January 2016: Celebrating three years of PHWB

It is hard to believe that a Public Health without Borders (PHWB) group from the School of Public Health at University of Maryland took its first trip to Compone, Peru three years ago. I was on that travel team, collaborating with UMDs Engineers without Borders.  And I started this blog to capture the stories.  We’ve grown. PHWB continues to travel with EWB, and has two independent projects. We now have a vibrant Student Government Association (SGA) approved group which meets each and every Monday night, dividing into project teams – Peru, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh. We continue to plan projects that meet the needs of communities, as defined by communities. We have successfully raised nearly $20,000 for supplies and travel. We conduct needs assessment interviews and focus groups, we apply for and receive Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for all research that involves human subjects. We train students to focus on cultural competency, reciprocity and relationship building.

Undergraduate PHWB students lead "MyPlate" workshop

On that travel team three years ago, I learned from Engineering student, Kevin Hogan, that hardworking undergraduate students can step up to be leaders when given the opportunity. Three years later, I made my first trip to Ethiopia with 3 undergraduate and 2 graduate students from PHWB. The PHWB-Ethiopia January 2016 team worked together to develop an Ethiopian “MyPlate” educational workshop to pilot in elementary schools, a teacher evaluation of the workshop, and survey on food safety and nutrition. Doctoral students presented seminars on urban agriculture and food safety at  Debre Berhan University. 

What I love about mentoring students in Public Health without Borders is that they are energetic and committed, and are learning to be flexible, culturally sensitive, critical thinkers. I am teaching a new course this spring titled, “Global Health Projects: Addressing Health Needs with a Focus on Reciprocity and Relationships.” The course emerged out of a hope that students who want to help others in need will listen and learn from the experts – in most cases, the people who they plan to serve.

I am confident that members of this Ethiopia travel team will continue to seek collaboration. They will follow a path fraught with challenges and frustrations, where luggage gets lost for days, but life stories are more interesting. They will continue to seek opportunities with potential for improving health outcomes where they are lifelong learners who listen to the needs of the communities they serve.

On the long journey back from Ethiopia, I reflected on the value of relationships.  We were greeted by DBU president, deans and directors. We were embraced by Sodere in Health Sciences, Tsige in Agriculture, Getachew, Public Health lecturer in nutrition, Hymanot and Afework – angels of the school gardens, and Hiwot Menbere, retired horticulturalist from UMD with nonprofit Good to Grow dedicated to sustainable agriculture and nutrition education -- to name just a few. And mostly, I think about the impact of students who commit to PHWB – our future public health leaders making a difference now.