We’ve just wrapped up our third day of Training – what a whirlwind of ideas, energy, and new connections! The first three days of Training are dedicated to providing an overview in global health and development, since fellows join GHC from a variety of backgrounds – for many people, this is their first foray into global health! Among this class we have computer scientists, engineers, lawyers, and architects whose diverse skills will be put to use at one of our 53 placement organizations.

Tuesday, we had the privilege of hearing from three incredible speakers: Noerine Kaleeba, the founder of The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) in Uganda, Phill Wilson, the president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, and Dr. Mike Westerhaus, a primary care physician at the Center for International Health in St. Paul, MN. Noreine Kaleeba continues to inspire us each time she presents at a GHC Training. As she told us yesterday:

“I derive real & exquisite pleasure from interacting with young leaders.”

Kaleeba and Wilson provided invaluable insight into the history of the HIV/AIDS movement in Uganda, the U.S., and globally and fellows were able to see similarities and differences across the two contexts. With about 35% of the new class of fellows working  on HIV/AIDS issues, this context was invaluable. Even for those who will not directly be working on HIV/AIDS during their fellowship, this knowledge is critical. As Wilson put it:

“We’re all impacted by HIV/AIDS whether you are infected or not”

Dr. Westerhaus shared his knowledge  on the social determinants of health, something that our fellows from New York City to Kampala are actively working to address. He recommended two important books to us: Pedagogy of the Oppressed and The Upstream Doctors. He reminded us to always ask why. In other words, to ask what puts people at risk of health risks; what are the social determinants of someone’s health? He also advised us to join together and draw upon each other’s complementary strengths and skills; as he put it:

“I have never seen someone make real change in the social determinants of health on their own.”

Yesterday we were joined by current head of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, Ambassador Mark Dybul. Fellows were excited to learn from his experience implementing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in the early 2000s and to hear about his current work as Executive Director of the Global Fund. We were also joined Professor Besty Bradley, the Director of Yale University’s Global Health Leadership Institute. Both Mark Dybul and Betsy Bradley provided important context on the origins of global health and prompted though-provoking discussions on what it means to be an effective global health leader.  As Mark Dybul told our fellows:

“[In global health], someone has to make hard decisions and the fact that you’re doing Global Health Corps means that will likely be you.”

If you’re interested in following along with what our fellows have been reading so far, check out the list below! We will continue to post readings and videos to this blog as Training continues:

What we’ve been reading: 

  1. A Global Approach to Health Equity, World Health Organization
  2. Advancing Health Equity in Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Health
  3. Reimagining Global Health, Paul Farmer (Editor), Arthur Kleinman (Editor), Jim Kim (Editor),Matthew Basilico (Editor)
What we’ve been watching:  
  1. The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  2. The Why Campaign, SocMed Uganda

 

Phill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, addressing the 2014-2015 fellow class

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