Climate Change is a Huge Barrier to Health Equity
As you read this, tens of thousands in the foothills of Mt. Rwenzori have lost their loved ones in the last two years, and their community hospital has been totally destroyed by devastating floods. Other millions are displaced from their homes in the Balkans and a quarter of Bosnia went without clean water all at […]
Choosing between rocks and mud: the privilege of prevention
Here in Uganda, we’ve finally left the rainy season behind us. We still get occasional cooler, overcast days with interspersed showers but a few weeks ago it was like clockwork: Wake up to raindrops slashing the windowpanes and drumming on rooftops… Get ready for the day, pack a rag to wipe rain and clay from […]
GHC and Teen Club
Over the past year, during my time as a GHC fellow, I have had an incredible opportunity to work within the Monitoring and Evaluation Department at Lighthouse Trust, an organization, primarily functioning as an ART clinic, that is pioneering novel approaches to integrated HIV/AIDS care in Malawi. Last January, just before our mid-year retreat, the […]
Resiliency and Vulnerability in Global Health Leadership
Over the past five years, we’ve learned that to effectively serve others and make an impact, global health leaders must engage in self-reflection and self-care. We are keeping those lessons in mind as we head into our annual Closing Retreat tomorrow with our outgoing class of 2013-2014 fellows who have just finished up their year […]
Buses and Beans
As the fellowship year concludes, I have been searching for a caption. Full disclosure: I don’t have one. Nor do I expect to arrive at a phrase that is inclusive of all the brilliant and challenging moments this year has been. So instead, I decided I would share a caption story. It is something small, […]
Health Education Through an Artists’ Eyes
“Art is not what you see, but what you help others see.” ~ Edgar Degas This past weekend the Malawi-based GHC fellows met in Neno for our Community Engagement Event, a GHC supported initiative that brings fellows within country together for a group identified and led project. Neno is a rural area between Blantyre and […]
An Awkward Moment for a Year of Dignity
“Does someone want to tell me how they feel when they have their period? Or how long their period lasts?” says Rebeka Kabugho, ACODEV Project Officer, to a classroom full of adolescent girls in an effort to break the ice about menstruation. At first the girls look around the room giggling, shy to share their personal […]
Saying Goodbye
With the end of the GHC fellowship looming large on the horizon, I find myself thinking about the way that it began. I still remember the first time my cofellow and I drove through a river and up a mountain to our placement site at Partners in Health in Neno, Malawi. We drove past the […]
Theory vs. Practice: The Civil Servant Edition
By Kaylyn Koberna When I was younger my father often quoted Yogi Berra during “teachable moments.” This might seem less than helpful on several levels; oddly, however, the more experience I gain in the public health sector, the more the paradox-prone Yankees star makes sense. Consider the following example: “In theory, there is no difference […]
Being the first to know
It was a Tuesday afternoon when I heard my phone ring at my desk. I glanced over and saw that it was Peter Gondwe, the executive director of Life Concern (LICO), a community-based organization in Rumphi, Malawi, that I’ve been working with over the past year. I picked up the call with my usual greeting […]