The Doctor Will Not See You Now
This year I have been working as a health counselor in Newark, New Jersey at Covenant House, a shelter for homeless youth ages 18-21. One of my main roles is to assist our youth in accessing healthcare resources in the community. Since many of the young people who stay with us have not seen a […]
Second lives south of the Sahara
After 24 hours of travel in various modes of transport – some more spacious and pleasant smelling than others – I reached the northern-most border of Malawi. The minibus came to an abrupt stop and its contents, animate and inanimate, tumbled out. I followed the crowd away from the depot and past rows of informal […]
My Experience Working with ACODEV-Uganda in Addressing Education and Vocational Challenges
Uganda, a land-locked country in sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the countries where youth graduating from schools and universities find it very difficult to get jobs. According to a recent report by Action Aid International Uganda, Uganda National NGO Forum and Development Research and Training, 62 percent of Ugandan youth do not have any form […]
A Parent’s Role in Delivering Sex Education to his/her Adoloscents
According to UNESCO’s “International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education,” sexuality education can provide “age-appropriate, culturally relevant and scientifically accurate information” to young people. It also helps dispel myths related to sexual and reproductive health. Exposure to sex education also assists youth in developing life skills such as decision-making, confidence, assertiveness, responsibility, asking for assistance and […]
I don’t call them “crimes of passion”, I call them Feminicides / Yo no los llamo “crímenes pasionales”, yo los llamo feminicidios
Colombia legislators have recently voted in favor the “Rosa Elvira Cely” Law, which seeks to increase the penalties for crimes against women in my country. The bill proposal came as a struggle for justice from civil society organizations after the brutal rape and murder of Rosa Elvira Cely, a night school student, in one of […]
Uganda isn’t the only country criminalizing HIV
During our GHC training, we discussed the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act 2014, which criminalizes transmission of HIV in Uganda. A colleague at our HIV/AIDS NGO told me that a group from our organization and other NGOs had lobbied the government to not sign the bill into law, fearing that its passing would […]
How My Career Became My Calling or, How My Co-Fellow Changed My Life.
In David Brooks’ recent New York Times column, he writes about selfless love: “That kind of love decenters the self. It reminds you that your true riches are in another. Most of all, this love electrifies. It puts you in a state of need and makes it delightful to serve what you love.” When I […]
What makes a person who is in a profession so capable of doing good things to another human being become so rude?
As this is my first time blogging, I seriously did not know what to blog about or how to go about it. I was so nervous a few days ago when I realized that I had only a few days left until I was to submit my first blog. One night as I was trying […]
A Hard-Won Battle for Hungry Students
One of my first assignments when I started my fellowship almost a year ago was attend a meeting of the Lunch 4 Learning campaign. Still in its infancy back then, one of the departing GHC fellows at Single Stop literally handed me a folder and said “We’ve done some of the background research for this. […]
Seven Crucial Steps to Stay Focused in the Fellowship Year: My Personal Narrative
Amidst one check-in conversation with my Global Health Corps (GHC) advisor, Paul Ellingstad, he remarked; ‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted’. He was reacting to my expressed worries in figuring out what to count as fellowship accomplishments instead of looking at what could be listed as […]