Working with the “Community”
The idea of working with communities to achieve sustained, substantive progress on any social issue is well-supported. One of my inspirations for continuing to work in health is the prominence given to community-based approaches. Here in the US, my organization, the city of Newark’s Department of Child and Family Well-Being, is reviewing the Public Health […]
From Hospitals to Villages
One of the topics that continues to cause debate among healthcare professionals in developing countries is the comparative value of clinical versus public health careers. There is a tendency to rate one over another. Some claims state that clinical practice is the heart of healthcare because doctors deal directly with sick people, who are the […]
Essential Medicines -Supply bottlenecks in Uganda’s Public sector
The most often attributed causes for a stock out in a public health center in Uganda are inefficiencies within the central warehouse system. For example, long lead times and under deliveries. While this may be true sometimes, it is hardly the primary problem in the supply of essential commodities. Here’s why. I have recently had […]
GHC Reflections
Stephanie and I are placed at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Zambia as Monitoring and Evaluation fellows. In our capacity as M&E fellows, we created a mini questionnaire to reflect on our GHC experiences. Below are Stephanie’s responses to the questions. 1) What have you enjoyed the most about the GHC fellowship? The […]
Integrating HealthCare: The role of ICTs in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
A number of the African countries have adopted a strategic focus in the development of their respective Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) policies. This approach is based on the argument that for most underdeveloped African countries, there is the need to use ICTs as a broad-base enabler of their socio-economic development process as […]
The Quest for Unity in the Understanding of Diversity
By Esnatt Gondwe In the last two blog posts that I have written, the reoccurring theme has been: the importance of cohesion, collaboration, and oneness- in the process of development. When I read Paulo Coelho’s book, “The Alchemist”, the theme of oneness and mankind’s ability to share knowledge that transcends race, orientation, species, sex, nationality or religious […]
Want to live out your values? Mind the gap!
My co-fellows and I are somehow entering the final quarter of work in our placement sites. Our predecessors all warned us that the year would fly by, and sure enough, it’s nearly vanished before our eyes. Having completed seven months of the fellowship, we now have a unique view of our past, present, and future. […]
A co-fellow check-in
An innovative component of the GHC model is the pairing of an international fellow with a fellow from the host country within the same placement organization. Throughout the fellowship year, the co-fellow pair collaborates and supports each other, ideally creating lasting bonds and building each other’s capacity and skills. I feel so fortunate to have […]
Promotion of health through cultural leaders
For a long time there has been a war between culture and modern medicine. This has clocked way back especially in most African countries and led to misinformation and the loss of many lives. To date so many people have had a change in their beliefs. There are many cultural leaders who have come up […]
Band-Aid
I watched him for several minutes as he bent over, clapping his hands over his right knee. Wearing a blue and white shirt with brown shorts, the young boy seemed so frustrated with something. But what? Distracted and perplexed for several minutes, I finally peeked over to get a better look. There were flies buzzing […]