Sensitive photography 101
I’m no professional with a camera. Yet a few weeks ago I found myself adjusting the shutter speed of a Nikon D200 as I took a portrait of a girl smiling in front of a well for a professional photography assignment. The setting was Cankuzo, a jaw-droppingly scenic province of Burundi six hours from my […]
“Give” and Take
It’s so easy to fall into the habit of interacting with only expats and missing the real life that is happening around you when you live as a minority in a country. About a month into the fellowship, I had the privilege of being invited to a Malawian wedding reception. One of my coworkers was […]
Hiking to keep kids in school
On many occasions since my GHC fellowship began, I’ve thought: my job is awesome. The chance to work with an organization that truly engages the community is a privilege, and I’m learning so much from my GHC and Burundian colleagues as well as the children, teachers and parents with whom I work to improve primary […]
All Work and No Play?
Reading through this blog you might be starting to wonder whether the only thing GHC Fellows ever do, think about, or talk about is work. Well, mostly yes. The jobs that we do and the places where work demand that 90% of our time is dedicated to getting stuff done. No one who accepts a […]
We All Scream for Ice Cream
Post by: Emily Jane Sullivan When living outside of one’s home country, it is easy to notice the things that are different. However, I have found that it is often more interesting and remarkable to note what is similar. People’s desires tend to mirror each other all across the world when it comes to basics; […]
Saved by the Community
The anticipation of the GHC Burundi Quarter 1 retreat found me very excited. After the first three months, it was time to stop a little bit and take some time for evaluation and take a look back and forward, just to make sure that we are all still working on the same path of health […]
In the Second Sense of the Word
I had a moment of clarity during the quarter one workshop regarding my GHC fellowship. To share this insight, I’ll share two short stories. First, when I was in seventh grade I had an English project where I chose a word and then researched a variety of facts about this word. I chose the word […]
Student Becomes Teacher, And Vice Versa
My fellowship year has already felt like a series of situations I never thought I would find myself in, and every time I think I’m getting a hold of things, the next unexpected experience comes shooting down the pipeline. My job in Burundi is to help get the establishment of a rural health clinic […]
Bright Spots in Kyangwali
Post by Breeanna Lorenzen There are many challenges to working in a refugee settlement. It can be easy to focus on the problems: refugees needing to resell their food to make a living, conflicts with the national police over land boundaries, the profound distances between the under-stocked and understaffed health centers. However, as Dan and […]
What does it take to think differently?
Post by: Latifah Kiribedda I have pondered this question for a while. In doing Global Health work, I have seen or heard various scenarios that I believe contribute to taking us off the trail to achieving global health equity. These scenarios most frequently occur in the rural and hard-to-reach areas. For example, I have encountered […]