproductive health. Elizabeth likes traveling and watching movies with her husband and son. | |
Elizabeth "Tish" Sahner
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Implementation Fellow |
| Partner: | Children's Health Fund |
| "I'm motivated by knowing that I will apply my experience abroad to the movement for health equity in a local context that is very close to my heart." | |
| Tish is from Maplewood, New Jersey. In 2011 she graduated from Rutgers University, where she majored in History, Spanish, and Latin American Studies. As an undergraduate, she spent time studying in Spain and Peru. During her time at Rutgers, Tish volunteered teaching business classes and working as a loan officer with the Spanish-speaking clients of a student-run microfinance organization. She also worked as a research associate examining U.S. policy toward Latin America at the Washington, D.C.-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Tish spent the past year as a Fulbright scholar in Bogota, Colombia. Living in Bogota and working with an adoption agency there helped connect her interest in health care management and health equity with her passion for Latin American Studies. She is excited to expand her experience with public health projects this year. In her free time, Tish loves reading and running, as well as spending time with her family in the Adirondacks. | |
Emily Sullivan
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Program Manager-Community Health Services |
| Partner: | MIFUMI Project |
| "Community is hope, because a success in one should touch others." | |
| Emily Sullivan is originally from Maplewood, New Jersey, but has lived in Washington, D.C., for the last two years. She holds a Bachelor's in Public Health with a concentration in Women's Studies from the University of Maryland (UMD). While at UMD, Emily interned at the Children's Defense Fund in their child health department and at A Wider Circle, where she taught a course on healthy pregnancy and parenting to teen mothers. Additionally, she volunteered for a grassroots development organization in Tanzania (TAFCOM), which emphasized women's and girls' empowerment and reproductive health education. Since graduation Emily has worked as a program assistant at the Population Reference Bureau in their international department. She supported most of their gender-related work, which furthered her interest in gender-based violence prevention. Emily enjoys reading, hiking, and making jewelry. | |
Faridah Nantume
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Program Manager-Community Health Services |
| Partner: | MIFUMI Project |
| "As a community development practitioner, my success greatly depends on the involvement, participation, relationships, engagement and the commitment of the community." | |
| Faridah is from Uganda and holds a Bachelor's in Development Studies from Makerere University. Recently, she has been involved in designing, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating projects in the fields of HIV/AIDS management, gender mainstreaming, education, and child protection. She has volunteered with Voluntary Service Overseas International (VSO) working as an HIV/AIDS education program adviser based at Ethiopian Civil Service University (ECSU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, since April 2010. For two years prior, she volunteered with VSO at the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent DePaul in Abuja, Nigeria, as an HIV/AIDS health educator and outreach worker. Before joining VSO, Faridah volunteered with Forum for African Women Educationalists-Uganda chapter (FAWEU) from April 2005 to February 2008 as a trainer of trainers and mentor, and from June 2004 to March 2005, she was a volunteer with the Uganda Red Cross Society. | |
Fatsani Banda
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Procurement and Logistics Coordinator |
| Partner: | Partners In Health |
| "Health matters are always at heart to me." | |
| Fatsani is from Malawi. She obtained a Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Malawi, Polytechnic, and has since worked with a number of organizations in the country. During her second and third years of undergraduate study, she worked for the National Audit and the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC). At the National Audit, she audited government departments, including one of the central hospitals in Malawi, the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. There, she audited all the procured pharmaceuticals. At TCC, she worked as an intern in the Public Relations Department, where she compiled the Commission's annual report and designed brochures. After completing her studies she worked at Standard Bank as a bank teller before becoming a GHC fellow. | |
Francis Muhire
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Public Affairs & Project Management Director |
| Partner: | Cries of a Child |
| "The community is the place where I find my way when I feel lost." | |
| Francis was born in Bujumbura, Burundi. He grew up in a northern suburban quarter called Kamenge, where he learned to play the drums using milk cans. At the Lycee du Saint Esprit secondary school, he acted in the Molière play Le Malade Imaginaire. During the same period, when he was 16 years old, he worked as a volunteer animator at the Centre Jeune Kamenge, a nonprofit organization that works with young people from northern quarters of Bujumbura. During that time he worked on concerts, summer work camps, and plays put on by the organization. Francis has also acted in short movies directed by young Burundian directors. In 2009, Francis participated in the national campaign for The Burundian Reconciliation, organized by the Burundian Parliament. In 2010, he was awarded the Prix Michel Kayoya, a Burundian literature award, for his short novel Le Rêve du Rêve. That same year, Francis participated in the 30th Paris Bookshop. The following year, a song he wrote entitled "Mawe Ndagiye' was nominated in the East African Music Awards. Francis graduated in 2011 from Hope Africa University with a Bachelor's in Law. He worked as the manager of the Burundi Film Festival before joining GHC. | |
Garret Ma
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Management Consultant |
| Partner: | LifeNet International |
| "Community gives people reason to strive for more and make others proud." | |
| Garret is from Boise, Idaho. He graduated Tau Beta Pi from the University of California at Los Angeles with a major in Bioengineering and a minor in Global Studies. During his time at UCLA, Garret taught an undergraduate level course entitled "AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa." His class explored topics such as the biochemistry of HIV, sex trafficking, and child soldiering. In addition, Garret served as President of the UCLA Biomedical Engineering Society, an organization that brings together students, faculty and staff of UCLA Bioengineering. He traveled to La Florida, Peru, on behalf of UCLA Habitat for Humanity, where he built homes for impoverished families. In addition, Garret served as a Quality Intern at Abbott Laboratories. He enhanced Abbott business practices through improved and expedited pharmaceutical quality control. Garret enjoys playing the viola, traveling, and hiking. | |
Genevieve Barnard
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Health Systems Quality Improvement Coordinator |
| Partner: | Millennium Villages |
| "I am frustrated by current global health failures and at the same time optimistic about and deeply committed to facilitating change from the ground up." | |
| Genevieve is from Dover, Massachusetts. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania with a double major in Health & Societies (Global Health concentration) and African Studies. During her undergraduate career, Genevieve interned with Penn's Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project where she helped organize a team of Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing (VCT) counselors to conduct a demographic survey in two regions of Malawi. She also spent a summer in Ghana working with Penn's International Development Summer Institute and researching public and private hospitals in the Kumasi area. For the past four years, Genevieve has been an active board member in the nonprofit Pratit International, an organization that coordinates medical clinics and health education programs in several slum communities in northern Kolkata, India. Genevieve loves learning new languages and has studied Swahili for the past three years. She enjoys being active and competed in her first half-marathon and first amateur body building competition this past year. | |
Giulietta Luul Balestra
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Nutrition and Small Business Engagement Fellow |
| Partner: | Public Health Solutions |
| "I am motivated by the very instinctive feeling of injustice towards human beings having unequal chances." | |
| Luul comes from the small and pleasant city of Bologna, Italy. She completed her undergraduate studies in Cultural Anthropology at La Sapienza University in Rome. In 2010, she completed her Master's in Medical Anthropology. While studying, she participated in exchange programs in Spain and Brazil. She has also collaborated with different NGOs and research institutes such as the Center of International and Intercultural Health of Bologna, with a focus on action research on migrant health. She joined Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) in Belgium in 2010, and since then she has worked as a health promotion manager in different emergency and regular projects in Pakistan, India and South Sudan. | |
Grace Longwe
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Dignitas International |
| "This is an opportunity for me to contribute to the welfare and well being of people in my own country through ensuring evidence-based provision of health services to those that need them." | |
| Grace is from Lilongwe, Malawi. In 2010, she completed her Bachelor's in Social Science studies at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, majoring in Sociology. Afterward, she started volunteer work at Theatre for a Change in Malawi. She was hired as the Monitoring Officer the same year and has since worked with the organization for almost two years before joining GHC. Through this job, she has worked with sex workers and their clients, sexually exploited children, and others who are considered at high risk of HIV infection. She has conducted evaluations to assess the impact of Theatre for a Change's behavior change programs on these groups across the country and has also had the opportunity to use a new evaluation tool called "Batteries Methodology" in one of her assessments in 2012. Grace would like to develop her skills in monitoring and evaluation in order to help organizations run evidence-based programs that empower and improve the well-being of vulnerable groups. In her leisure time, Grace loves watching football, playing basketball, exercising, reading books, making hand art, watching movies and making new friends. | |
Hannah Smalley
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Policy Assistant |
| Partner: | Single Stop |
| "I believe that young people can make a big difference in the world when given the opportunity." | |
| Hannah is from Los Angeles, California. In high school she moved for a year with her family to Cape Town, South Africa, where her passion for public health began as she watched her mother develop a thriving NGO. In May, she earned her Bachelor's in International Development and Sociology at Tulane University. During her junior year she studied for a semester in Ghana, helping create and run a nonprofit eco-tourism program called Rise Up Development Collective, an organization striving to help the people of Wli Todzi build an accessible health clinic. At Tulane she was active in her social sorority, as well as in the service fraternity. Additionally, she was a research assistant at the Payson Center for International Development, assisting in HIV/AIDS research for the CDC in Cote d'Ivoire and the Congo. She has volunteered in the U.S., South Africa, Ghana and China, and is extremely excited about her adventure with GHC. | |
Hayley MacMillen
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Communications and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Society for Women Against AIDS |
| "The conditions that produce health inequity are systemic, avoidable and unjust. Not only do we have the capacity to combat them, we have the responsibility." | |
| Hayley is from Hillsborough, California, in the San Francisco Bay area. She completed her undergraduate studies at Northwestern University in 2012 with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Global Health. As an undergraduate, Hayley served as Communications Director for the Northwestern Living Wage Campaign, which seeks living wages and better benefits for university workers. In the summer of 2011 Hayley spent five weeks traveling Peru on a research grant, producing video and photography to expose poor communities' lack of access to safe and affordable lighting. In the winter of 2011 she traveled to Amman, Jordan, to shoot a short documentary on the asylum-seeking process for Iraqi refugees. In her free time as an undergraduate, Hayley enjoyed snowboarding on her club team and working out with the local CrossFit community. | |
Hexin Katengeza
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Project Coordinator |
| Partner: | mothers2mothers |
| "The thought that I have to be the positive change in someone else's life keeps me motivated." | |
| Hexin is from the Dowa District in Malawi. He completed his secondary education in 2002, and while awaiting his college entrance exams, Hexin was elected chairman of the Chigumula Interdenominational Youth Group, a group aimed at providing youth with life skills and career guidance. He has a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing and a University Certificate in Midwifery from the University of Malawi, Kamuzu College of Nursing. In 2007, Hexin was elected as Kamuzu College of Nursing Students' Union President, responsible for coordinating student activities and promoting their welfare. Since completing his studies in 2008, Hexin has worked for Neno District Hospital in the southern region of Malawi, under the Malawi Ministry of Health. He is a state registered nurse and has worked as Charge Nurse for the pediatric ward for two years. After obtaining his midwifery certificate, Hexin worked as the In-Charge Nurse in the maternity ward before joining GHC. Hexin takes great joy in working as a midwife. He is a trainer in long-term and permanent family planning methods and a service provider of antiretroviral therapy. He enjoys helping children get better and assisting women deliver. Hexin likes to learn new things and enjoys playing soccer. | |
Hiba Iqteit
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Program Fellow |
| Partner: | Population Services International (PSI) |
| "GHC is a unique adventure and learning experience and I look forward to taking such a big step in my personal and professional life." | |
| Hiba is from Amman, Jordan. She moved to the U.S. to pursue her undergraduate studies in Biology and Chemistry at SUNY Potsdam. She then attained her Master's in Public Health with a concentration in Global Health Communication at George Washington University. She is a public health professional with four years of experience working in global health program development. Hiba has experience providing the full array of program development functions including institutional positioning, pre-proposal and proposal preparation, and proposal-to-program transitions. She has worked at several nonprofit global health organizations, including Management Sciences for Health, Population Services International, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, and PATH. She also dedicated her time to volunteering at the International Rescue Committee where she helped with resettlement of Iraqi refugees in the Washington, D.C., area and facilitated various public health seminars in her native Arabic. During her spare time, Hiba enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and learning about new cultures. | |
James Arinaitwe
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Program Assistant |
| Partner: | Single Stop |
| "There is no social justice without health equity." | |
| James grew up in rural Uganda where AIDS orphaned him before he was a teenager. While volunteering for a U.S.-Ugandan charity working to provide solar power to clinics, orphanages, and schools, he met his sponsors who supported him to finish his college education in the U.S. He graduated with a Master's in Public Health and Public Policy from Florida State University. While at FSU he was the global health coordinator for the FSU GlobeMed Chapter, a group advocating for global health equity both on campus and in the city of Tallahassee. He was also the African Student Union President, where he worked with several organizations such as Peace Jam, which mentors high school students on a curriculum of peace and conflict resolution. James was awarded the 2011 FSU Global Citizen Award from the Center for Global Engagement and Multicultural Affairs. James has experience in global health, education and microfinance issues having worked with the Carter Center and BRAC USA. He is currently pursuing a Master's in Sustainable Development, International Policy, and Management from the SIT Graduate Institute in Washington, D.C. He enjoys playing soccer, reading and engaging in political discourse. | |
Jared Stancombe
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Program Assistant |
| Partner: | Action Africa Help |
| "I believe in making an impact, and I choose to make the world a better place by continuing my service in the public health field." | |
| Jared is from Bedford, Indiana. He graduated with honors from Indiana University, majoring in Political Science with a focus on international relations in the Middle East and intrastate wars in South Central Asia and Northern Africa. After completing his undergraduate degree, he was employed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, working in immigration policy. After a year, he left the government to pursue an officer commission with the United States Marine Corps, and was accepted into Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. However, his military career was cut short due to an illness during training. After being discharged, he worked with Young Professionals in Foreign Policy in Washington, D.C., and served with City Year Washington, D.C., where he worked approximately 1,900 public service hours with at-risk children and participated in service projects throughout the city. Jared enjoys staying physically fit, volunteering in the Washington, D.C., area, and finding new places to hike along the Potomac River. | |
Jean Michel Maniragaba
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Design Fellow |
| Partner: | MASS Design Group |
| "I want every day of my life to count, not only for me, but also for people around me as well." | |
| Jean Michel is from Kigali, Rwanda. He completed his undergraduate studies at Nihon University, College of Engineering, majoring in Architecture. After he returned to his hometown, he first worked at the newly established Embassy of Japan in Rwanda, helping to draft contracts with Rwandan firms and other daily tasks. A year later, he joined the architecture field, where he worked at Workforce Development Authority (WDA) as the Physical Planning and Design Specialist, mainly designing for public technical secondary schools and vocational centers. His major contribution to the team has been environmental sustainability awareness in the design process. The beautiful Butaro Hospital designed by MASS Design Group together with the impact the hospital has on the local populations, was his major motivation to join GHC. | |
Jeffrey Tillus
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Procurement and Logistics Coordinator |
| Partner: | Partners In Health |
| "I wish to use my business acumen in public health and work with a reputable organization committed to improving health care opportunities in remote parts of the world." | |
| Jeffrey was born in Haiti and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a University Scholar and majored in Economics, Health Care Policy and Management and Legal Studies from the Wharton School of Business. While in college, Jeffrey conducted research on health care for vulnerable populations and hospital care. Several of his research projects included assessing advanced trauma life support and trauma education worldwide, evaluating the financial viability of health retail clinics in the US, and examining the pension liabilities and state of Medicare in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with the Fels School of Government. Jeffrey's motivation for public health stems from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that personally affected his family. He mobilized campus leaders to respond and support the country through fundraisers and campus vigils. He was awarded the Student Award of Merit from the Board of Trustees and Malcolm X award for his campus leadership. He interned in health care investment banking via Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. After GHC, Jeffrey intends to pursue graduate study in public health and policy. | |
Jennifer Foth
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Quality Improvement Coordinator |
| Partner: | Millennium Villages |
| "I dream of a world where access to quality health services is a right, not a privilege." | |
| Jennifer is from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. She completed her undergraduate studies at Middlebury College, majoring in International Studies with a focus in Political Science. While at Middlebury, Jennifer co-organized a campus-wide Water Symposium focusing on issues of water scarcity and conservation. After graduation, Jennifer worked for two years at ACCION International, a Boston-based microfinance nonprofit organization. She oversaw the development of the senior management monthly report and partner-wide social performance indicators. Jennifer will complete her Master's in International and Environmental Health at Boston University in August 2012. She recently returned from Ethiopia where, as part of her required Master's practicum, she completed a child-needs assessment for Betasab, an organization that provides housing, education, and health care services to orphans and vulnerable children in Addis Ababa. Jennifer has lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the past three years and enjoys running, yoga, hiking, and cultural exploration. | |
Jonathan Doucette
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Education Specialist |
| Partner: | HIPS |
| "Community means validation of self in the face of a world that tells you that you don't fit. Community is the radical act of belonging." | |
| Jonathan graduated with Highest Honors in Comparative American Studies from Oberlin College in 2011. During his time at Oberlin, Jonathan served as the Accessibility Chair of the Sexual Information Center (SIC), charged with the task of ensuring the SIC was open and embracing for students of all backgrounds and identities. As a trained sexual health counselor, Jonathan collaborated with and offered assistance to students and community members in Oberlin relating to issues of sexual health, education, and identity. Additionally, Jonathan worked as an HIV Peer Tester and an intern at Family Planning Services in Lorain County, Ohio, working with a variety of communities to prevent the spread of HIV. Before joining GHC, Jonathan worked as an English teacher in Myjava, Slovakia, through the Fulbright Commission. He hopes to one day attain a PhD in American Studies, using the academy as a site for profound and lasting positive social change. | |
Jonathan Michael Mtaula
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Early Infant Diagnosis System Analyst |
| Partner: | Clinton Health Access Initiative |
| "I want to contribute to the uplifting of social well being of the marginalized populations in the world." | |
| Jonathan is from the Mangochi district of Malawi on the southern shore of Lake Malawi. He completed his undergraduate studies in 2011 at the University of Malawi, Polytechnic, where he studied Management Information Systems. Prior to joining the University of Malawi, he volunteered at Malawi Children’s Village (MCV), an NGO that operates in a catchment area of 36 villages where he taught orphans and vulnerable children, helped in distributing farm inputs, food stuffs and clothes to targeted families, and cared for babies and toddlers who were raised in MCV’s rehabilitation center. He was also responsible for the development of a computerized information system for MCV. After finishing his studies, he volunteered at an NGO called Malawi Network of Religious Leaders Affected or Infected by HIV/AIDS (MANERELA) as an IT Technician before joining GHC. At MANERELA he was responsible for hardware and software troubleshooting and maintenance, end user support, management of the local area network, negotiating IT contracts on behalf of the organization, and advising management on emerging IT issues. He enjoys chatting, traveling, writing and following current affairs. | |
Joseph Scarpelli
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Policy Support Officer |
| Partner: | Management Sciences for Health, USAID |
| "Health equity means equal access to affordable and quality health care for everyone. No exceptions." | |
| Joseph is from Boston, Massachusetts, and completed his undergraduate studies at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he majored in English and Peace and Conflict Studies. He studied abroad at The University of Melbourne. After graduation he taught conversational English in Kagawa, Japan, before working as a fundraising professional for The Jimmy Fund at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. In 2012 Joseph completed his Master's in Public Health from the Boston University School of Public Health, where he studied International Health and Health Program Management. As part of his studies Joseph spent eight months studying public health in the Philippines. He was based in Manila, but conducted research on parasitic diseases and community health financing in rural areas of the country. He also worked as an intern for the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office in the Emergency and Humanitarian Action Unit. Joseph enjoys travel and hiking and practices yoga and meditation. | |
Jourdan Schiffer McGinn
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Documentation and Communication Fellow |
| Partner: | ACODEV |
| "Community is the basis of our humanity; it is in others that we see ourselves, with others that we develop a sense of self, and for others that we realize that there is more than the self." | |
| Jourdan is from Colorado. In 2011, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Seattle University with a Bachelor's in Communication Studies and a concentration in Global African Studies. Prior to joining GHC, Jourdan founded a nonprofit called Project: Darmang that supports poverty-alleviation programs in rural Ghana through partnerships with local CBOs and NGOs. Recently, the organization supported the acquisition of information and communications technology for a vocational training center in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Domestically, Jourdan has worked with United Way to increase access to social services among low-income populations in Seattle. In addition, she was a social media and marketing intern for a Seattle-based startup that supports new-generation charities. During college, she studied at the University of Copenhagen's Centre for African Studies and the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Denmark and traveled throughout Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Most recently, Jourdan worked at Seattle University's Education Abroad Office assisting with international educational programming. | |
Kathleen McGee
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Strategy and Evaluation Specialist |
| Partner: | Health Poverty Action |
| "Community enriches life so much more than I could hope to experience on my own." | |
| Kat is French-American. She grew up in London, U.K., and completed her undergraduate studies at Macalester College in Minnesota, majoring in International Studies with a double concentration in Human Rights and Global Health. During a semester off from college, Kat worked in Burundi for nine months at Friends Women's Association, a grassroots organization delivering health care, microfinance and trauma healing to women across Burundi. Returning from her travels, Kat coordinated a WHO meeting for the Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) task force. In coordination with USAID, she is currently working to publish a paper on the NTD finance model and advances towards aid effectiveness. Kat enjoys biking and rock climbing. She's always prepared to see, try, and do new things, the wilder, the better! | |
Katarina Grande
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Policy Support Officer |
| Partner: | Strengthening Decentralization for Sustainability |
| "I want to become a global health leader who tackles root causes of health inequities with humility while empowering communities for sustainable positive change." | |
| Katarina grew up in Rochester, Minnesota. She completed her Master's in Public Health at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and her Bachelor's degrees in Journalism and Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining Global Health Corps, Katarina completed a two-year public health fellowship in Milwaukee as a Wisconsin Population Health Service Fellow. During her fellowship, she worked on a research project studying the connections between economic status and HIV in Malawi, helped to develop a community health worker program aimed at breast and cervical cancer prevention with Hmong women in Milwaukee, and directed social network diagram efforts to manage hepatitis C and tuberculosis outbreaks in Wisconsin. She has previously worked on public health projects in Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi. Katarina enjoys rock climbing and is working to hike to the top of the highest point in each of the fifty states. | |
Kirby Erlandson
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Development and Advocacy Coordinator |
| Partner: | Tiyatien Health |
| "I want to expand and improve my professional skills in the arena of public health and integrate into a community of leaders hoping to do the same." | |
| Kirby is from Orlando, Florida. She earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University, where she designed her own major in Global Health. During her undergraduate career she worked extensively on initiatives to increase global access to medicines, with positions at the World Health Organization in Geneva, the Duke Program on Global Health and Technology Access, and research projects on India's AIDS drug industry. She has also been involved in social justice issues in her local community, serving as co-President of Duke's Center for Race Relations and working to extend legal protections to farmworker women in the Carolinas. As an accomplished artist, Kirby runs a portrait painting business and has used her talents in art and documentary to raise funding and support for girls' educational opportunities in rural Kenya. | |
Latifah Kiribedda
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Policy Support Officer |
| Partner: | Strengthening Decentralization for Sustainability |
| "I am driven by my faith and the great desire to make a difference in the lives of people in my country, Uganda and the African continent as a whole. I believe we deserve better!" | |
| Latifah is from Kampala, Uganda. She recently graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Public Health and a minor in Women Studies at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Latifah is certified by the American Red Cross and the Minnesota AIDS Project as an HIV instructor. During her studies, she travelled to Ilula, Tanzania, where she conducted community health assessments, educated 15-18 year olds at Ilula Secondary School about HIV/AIDS, and provided care to HIV patients via mobile clinics. She also designed and presented HIV education workshops for several audiences including health professionals, undergraduate students, and 13-15 year olds. Latifah's career interests are deeply rooted in public health and international development. Her dream is to become the African Regional Director of the World Health Organization. She wrote her senior honors thesis entitled, "When Helping Really Helps: How to Effectively Help Without Hurting the Poor at the Bottom of the Pyramid in Developing Countries." Her paper was published and it can be found through Google Scholar. | |
Lauren Marcell
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Project Coordinator |
| Partner: | mothers2mothers |
| "I want to ensure that in my lifetime, women throughout the world receive the same levels of health and security I have been blessed with." | |
| Lauren is from Long Beach, New York. She graduated from George Washington University with a major in International Affairs, dual concentrations in International Development and Africa Studies, and a minor in Public Health. While pursuing her undergraduate degree she interned in mobile triage clinics in response to the 2009 earthquake that affected Indonesia, as well as in the preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and maternity units of a Liberian refugee camp. Upon completing her studies, she worked for the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) in pursuit of securing USAID funding to support HIV vaccine research and development. She then moved to Indonesia for five months, where she developed a program that solicited donations, both financial and in kind, from a five-star resort in Bali to support local orphanages, animal welfare organizations, and microfinance programs. She spent the remainder of the year traveling throughout Indonesia and Australia surfing and practicing yoga. | |
Lauren Smith
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Monitoring & Evaluation Fellow |
| Partner: | Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation |
| "When we give ourselves, we get the world in return." | |
| Lauren is from Yorba Linda, California. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of California at Irvine in Sociology and her graduate studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, earning a Master's in Public Policy in 2010. While at UCLA, Lauren worked at the UCLA Center for Health Policy analyzing the health status and health care utilization patterns of American Indian Elders in California and tobacco control policies for American Indian communities. She completed a thesis on the impact of several cost-controlling policy options for the California AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Following her work at UCLA, Lauren joined the Washington, D.C., office of Mathematica Policy Research where she worked for two years as a health policy analyst performing program evaluation of federal health care quality improvement and quality measurement initiatives. Lauren is interested in integrating human-centered design principles with program design and evaluation in the global health field and enjoys hiking, yoga, and performance storytelling. | |
Lilian Murerwa
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Rwanda Program Manager |
| Partner: | FACE AIDS |
| "A community works together as a team to offer support." | |
| Lilian is from Rwanda. She completed her undergraduate studies at Makerere University in Uganda, earning a Bachelor's in Business Administration. While at Makerere, she worked with The AIDS Support Organization (TASO)-Uganda in the counseling and outreach department. She visited selected sites once a month to support clients who could not afford to travel to the centers. These efforts, together with the system of appointments for clients, resulted in a reduction of the number of clients seen at the centers every day. She later joined Swift Freight International as a sales representative. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Lilian worked at Umutara Polytechnic-Rwanda as a teaching assistant. While there, she also worked as a coordinator in the human resources department and represented the management faculty to the academic senate. While at Umutara Lilian was selected to go to the United States as a Presidential Scholar at Oklahoma Christian University where she received a Master's in Business Administration. Since completing graduate school in 2011, she has worked as a Program Manager for the Survivors Fund (SURF) in Rwanda. | |
Lisa Grossman
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Distance Learning Officer |
| Partner: | Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia |
| "Addressing health crises remains integral to addressing critical human problems, including seemingly unrelated issues such as unemployment or inequality." | |
| Lisa grew up in southern Colorado, at the foot of Pikes Peak. She just completed her undergraduate studies at Duke University, majoring in Biology with a Global Health Certificate. Until she departs for Zambia, Lisa is completing over three years of independent research identifying drug targets for Epstein-Barr-virus and HIV-related cancers. While an undergraduate, Lisa conducted comprehensive research and education on maternal mortality for the upcoming Family Health Center in Leogane, Haiti. Last year, Lisa collaborated with the North Carolina Immunization Branch to launch a statewide educational campaign on HPV vaccination for males. Lisa's undergraduate experience inspired her belief in health education not only for consumers, but also for providers and policy makers. Lisa spends her free time rock climbing with her friends, and she enjoyed a brief stint as Climbing Director for the wilderness nonprofit Project WILD. She is thrilled to join the GHC community. | |
Lovemore Mupfukura
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Health Counselor |
| Partner: | Covenant House International |
| "I would like to learn best practices that I will be able to implement in my own country for the betterment of my own people's health." | |
| Lovemore is from Harare, Zimbabwe. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Zimbabwe, College of Health Sciences in 2006. He worked as a research assistant for the Organization for Public Health, Epidemiology and Development in Zimbabwe for one year. He later joined the Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention Project-University of Zimbabwe where he worked as a program officer responsible for community outreach in a prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV program. Lovemore has extensive experience working with people living with HIV in resource-limited settings. Over the years he has also gained a lot of experience in health education, child rights programming, advocacy, project management, monitoring, and evaluation. He also cofounded a trust to help orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe. Lovemore is an active member of the Child Protection Society of Zimbabwe. During his spare time he likes watching movies and playing soccer. | |
Lufafa Robinson
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Infectious Disease Institute |
| "I am a change maker who wants to influence more change on the livelihoods of the most vulnerable." | |
| Robinson hails from Jinja, Uganda. He completed his undergraduate studies with a Bachelor's of Science in Business Statistics at Makerere University with a focus in Research and Statistics, While at Makerere University Robinson participated actively in student leadership, where he was the chairman of Mess Ministers and championed the welfare of students. After graduation, Robinson joined the Uganda Bureau of Statistics as a Field Interviewer/Researcher on the Uganda Demographic Health Survey for 2011. Prior to that post he presented a paper on gender and domestic violence in low developing countries at the 2nd ISIbalo Young African Statisticians Conference in Pretoria, South Africa. Before joining GHC, Robinson was completing his Master's in Economic Policy and Planning at Makerere University in Uganda. | |
Madalitso Tolani
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Fellow |
| Partner: | Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation |
| "As a people, through collaboration, partnership and team work, we can bring about change in our societies." | |
| Madalitso calls himself a "true son" of Malawian soil. He was born in the Mchinji district, grew up in Lilongwe and went to school in Zomba. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, majoring in Statistics and Biology. He went on to obtain a Master's in Biostatistics at the same institution. Before joining GHC, Madalitso served as a part-time lecturer in Statistics for one year at Chancellor College and participated in a number of consultancies and statistical research projects. He also presented research findings at the National Research and Dissemination Conference held at Crossroads in Lilongwe, Malawi, whose theme was "Towards Evidence-Based Policy Decision Making." His ambition is to become a health researcher with an impact in his home country. He dreams of a society that is built upon principles of equality and solidarity, one that recognizes and understands the dignity of every human being. | |
Maxime Billick
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Education Specialist |
| Partner: | HIPS |
| "I am committed to providing services to populations that are often marginalized, trivalized and ignored." | |
| Maxime is originally from Montreal, Canada. She graduated from Bowdoin College in 2010 with a major in Gender and Women's Studies and a minor in Biology. At Bowdoin, she was a Peer Health Educator, a member of V-Day, and an active theater-lover. She spent the past year living and working in Lusaka, Zambia, for Grassroot Soccer, a nonprofit organization that uses a soccer- and sport-based curriculum to teach kids about HIV/AIDS, and she recently completed an internship in New York with the Clinton Global Initiative in the Program Department. Her time in Zambia as well as a stint studying abroad in Vietnam piqued her curiosity regarding international development, public health, and health inequity around the world. She loves to travel, cook, ski, bike, snorkel and laugh (who doesn't?). She has a weakness for anything with balsamic vinegar and loves the beach, despite the fact that she has to wear SPF 60+ to ensure she doesn't fry. She is considering entering medical school or pursuing a Master's in Public Health in the long run, but until then, she is thrilled to be placed at HIPS in Washington, D.C. | |
Maya Sugarman
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Implementation Fellow |
| Partner: | Partners In Health - PACT Project |
| "I hope to gain practical skills and gain connections with a diverse group of individuals similarly committed to improving health outcomes worldwide." | |
| Maya recently graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Social Studies and Global Health and Health Policy. At Harvard, Maya was a patient advocate and student coordinator for Health Leads, a nonprofit organization that places help desks in clinics to connect patients with social resources like housing or food assistance. Maya also completed a thesis on an immigration policy affecting the Haitian community in Boston following the 2010 earthquake. Maya, who has traveled and volunteered in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, spent her summers working on sustainable development projects in Mexico, assisting health promoters in migrant farmworker communities in rural Washington state, and interning with the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Originally from Seattle, Maya has also performed extensively in professional, community, and university theater productions. | |
Melissa Nondorf
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Dignitas International |
| "I want to make a difference in people's lives and work to improve health access." | |
| Melissa is from Houston, Texas. She received her Bachelor's in Geography and Russian Language from The University of Texas at Austin. While there, she studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia, and earned a certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In 2008, she moved to Boston and enrolled in the Master of Public Health program at Boston University where she worked in Kenya on an evaluation of the government's Trachoma Integrated Project as part of her degree. Since completing her studies in 2011, she has worked at a small startup company that is developing a nutrition-focused smart phone app. She has also volunteered with the Vaccine Team at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, assisting on various projects. After gaining some professional experience, Melissa plans to return to school to further pursue her passion for geography and health by earning an advanced degree in GIS mapping, which she will use to combine her two professional interests. She has lived in Boston for four years and enjoys tennis, salsa dancing, and exploring her city. | |
Michelle Benoit
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Design Fellow |
| Partner: | MASS Design Group |
| "I want to explore ways to incorporate a better standard of health within new and existing architectural environments." | |
| Michelle grew up near Chicago, Illinois. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she majored in Architecture. Michelle recently received her Master's at the University of Virginia in Architectural History. Her Master's thesis analyzed urban regeneration projects in the historic city center of Istanbul, Turkey. It was through this project that she was exposed to the health concerns of living in older neighborhoods that do not have access to modern utilities, along with the impact of living in close proximity to post-industrial sites. Michelle is excited to be a part of GHC, and looks forward to learning more about designing environments for healthy living. | |
Mine Metitiri
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Senior Research Associate |
| Partner: | Zambia Center for Applied Health Research and Development |
| "Regardless of economic status, race, country of origin and gender, everyone deserves the right to the same quality care, love, and compassion." | |
| Mine was born in Benin City, Nigeria, and raised in the United States. She completed her undergraduate studies in Biology at Emory University. She later received her Master's in Public Health with a focus on Epidemiology and on Behavioral Science and Health Education from Saint Louis University. During her graduate studies she worked on projects aimed at reducing health barriers associated with prostate cancer screening among minorities and preconception health among women. Before joining GHC, she worked as a data analyst for Healthy City, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization. Her work there focused on eliminating inequities affecting marginalized communities through the use of GIS tools, community-based participatory mapping methods, and systems change initiatives. Mine is committed to reducing barriers to health equity and believes that social policies are tied to health policies. In her spare time, Mine enjoys hiking, biking, movies, and reading. She is also an avid soccer fan and a member of The Futbolistas, a socially active soccer league in Los Angeles. | |
Moses Ariong
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Food Security Fellow |
| Partner: | Mpoma Community HIV/AIDS Initiative |
| "The need to ensure that vulnerable children and their families are supported to meet basic needs like medical care, education, and food keeps me motivated." | |
| Moses is from the Amuria district in Eastern Uganda. In 2003, he was awarded a scholarship from the Ugandan government to earn a Bachelor's in Agriculture at Makerere University in Kampala. He then obtained a postgraduate diploma in Project Planning and Management and was pursuing a Master's in Management Studies at Uganda Management Institute before joining GHC. He worked with the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction in supporting farmers to adopt modern farming technologies under the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach for increased food production in the Kaberamaido district. Starting in 2008, Moses worked as a program officer with Partners for Children Worldwide, a local organization working with ChildFund International to address child poverty. He also supported households in Teso in adopting modern farming practices and improving maternal and child health under the Healthy and Secure Infants program. He is passionate about ensuring that peasant households in Uganda are food secure and that households earn adequate incomes to support the basic needs of their children. He wishes to study public health and nutrition to achieve this goal. Moses is an ardent fan of Manchester United and enjoys playing football, watching films, and listening to rock music during his free time. | |
Mwitwa Chileshe
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Monitoring & Evaluation Fellow |
| Partner: | Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation |
| "I am a GHC fellow because I want to acquire knowledge, skills and community necessary to bring about equity of access to ART provision in my community." | |
| Mwitwa is from Kapiri Mposhi of Zambia's Central Province. He completed his undergraduate degree at University of Zambia in 2008, majoring in Mathematics and minoring in History. He went on to complete his postgraduate diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) at Cavendish University Zambia in 2011. After graduating from the University of Zambia, he worked as a research assistant at Afya Mzuri and a part-time lecturer at Makeni College of Education. Before joining GHC, Mwitwa was employed as Site M&E Officer at the Zambian Corridors of Hope HIV/AIDS Prevention Project at Kapiri Mposhi in July 2009. He trained over 100 staff (volunteer and full-time) on data collection guidelines and the use and completion of data collection tools while also spearheading a study to determine the amount of time clients take to access antiretroviral therapy-related services at Kapiri Urban Clinic. Mwitwa enjoys playing soccer, cheese, and reading history and spy novels. | |
Neil Malilwe
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Distance Learning Officer |
| Partner: | Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia |
| "I am a GHC fellow because I want contribute to the fight for better health care options for all individuals." | |
| Neil was born in Kabwe, Zambia, but grew up in Lusaka. He completed his undergraduate studies at Cavendish University Zambia in 2011. During his time at Cavendish, he represented his university at the National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Quiz sponsored by CISCO Systems and was also selected to develop an electronic student registration system for the university along with three other students. Prior to joining GHC, Neil worked in consulting, web development and implementation, and computer hardware and software maintenance. In high school, as club president for the Child Rights Club, he sensitized and educated communities and rural areas about children rights. Neil has also studied Diplomacy and International Relations and has a great interest in cultural pluralism. | |
Nicole Leeds
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Human Resources for Health Analyst |
| Partner: | Clinton Health Access Initiative |
| "To me, health equity is the ability of all people to access the necessary care to allow them to live full lives, regardless of their ability to pay for it." | |
| Nicole comes to GHC from The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit strategy consulting organization in Boston. At Bridgespan, she produced research and analysis to assist nonprofit and foundation leaders with management and strategic challenges. Prior to Bridgespan, Nicole studied American immigration and foreign policy at Harvard University, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor's in History and Literature and a minor in Government. While a student, Nicole served as the president of Harvard STAGE, an after-school theater program in Boston and Cambridge public schools. She also worked as a tutor for the Harvard Writing Center and as a designer for The Harvard Crimson. An avid traveler, Nicole has been to over 35 countries, spent a semester studying abroad in Madrid, and a summer working for the U.S. Department of State in Georgetown, Guyana. She is looking forward to combining her interests in international relations and social issues with GHC. Nicole grew up in Paris and Washington, D.C., and speaks French and Spanish. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and the outdoors. | |
Oda Dushime
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | District Health Fellow |
| Partner: | The Access Project |
| "'If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.' - African Proverb. I want to go far." | |
| Oda is from Kigali, Rwanda. She completed her undergraduate studies at American University in Washington, D.C., where she studied Economics and International Studies. While at AU, she served as secretary and treasurer of the African Students Organization and as secretary of Oxfam America at AU. During her second year of undergraduate study, she interned with International Action, a small nonprofit organization that works to provide clean water in Haiti. At the height of the earthquake crisis, she collected field data on earthquake damages to water facilities and used social media to raise awareness on water-borne health issues in Haiti. As a graduate, Oda volunteered with Crossroads Youth Opportunity Center in Maryland, where she started an improved-nutrition program for youth involved in gangs and/or at risk of involvement. She lived in Ghana for four years and enjoys reading novels, traveling, dancing, and yoga. | |
Oliver Ho
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator |
| Partner: | Gardens for Health International |
| "I believe in the responsibility of individuals and the power of dedicated groups to create a world where opportunity is more equitably distributed." | |
| Oliver was born in Hong Kong, but grew up in New York City. He graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor's in Public Policy. As part of his studies, he completed a senior honors thesis examining the impact of test-based student promotion policies on achievement in New York City. After graduation, Oliver returned to New York where he worked at the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) for nearly four years. At the NYCDOE, he worked on numerous analytic, data collection and verification projects related to Mayor Bloomberg's Children First Reform efforts. His work focused largely on improving systems for measuring teacher effectiveness and providing meaningful teacher evaluation. Oliver is a die-hard Yankees fan who played baseball, soccer, and basketball in high school as well as four years of rugby at Stanford. | |
Rémy Pacifique Ntirenganya
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Pharmacy Supply Chain Analyst |
| Partner: | Partners In Health |
| Every person in spite of social, economic or political backgrounds and differences deserves access to health care without any discrimination. | |
| Pacifique is from Ngoma, Rwanda. He completed his undergraduate studies at National University of Rwanda (NUR), majoring in Pharmacy. At NUR, he was an active member of various youth-led associations and served as co-Coordinator of Language Clubs and as Deputy Guild Minister in charge of coordination of associations and service at National University of Rwanda Students Union (NURSU). Pacifique has a deep humanitarian sense and keen interest in social equity, global health and public health. He is a social activist, researcher, and pharmacist. Pacifique's research focus areas are pharmacy education, pharmacy practice, clinical practice and public health. In 2011, he won the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation (IPSF) essay competition. Pacifique has founded, co-founded and led various local youth-led associations in his community. He has also organized or participated in youth mobilization for community services and public health awareness campaigns in Rwanda and in Doha, Qatar, respectively. Before joining GHC, Pacifique was completing his clinical internship at Rwinkwavu Hospital, and he was the Pharmacy Education Sub-Committee Member at the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation. | |
Pierre "Peter" Ndayihereje
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Procurement Officer |
| Partner: | Village Health Works |
| "I look at how Kigutu has been transformed from a place of despair to a place of hope because of Village Health Works, and I feel energy and joy and hope that a whole country can be changed for the better." | |
| Peter is from Kigutu, a rural village in Burundi. He performed his undergraduate studies at Université Lumière de Bujumbura, where he earned a degree in Business Administration. While studying in Bujumbura, he encountered many unemployed, destitute young men who lived in the streets and turned to petty crime to feed themselves. Inspired to help these young men, Peter started a drumming club. He had learned to drum at his high school and thought to apply his skills to serve the community. Thus, he gathered the men and taught them drumming. With their new skills, they went on to perform at public events and make a living while entertaining the very neighborhood they had threatened before. After graduation Peter joined Village Health Works, and since then he has worked as a procurement officer and community mobilizer. | |
Priscilla Natukunda
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Business Operations Fellow |
| Partner: | Population Services International (PSI) |
| "I'm a health activist and I want to look for solutions to solve the problems my country is facing." | |
| Priscilla is from Kigali, Rwanda. She completed her undergraduate studies at The School of Finance and Banking in Kigali, where she majored in Business Administration and Finance. She has also undergone Web-based training in implementing gender mainstreaming into management processes, in sustainable business and in project management. Priscilla has gone through several human rights training sessions with Global Youth Connect and one of the founders of the Rotaract Club of The School of Finance and Banking. She served as the director of both vocational and international services for the Rotaract Club and participated in a project that catered to patients at hospitals and paid school fees for vulnerable children. She also volunteered with the Youth Association for Human Rights Promotion and Development (AJPRODHO), a human rights NGO that looks at issues like gender-based violence and domestic violence. Priscilla enjoys being in youth groups and is an ambitious person. | |
Rehema Aanyu
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Documentation and Communication Fellow |
| Partner: | ACODEV |
| Every day I aim at being a better human being in everything I do. Every day I strive to learn something new, talk to a stranger and be of help to anyone. These are investments in life. | |
| Rehema graduated from Makerere University with a Bachelor's in Communication Skills and Literature. She was a journalist with New Vision Uganda's national newspaper, mostly reporting on politics and education. In 2008, she focused her reporting on issues of health after witnessing the dilapidated state of government hospitals and the agony patients go through while seeking basic healthcare. She has since used her journalistic skills to translate otherwise "ordinary ideas"on health into human-interest stories that inspire positive action from policy makers and ordinary individuals. In 2011, she volunteered in Kenya, under the Fredskorpset Exchange program, working in Western Kenya with communities greatly affected by the 2008 post-election violence and in Turkana, Northern Kenya, with communities affected by the drought. This inspired her love, devotion and willingness to volunteer, learn, share and use her skills to make a difference in the lives of individuals and communities in need. Away from work, Rehema is a children's short-story writer and founded Real Kids Uganda, an initiative that promotes creative reading, writing and child-health in schools in rural Uganda. | |
Remy Ugirase Mujigiti
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Health Resources for Health Analyst |
| Partner: | Clinton Health Access Initiative |
| "I have lot to do for my homeland. Investing myself in this year's fellowship with GHC is to prepare myself to be a change maker in the world today." | |
| Remy was born in Kigali, Rwanda. He graduated from National University of Rwanda with a Bachelor's in Business Administration. During his undergraduate studies, he volunteered for Operation Smile in Central Africa since its inaugural mission in Rwanda in March 2010. Operation Smile is a worldwide children's organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, that offers free surgery to repair cleft lip, cleft palate and other deformities globally. Over the past three years, he has played an active role in recruiting and managing a body of volunteers and translators to help the Operation Smile team during their yearly free surgery mission in Kigali at the Centre Hospitaliere Universitaire de Kigali (CHUK). In 2011, Remy was also involved in a Dutch Investment feasibility study in Rwanda. He served as a business facilitator at Rwanda Chamber Foundation in collaboration with the Netherlands Embassy in Kigali promoting Dutch partnership with Rwandan investors in solar energy, cow farming and poultry. Remy strives to find innovative solutions to development challenges. In his free time he enjoys biking, playing baseball, watching TV, and browsing the internet. | |
Rhea Alba
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Communications and Business Development Officer |
| Partner: | Partners In Health - PACT Project |
| "I am on a mission to develop my skills as a leader committed to fulfil our shared vision of a world where humans are treated equally, with dignity, and with respect for their rights, including health." | |
| Rhea is a development communicator from the Philippines with more than four years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She most recently served as the Community Mobilization Specialist of HealthPRO, a USAID project on health communication and promotion of positive behavioral change. Prior to this, she worked in the UN, campaigning and communicating for the accelerated achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and, with other nonprofit organizations, on projects focused on health and children's rights. Rhea graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor's in Journalism and Master's Units in Community Development from the University of the Philippines. Her interest in initiatives that promote global citizenship, youth participation and human rights was a result of her training and experiences as a Global Xchange Program (GXP) Volunteer under VSO, where she received the Millennium Volunteer Award of Excellence with her teammates. She considers traveling, understanding other cultures, and service as her passions. As her way of giving back to the global community, Rhea is determined to continue serving in the nonprofit sector. At the same time, she hopes to join the academe to share her skills and help build the capabilities of the next generation of nonprofit leaders who will sustain and scale up development efforts. | |
Rithi Mathias
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Health Counselor |
| Partner: | Covenant House International |
| "I am a Global Health Corps fellow to learn and discover the best suited role for myself in the global health community." | |
| Rithi grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Andover, Massachusetts. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2010, majoring in Chemistry. Her interest in community health started during her college years with her work at Community Health Center, Inc. in Middletown, CT. She contributed to various community-run initiatives including a farming-themed summer camp, a summer concert series, obesity prevention programs and a research project on new forms of prenatal care. Upon graduating, Rithi joined the HealthCorps program in San Francisco working at Native American Health Center. There, she helped provide mobile dental services for young children throughout San Francisco. This past year she trained to become both a crisis counselor at the Trevor Project and a rapid HIV test counselor at University of California at San Francisco's Alliance Health Project. Rithi is an avid musician playing various instruments for the past 18 years including piano, organ, carillon bells and guitar. | |
Robinah "Terry" Namatovu
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Health Systems Quality Improvement Coordinator |
| Partner: | Millennium Villages |
| "I hope to share and put my skills and experiences to use in the public health sector so as to make a positive impact on health systems as well as on the health of individuals." | |
| Terry is from Kampala, Uganda. She received a Diploma in Clinical Medicine from the School of Clinical Officers-Fort Portal, where she became a medical clinical officer in 2007 and obtained a Bachelor's in Public Health from International Health Sciences University in Kampala. Afterwards, she worked as a clinical officer for five years. Terry started at the public medical center in Kampala before moving on to the Kawempe Home Care Initiative (KHCI), a community-based organization providing holistic care to HIV patients, where she was in charge of the antiretroviral therapy department. She also worked at NAP clinic in Lweza as the manager of the clinic department. Terry was the operations manager at MART consulting, a private firm carrying out research, and a research assistant at Intrahealth International and QD consulting. She volunteered at Bwindi Community Hospital, where she assessed the feasibility of a community-based health insurance scheme in the Batwa community. Terry also volunteered with the Uganda Village Project in Iganga, where she set up health education and promotion activities and a village health team. She enjoys adventure and visiting new places. | |
Rodrick Mwatuwa
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Quality Improvement Coordinator |
| Partner: | Millennium Villages |
| "Community remains the only social group that can help get solutions to health problems through learning its customs and practices." | |
| Rodrick is from Lilongwe, Malawi. He completed his undergraduate studies at University of Malawi, Bunda College of Agriculture, majoring in Agriculture with a focus in Rural Development. After completing his studies in 2008, Rodrick worked for civil service in the Ministry of Education. He was a secondary school teacher, teaching biology and physical sciences. A year later he joined a group of research fellows at Parent and Child Health Initiative as a research assistant assessing cost effectiveness of interventions that targeted reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. In 2010, Rodrick joined Makhanda Trust in the section of facility intervention, focusing on reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality using quality improvement tools and methodologies. While at Makhanda Trust, Rodrick initiated a social service project that mobilized well-wishers to donate blood at one of the hospitals he worked with. In response to a blood shortage crisis for delivering mothers at Kabudula Community Hospital, Rodrick mobilized hospital staff and community members to start a blood donors group. He lived in Lilongwe for four years before joining GHC, and enjoys being an active member of the City Hawks Hockey Club. | |
Serena Parcell
| Country: | Malawi |
| Title: | Early Infant Diagnosis System Analyst |
| Partner: | Clinton Health Access Initiative |
| "I am motivated every day by my desire to demonstrate to disadvantaged children that it is possible to overcome great odds and be extraordinary." | |
| Serena was born and raised in Corvallis, Oregon. As an undergraduate, she studied at American University's School of International Service in Washington, D.C. There, she earned a Bachelor's in International Relations with a focus in African Studies. Following her graduation, she served with the U.S. Peace Corps as a Community Health and HIV/AIDS Educator in Phonjwane, Swaziland, where she worked with the National Emergency Response Commission for HIV/AIDS and the international NGO World Vision. Following her service, she decided to move home to her favorite place in the world, the Pacific Northwest, where she earned a Master's in Public Administration and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management at the University of Oregon. While in graduate school, she served as a member of the Board of Directors at Court-Appointed Special Advocates of Lane County and as a project associate at the Community Service Center, where she worked on economic development and city planning projects for rural towns in Oregon. | |
Sivan Goobich
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Infectious Disease Institute |
| "Health equity is about improved health outcomes, but also about ensuring that countries have the resources, knowledge, and decision-making power to create sustainable health systems." | |
| Sivan received a Master's in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While at UNC, she worked in the training and capacity building division of MEASURE Evaluation, a USAID project focused on improving monitoring and evaluation capacity worldwide. She also spent time in Ecuador with Freedom from Hunger, a microfinance and health nonprofit, where she wrote case studies on promising health projects for the Center for Health Market Innovations initiative. Prior to her graduate studies, she managed several bilingual (Spanish and English) injury prevention research programs in Miami, Florida, and worked as a research assistant at the Center for Hemispheric Policy, a think tank devoted to Latin American-U.S. relations. In 2009, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied International Studies and Political Science and studied abroad in São Paulo, Brazil. In her free time, she volunteers with women's health organizations, enjoys sewing and crafts, and travels to Latin America every chance she gets. | |
Solange Impanoyimana
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Program Coordinator |
| Partner: | Gardens for Health International |
| "I believe that I can make the change that I want in my country and as well in East Africa." | |
| Solange was born in Karongi, Rwanda. Before joining GHC, she worked at Gardens for Health International, a nonprofit organization that reduces malnutrition by helping families grow nutritious foods and providing holistic education and support. She is a former Generation Rwanda scholar and holds a Bachelor's in Journalism and Communications from Institut Catholique de Kabgayi. Her thesis focused on the impact of radio programming on youth behaviors surrounding job creation. Solange previously worked for Voices of Rwanda translating genocide narratives and for Radio Isango Star contributing to news programming. Solange has worked on various community development projects for NGOs and government contractors, supporting Rwandan youth development and helping progress health provisions in rural communities. | |
Sonya Soni
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Policy Fellow |
| Partner: | City of Newark: Department of Child and Family Well-Being |
| "Global health is not an academic or professional endeavor for me; it is rather the struggle to better understand and act upon the very structural forces that caused disease and disempowerment to my own family members and community in India." | |
| Sonya was raised in Newport Beach, California, and her family comes from Punjab, India. She completed her Bachelor's of Science in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Master's in Public Health from the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, where she was also selected as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow. Sonya pursued further graduate studies in Medical Anthropology at Harvard University, where she served as a teaching fellow for Dr. Paul Farmer, a Cultural Bridge fellow for the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Women and Public Policy Program in rural Nepal, a Harvard Humanitarian Initiative fellow in Kashmir, and a research assistant for Professor Amartya Sen at Harvard's Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights. Sonya's passion for global health equity lies in the connection among child health, child rights, structural violence, and the moral and ethical underpinnings of health care delivery for India's orphans and street children. Sonya has devoted her efforts to the community-based nonprofit health sector in rural South Africa, Nepal, Haiti, Bolivia, and Mexico, but she aspires to return to her ancestral home of India as a physician and human rights journalist in order to address inequalities in girls' health in India and to continue to co-direct her family's all-female orphanage and widow home in Dehra Dun, India. | |
Tiffany Aquino
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Monitoring and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Partners In Health |
| "Being a part of the right community can turn a good person into a great leader. " | |
| Tiffany grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and Tampa, Florida. She completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at Drexel University. After college, she volunteered with a medical team in Bolivia and worked as a foster care social worker in Philadelphia. Eventually, she returned to work in mental health as a clinical research coordinator in Psychiatry, where she managed studies examining drug efficacy, relapse prevention and pharmacogenomics for anxiety and depression. She co-authored several peer-reviewed publications on this research. Tiffany earned her Master's in Public Heath from the University of Pennsylvania, concentrating in Global Health. She completed her Master's internship in Nicaragua with Acción Médica Cristiana, a community health NGO. There, she learned from and worked alongside community health workers, focusing on health education and outreach for maternal and child health, food security and access to medication. Tiffany also led workshops on nutrition and baking in the maternity and community houses throughout rural Matagalpa. She hopes to use these experiences and her mental health background to bring a unique perspective into her work as a GHC fellow. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, yoga, sewing and traveling. | |
Triffin Ntore
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Communications and Evaluation Officer |
| Partner: | Society for Women Against AIDS |
| "What motivates me everyday is to leave this world with no regrets, and the conviction that I helped make it a better place for the generations after me." | |
| Triffin is from Bujumbura, Burundi. He completed his university studies in Bujumbura at Université Lumière de Bujumbura, where he majored in Communication Sciences. He has been an active volunteer in the Red Cross community of Burundi since 2008 and has participated in fundraising for outreach programs in poor settings in Burundi. He founded a youth chapter of Red Cross volunteers at his university. Triffin enjoys graphic design, which he started when he was fourteen years old. He has worked as Art Director for Speed Biz Magazine, managing layout and advertising, and MAXX, a communications agency. He enjoys outdoor activities, reading, watching movies, and swimming. | |
Tyler Nelson
| Country: | Rwanda |
| Title: | Distrcit Health Fellow |
| Partner: | The Access Project |
| "It is our duty to ensure everyone has the opportunity to decide how healthy they want to be." | |
| Tyler is from Portland, Oregon. He completed his undergraduate work at Brigham Young University, majoring in Public Health with a minor in International Development. Prior to his undergraduate career, Tyler spent two years in southern Peru as a missionary. Afterwards he began a career with nonprofit organizations, working at a Free Clinic in the northwest, connecting impoverished communities with free basic health services. While studying Public Health, Tyler also worked full-time as a country director for HELP International, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, spending four months at a time directing groups of young professionals in public health, business, and community education projects on the ground in El Salvador and Tanzania. In 2011 Tyler founded the Malezi AIDS Care & Awareness Organization (MACAO International), connecting marginalized groups of Tanzanians with resources already available in their own communities. Tyler and his wife America live in Central Illinois and enjoy time with family and with Winston, their rescue pit bull. | |
Vincent Lau Chan
| Country: | US |
| Title: | Social Protection and Health Fellow |
| Partner: | Inter-American Development Bank |
| "Without a community, without its support, we cannot achieve success addressing health disparities." | |
| Vincent is from Barranquilla, Colombia. He attended Miami-Dade Community College and founded the International Student Organization, a group that allowed international students to have a "home away from home" while they volunteered for community and school events. He completed his undergraduate studies in Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University. After college, he worked at Noven Pharmaceuticals and was the co-inventor of a Levonorgestrel transdermal drug delivery system patent. He then decided to switch gears and follow his heart towards community and public health. Vincent was finishing a Master's in International Health at National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan before joining GHC. While at Yang-Ming, he traveled to Colombia to work with CISALVA/Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights and Fundacion Paz y Bien, where he helped in the implementation of a component-based mental health intervention and assessed the life experiences, needs and difficulties of victims of torture and internally displaced populations. His areas of interest are social justice, human rights, health equity, and vulnerable populations. He enjoys reading, dancing to Latin beats, spinning, running, photography and exploring nature. | |
Viviane Rutabingwa
| Country: | Uganda |
| Title: | Policy Support Officer |
| Partner: | Management Sciences for Health, USAID |
| "Community means support in all aspects, understanding, shared knowledge and an overall reflection of ourselves since none of us grows or lives in isolation." | |
| Viviane is originally from Uganda. She completed her undergraduate degree in Health Science in Canada and was completing her Master's in Public Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before joining GHC. She has always had a deep passion for public health and is predominantly interested in addressing health care inequities in developing countries. Viviane has attributed the source of this passion to her multi-nation habitats where she has been able to grasp the vast magnitude of the differences in health status. During her studies, Viviane has been involved in extensive activism work including campaigns for marginalized women, child soldiers and health awareness programs. She presently lives in Toronto, Canada, and loves live music, dancing, traveling, working out, outdoor activities and her family! | |
William Ngosa
| Country: | Zambia |
| Title: | Senior Research Associate |
| Partner: | Zambia Center for Applied Health Research and Development |
| "Community is the foundation of peace and harmony in a society." | |
| William is from Lusaka, Zambia. He graduated from the University of Zambia (UNZA) with a degree in Demography and Statistics. During his time at UNZA, he participated in various research studies and was a member of the University of Zambia Population Association (UNZAPOSA). Before graduation he worked for the Zambia Association for Research and Development (ZARD) as a Researcher and Data Analyst Intern. Upon graduation he joined the Society for Women and AIDS in Zambia (SWAAZ). After a short stint with SWAAZ, an opportunity arose to join the Zambia National AIDS Network (ZNAN) where he served for five years as the monitoring and evaluation officer. Among his responsibilities were providing capacity building, technical assistance, mentoring, monitoring, and evaluation to over 200 non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations that received funding from ZNAN. William enjoys reading, the Internet, outdoor activities, travel, sports and music. | |
Zenon Ndikuriyo
| Country: | Burundi |
| Title: | Education Director |
| Partner: | Village Health Works |
| "Whether I am treating or teaching rural people, I am always motivated by the fact that I'm serving a community in need." | |
| Zenon is a physician from Burundi. He received his medical degree in 2011 at the University of Burundi. While at University, he developed an interest in health education for at-risk populations, particularly diabetes patients. He was the coordinator for the Forum for Conscience and Development (FOCODE), which studies problems related to health, medical care, living conditions and the environment in Burundi and provided health education to diabetic workers. He also participated in Association Burundaise des Etudiants en Medecine (ABEM), which taught primary and secondary schools diabetes prevention. Along with Handicap International France, Zenon taught community health workers about diabetes and wrote a diabetes manual for those workers. He also worked with various organizations in advocating for equity of diabetes treatment and access in Burundi. Since graduating, Zenon has been working at Village Health Works as a physician in charge of their community health program where he has written health education manuals and launched health education courses in local schools. | |
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