Global Health
m Peter Berg ’80, who starred in the television series Chicago Hope and directed the 2004 film Friday Night Lights, takes on the cult classic Dune. Courtesy of Peter Berg
Superhero to Sci-Fi
In director Peter Berg’s summer blockbuster, Hancock, Will Smith plays a superhero “who swills bourbon, hates his job and…looks unnervingly like Berg. Producer Akiva Goldsman told the New York Times that, “Smith, on meeting Berg in one of his work-worn states, said: ‘Oh. Oh. He is Hancock.’” Always looking for more adventure, Berg is now directing his attention to a new version of the sci-fi classic Dune for Paramount Pictures. The award-winning and hugely popular science fiction novel published in 1965 has already been made into a film as well as a television series, but Berg told the Hollywood Reporter, “I read the book and really liked it. What I never saw in Lynch’s film was a really strong adventure story. There’s a much more muscular time to be had there.” Peter is also working on the script for Universal Pictures’ Lone Survivor, about a Navy Seal who led a team into Afghanistan on a mission to kill a Taliban leader but was the only one to survive. Even though Friday Night Lights may be over (Berg directed the film and produced the television series), he can’t quite get football out of his blood and now makes time to coach his son’s team. 4 Taft Bulletin Fall 2008
The road is unpaved and few cars or buses pass through the Peruvian neighborhood where the Centro de Salud de Santa Elena is located, but the health center is the first place patients from the surrounding rural areas come to, often with medical emergencies such as heart attacks and complicated deliveries. Neena Qasba ’02, a medical student at UConn School of Medicine, has come to know the center well. While an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins, she spent six weeks in the provincial capital of Ayacucho, as a global studies and Latin American Studies Research Award fellow, researching the formal and traditional medical systems in rural Peru. “I first went as a volunteer and then I got really attached to the place,” says Neena. “The doctors are very dedicated and they have sacrificed the limelight and high-paying salaries of the city to work in a government run health center in a rural and poor part of Peru. Their commitment to patients inspired me.” Ayacucho is nestled in a valley in the southeast corner of the Peruvian Andes. It was a strategically important city during the Incan Empire, located between Cuzco and Lima. She became mesmerized by its scenery, immersed in its cultural history, attached to its people and deeply troubled by its poverty and underdevelopment. Located in the poorest area of Huamanga (population 20,000), the health center is 20 minutes from the regional hospital. While there, Neena shadows doctors, attends births, and assists in health fairs. “Many mothers at the health center told me that it was their first delivery at a medical establishment because it is tradition to give birth at home with the village partera (midwife) surrounded by family and friends,” adds Neena. These traditions are now being considered by health providers and policymakers to promote culturally sensitive birthing
m Her work in Peru helped inspire Neena Qasba ’02 to study medicine.
practices at health centers, she explains. Maternal deaths occur all too frequently in this area while women still choose to give birth at home. “The doctors and patients of Ayacucho welcomed me with open arms and taught me about their beautiful land,” she says. “As a future physician and as a fellow human being, I have an obligation to help and fulfill the medical needs of this community. The words of the Taft motto have always resonated within me—to be of service to others. We hope our work is not simply about charity, but about improving healthcare infrastructure and developing sustainable resources to deliver medical care for future generations.” With a team of UConn students and former Hopkins classmates, Neena is working with the Peruvian American Medical Society to bring medical equipment and supplies to the center. They have brought the first electrocardiogram and are fundraising to provide an ambulance, defibrillator and ultrasound machine. “Ayacucho was my initial inspiration to pursue a career in medicine,” Neena says, “but going forward I see global health as an integral part of my personal and professional life.” For more information, contact Neena at nqasba@student.uchc.edu.