Thank you for a “co-fellow”
I hereby want to share yet another reason why GHC will always succeed: sending us out by twos! Of course, the point is not just having a “co-fellow,” but rather, what kind of co-fellow we have, we are. Better yet, “what made us GHC’s”. I, personally, haven’t had many occasions to gather with all the […]
Growth at Gardens for Health International
Five months ago, I sat with Gardens for Health International (GHI)’s leadership team and laid out big sheets of white paper across the GHI ‘farm table’—a long outdoor table in the middle of the GHI farm, overlooking the rolling hills of Rwanda and the sunflowers planted around it. On that morning we began our first […]
Stack of Pencils
One weekend, I was sitting in the small living room of my equally small house. I was feeling a little down reflecting on how my fellowship year was turning out after four months. Things were not going as I had expected; at this juncture, job satisfaction and morale were generally low, not only on my […]
Translation Review
In areas like law, finance and marketing, the written word remains a crucial part of corporate activities, from day-to-day operations to documents bearing on major deals. Most organisations devote considerable resources to ensuring that all their written production, including websites, legal documents, marketing material and emails, is in line with the image they want to […]
The Best Medicine
Oftentimes during long local government meetings, a participant will make a grand statement that includes a wise proverb. The proverb may offer a conclusion to an extended debate or add salience to a point. Usually, I don’t quite understand the history, context, or language of the statement and stare blankly as the room erupts in […]
Learning the Lingo
When I became a GHC fellow and moved to Rwanda, I expected to work on my language skills. I picked Rwanda as a placement country largely because I wanted to practice my French, and even before I left the US my co-fellow Remy was already writing lists of key words in Kinyarwanda for me to […]
Lessons learned from the Havard-Rwanda Global Health Delivery (GHD) Field Course
The utmost goal of global health has been to increase access to goods and services that might improve health outcomes. Global health care is understood to mean the provision of a set of health services to marginalized populations in resource-poor areas of the world. In that regard, endeavors to address the unmet needs of those […]
Do It Afraid
“Do it afraid.” is a phrase my Mother and I have said to each other over the last few years at various junctions in our lives. It has come in handy a couple of times. This past week was no exception. When deciding whether or not to travel clear across Uganda and back, by myself, […]
Bear Witness (Trigger Warning)
(TW: transphobia, violence, victim blaming) This weekend has been unkind to the HIPS community. Following a recent spate of anti-trans violence in the month of June, this weekend saw two more horrific attacks against trans women in DC. Media coverage surrounding the attacks—including recent police reports—have all but glossed over the fact that these crimes are […]
Going Local
It was July 24, 2012 – my first day on the job. I sat next to my co-fellow in our supervisor’s office and listened carefully to our orientation to PSI Rwanda. We heard about PSI’s various donors, health interventions, products, and teams. We also learned that PSI Rwanda was going through the process of localization. […]