GlobeMed Spring '11 Quarterly

GlobeMed at Northwestern’s

GlobeMed Quarterly Volume 5, Issue 3 | Spring 2011 www.globemed.org/northwestern

Summer GROW Team: Preparing for Ghana Kerianne Fullin

As another successful year of fundraising and events comes to a close (the chapter raised over $9000!), another GROW team is preparing to embark to Ghana. This year, Kerianne Fullin, Parul Kathuria, Neha Patel and the new co-president Deepa Ramadurai will visit the H.O.P.E. Center from June 25th to August 14th to deepen GlobeMed’s partnership and ensure the sustainability of the adolescent sexual and reproductive health and childhood nutrition projects.

The highlight of the trip is sure to be meeting the newly appointed head nurse, Nurse Perfect Titiati. We look forward to hearing her vision and long term goals for the Center and its programs. The GROW team is eager to welcome her to the partnership on behalf of the entire Northwestern chapter!

In addition, this year’s team will assess the expansion of the peer education program to include not only schools but local churches to increase sexual health knowledge throughout the entire year. The peer education program not only improves students’ understanding of reproductive health- it also engages the larger community. Similarly, the creation of demonstration soybean farms in multiple small villages under the childhood nutrition program augments community involvement as mothers are educated in proper farming and harvesting techniques. This year, we will discuss with the new staff strategies to improve self sustainability of soybean farms, greater involvement of fathers, and potential expansion of the programs. No doubt change brings with it the new energy and perspective that foster creative improvement and a deeper partnership.

From left to right: Kerianne Fullin, Parul Kathuria, Neha Patel, Deepa Ramadurai

The GROW team will spend 7 weeks furthering the partnership with the H.O.P.E. Center in Ho, Ghana.

2011 Newsletter staff Editors William Chang Kerianne Fullin Carol Park Bryana Schoen

Contributors Kerianne Fullin Ryan Lange Aimee Peng Heather Polonsky Deepa Ramadurai Jon Shaffer Allyson Westling

Sponsored by Northwestern University International Program Development and the Global Health Studies Department

Meet the new GlobeMed at Northwestern Presidents!

Heather Polonsky Internal Co-President Heather is currently a junior in the School of Education and Social Policy, majoring in Social Policy with a minor in Global Health Studies. Attracted to the notion of students as vehicles for social change and health/human rights advocacy, Heather joined GlobeMed in the beginning of her sophomore year.

This past year, Heather was the Co-Director of Community Building. During her term, Heather was able to partner up with NCDC (Northwestern Community Development Corps) to offer more volunteer opportunities for GlobeMed members. Heather’s main goal for next year, as GlobeMed at Northwestern’s internal co-president, is to foster a greater sense of community within the GlobeMed chapter, as well as among other social-justice minded organizations at Northwestern. Heather strongly believes that when they are knowledgeable and understanding of the issues at hand, college students can make a difference, and help improve the health statuses of people from around the world. She is looking forward to her term as President, and has great hopes and aspirations for the future of GlobeMed at Northwestern!

Deepa Ramadurai External Co-President Deepa Ramadurai is currently a junior in Weinberg at Northwestern majoring in Biology with a Spanish minor. In addition to GlobeMed she really enjoys dancing on her fusion dance team at Northwestern, Deeva Dance Troupe and being an active member of her pre-medical fraternity on campus.

After a lot of reflection on the growth and prosperity the Chapter has had this year she has a lot of great ideas to take everything one step further next year. One of her biggest goals as external co-president is to deepen the connection between GlobeMed and its partner clinic, the Health, Outreach and Peer Education Center in Ghana. She believes that whether it be organizing Skype calls with the Center’s staff or bringing up current events about Ghana at weekly meetings, reinforcing the partnership will make the HOPE Center a tangible entity not only to the members but also to the greater Northwestern community and supporters of health equity.

The expansion of the GlobeMed network is guaranteed to create greater awareness for its mission for global health equity. She has high expectations for next year with such an enthusiastic and hardworking executive board and staff! She is confident they can foster these relationships internally and externally to develop effective campaigns and raise funds and awareness for health in the developing world!

A Word from the GlobeMed National Office Dear friends of GlobeMed,

Jon Shaffer

As the 2010-2011 academic year comes to a close, now is the time for us to engage in the process of reflecting on our work, our struggles and successes, and begin the process of re-imagining our futures (in the near and short term) as individuals, communities, and as a movement.

I have many personal reflections, some of which I will share here.

First, I think it’s hard to overstate our collective accomplishments this year. You all should feel immensely proud of the work that you have done to support the H.O.P.E. Center and bring Northwestern under the broader tent of social justice. In so many ways, our organization has embodied the spirit of pragmatic solidarity – the idea that through deep partnership with people living poverty we can leverage real resources, build understanding and common purpose, and accompany one another on a path towards a more just and equitable world.

Upon the completion of our final exams - with dorm rooms packed and summer plans underway - the GlobeMed Network will have: • • • • •

Raised more than $200,000 for our health partners around the world Engaged more than 1,000 students in chapters at universities across the country Held the 5th annual GlobeMed Global Health Summit with more than 250 students and 40 global health expert speakers.

Selected 14 new chapter founders to launch GlobeMed on their campuses, bringing the Network to 46 student-driven chapters Found 14 grassroots health partner organizations, bringing us to 47 partners across the globe, who working on the front lines of the global health equity movement.

For this, and all of the work our members and supports have done – the countless emails, late night strategy meetings, conversations with friend and family, the continued support of our donors, and tireless advocacy on behalf of our partners – thank you. Thank you for choosing to commit yourself to this movement of service and solidarity with those in the struggle for health equity and social justice.

In solidarity, Jon

2011 Global Health Summit: Leveraging a Movement Student Perspectives on the Summit Allyson Westling

Aimee Peng

Having been my first GlobeMed summit experience, I had no idea what to expect. I heard from older members of GlobeMed at it would completely change my perspective on GlobeMed, but I didn’t understand how. For me, one of the most memorable moments had to have been a brainstorming session we had later in the weekend.

It was nothing spectacular – just us talking over boxed lunches in a room on the fourth floor of University Hall – but in that small group discussion, we hit on some of the fundamental aspects of GlobeMed that make it so special. Some chapters that were represented, like ours here at Northwestern, have been around from the very beginning. Others in our small group were recent chapter founders who were still trying to find their footing in the network and in the greater movement. We swapped fundraising ideas, shared stories of success, and vented our frustrations, but what was most memorable was when a graduating senior expressed her strong desire to stay connected to the movement even after graduation. That was the “ah ha!” moment for me. The speakers were wonderful and the sessions were productive, but finally being able to put faces to other chapters in the network and knowing that we’re already building a solid foundation of active alumni was the most rewarding aspect for me.

This year’s fifth annual GlobeMed Global Health Summit focused on leveraging social movements of the past as a way to advance the movement for global health equity today. GlobeMedders from around the country came together for a full weekend of organizational brainstorming, personal discernment, and friendship building. The days and nights seemed to fly by as we spent quality time engaging with and learning from each other. It was great to reconnect with old friends and foster new relationships with GlobeMed students all across the network. These friendships empower us to work in even stronger bonds of solidarity to grow the movement for global health equity together.

Among the many highlights of the weekend was the plethora of opportunities to meet and learn from distinguished global health professionals.

Throughout the Summit, participants were able to attend panel discussions and keynote speeches on their topics of choice. Sessions ranged from learning about advances in new health monitoring systems to how to sustain a social movement- and everything in between! The chance to work closely with various global health leaders and with each other provided students with the inspiration and determination necessary to continue the fight for a more just and equitable world.

Keynote speaker Joia Murkherjee delivered an inspirational call to action in the pursuit of global health equity.

Spring Chapter Events Here are some photos of chapter and fundraiser events:

Members reflect and discuss at an all chapter retreat in Chicago.

Members raised over $500 for the H.O.P.E. Center with food, fun, and flying frisbees.

Former GlobeMed co-president Katie Smiley delivers an insightful speech at the

Senior Spotlight Ryan Lange

I joined GlobeMed my sophomore year because I had heard that it was an action-oriented group that got things done. Health issues interested me, but as I was bent on getting a PhD in neuroscience, I lacked the terminology and mindset that others in the club had at that time.

Because of my inexperience, I didn’t think I contributed much to the club meeting conversations, but looking back, I think my ignorance helped make for more fiery and contestable dialogues. I mean, I wasn’t even sure health was a human right. Granted, I now think it is and that I was wrong back then, but you get the picture. Most of the world doesn’t yet think of health in the over-arching and fundamental ways that GlobeMed does. GlobeMed meetings and discussions have been useful in helping me practice educating others in this view of health. Whereas I was skeptical before, I now have rock-solid confidence in the health movement.

Because of my involvement in GlobeMed, I took a global health class spring of my sophomore year and fell in love with the idea of community health and the idea of a “glocal” effect (global + local), wherein small individual involvement at a local level has broad, long-lasting global effects. I declared a global health minor, studied abroad in France on the Public Health in Europe program, and the rest is history. Health became a focus in my life. I actually switched the biology labs from one with a focus on the mechanism of circadian rhythms to one that was working on the relationship between obesity, mental health, and circadian rhythms. Furthermore, for the year after I am graduating, I have obtained a Fulbright Scholarship to do research in Canada on perception of obesity and how it relates to policy support.

And of course, I have ultimately dropped my pursuit of a PhD in neuroscience for an application to MD/MPH programs.

Building a generation of global health leaders Since our chapter’s founding, more than one hundred students have become members of GlobeMed at Northwestern. These members, along with hundreds of other students on the Northwestern campus, have participated in GlobeMed’s high-impact programming. In addition to providing students with the knowledge and skills to address issues of global health, these events have mobilized participants to join in the movement for global health equity.

How to donate With support from GlobeMed at Northwestern, the H.O.P.E. Center in Ho, Ghana is excited to embark on phase V of their nutrition project, which aims to reduce the amount of malnutrition seen among children in the surrounding areas, especially children under the age of five. However, we need your help! Our projects would not be possible without help from you, our family and friends!

If you feel compelled to support us, there are two ways to donate: through online donations or through sending checks in the mail. Please see the attached letter for more information.

Thank you for all of your support! With your help, we can work together to fight for a brighter future.

ABOVE Former co-president Tiffany Wong walks with children from Ho, Ghana across a soccer field to where future crops of soybeans will grow.