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.
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| 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.
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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.
