The summer after my freshman year, I got to go to Zimbabwe. It was, quite honestly, the opportunity of a lifetime. We had the chance to shadow doctors and public health officials, as well as the wonderful people in the program. Four years later, I'm still in contact with some of the people I met, but in Zimbabwe and from UW.
Daily journal reflections (linked here) offered made continuous reflecting easy, and I'm happy to say that was enhanced because this study abroad was one of my experiential learning experiences: international engagement.
Final Reflection Project Title: Public Health in Action (Honors in Zimbabwe) This summer, I participated in the Honors in Zimbabwe (ZimPHiA) program, and it was, to say the least, the experience of a lifetime. Mid July saw me in the Harare airport. It was crowded, but I was caught up in conversation, so the winding lines to immigration passed quickly. My new friend wore a headscarf that would have been shocking in its vibrancy if it weren't so fashionable. She was fresh out of accounting school and on her way to her cousin's wedding, and had more stories to tell than anyone I've met since. When she asked why I was there, I had nothing but bubbling excitement and vague overviews to give her. In spite of the detailed schedule we were given, I had no idea what to expect. Perhaps going in without expectations was a good thing, though, because I spent the entire trip being quietly blown away. Shattering expectations is louder, and there was already a lot to listen to.
Week one took place in Harare. It featured an introduction to Dr. Kasprzyk's and Dr. Montaño's work on behavior change, which was fascinating, and not a subject I was aware of before reading the trip's preparatory material. Learning about it has allowed me to have a bit more insight on why certain programs do and do not work, and allowed me to see examples of very effective programs. We were actually allowed to sit in on a meeting about several of these; the Sista2Sista program focuses on empowering girls by providing a support network and sometimes connecting them to trainings that can help them develop new skills, and the Women With a Voice program empowers sex workers by connecting them to women in similar circumstances and encouraging them pool their money for financial endeavors. Meeting the women who ran and participated in these programs was honestly inspiring, and it made me realize that there are concrete ways to tackle big problems, even in low resource settings. That was a lesson that was emphasized with everything we saw. During that week, we also toured a hospital, where one of the doctors had precipitously lowered stroke mortality by creating a stroke ward, where patients were given a swallow test and watched by an (incredibly proficient) nurse. Drawing away from this theme, but equally fascinating was the lecture Dr. Gomo gave on researching the validity of traditional medicine and the several short introductions to Shona and Ndebele, taught by the lovely Dudu and Entineth, two study coordinators who acted as translators, friends, and responsible adults by turns. Even with the full schedule, we were able to spend time with all the new people we met; the programs' participants, organizers, and keep-it-togethers was a particular highlight.
At the start of the program's second week, our group was split in half, and the one I was a part of headed to Chidamoyo hospital. There, we got to see how a rural hospital worked from up close. My favorite part was shadowing the doctors as they met with patients; I was very impressed by their care and efficiency. We also got the opportunity to assist at two "Well Baby clinics," where children under five go to get vaccinated and their height and weight measured, and with the maternity's outpatient work. It was really incredible to meet so many new people in so short a space of time, and helping made me feel useful. This week made me start seriously considering peace core and medical school as options-I think I could really love seeing that I am helping people. Another highlight was the relationships I formed. We played basketball with a group of guys our age, and went on runs with some children living close to the hospital. The nurses were friendly, and always willing to share their knowledge, and of course, I got to know the members of our group, and forming friendships I hope will last a lifetime.
Tragic as it is, our time in Chidamoyo came to an end, and seemingly endless fields were replaced by Bulawayo's impossibly wide roads and turquoise accents. Here, we got to see how all we had been watching fell together. We were treated to excellent presentations by people working in the ministry of health, and got a closer insight into Zimbabwe's health system. I particularly enjoyed a presentation on the DHIS2 software they use for information sharing. It's incredibly efficient and this has saved time and lives since its implementation (which, shockingly, was not as impossible as it is made out to be). The presentations placed a large emphasis on having action plans, which I really admire and agree with. The Precede/Proceed model outlined emphasized asking people what they need most and using various markers to track success. It was really fascinating to see how things worked on a large scale, but this actually emphasized the importance of the microcosm. Furthermore, visiting labs crystalized my desire to go into engineering, and it reiterated how necessary engineers are, and I realized that there is something significant about wanting, more than anything, to create things. The final week of our trip was focused on our presentations. We got to visit more of the public health initiatives, which was incredible, but generally we focused on spending time with the people we had befriended and recalled all that this trip meant to us. This summer was the best of my life, and this trip is largely to thank. It allowed me to explore a culture I had no knowledge of, and meet people I'm in contact with now, and hope to remain in contact with for time to come. It also opened new career paths and major options to me, whilst emphasizing where my interests lie. The trip included a lot of very fun extracurricular activities (which remain unmentioned here, but will be detailed in my portfolio), and these, along with the relationships I've formed and all I've learnt and experienced, made this study abroad unforgettable.
Experiential learning application Summarize your proposed experiential learning activity, including the primary focus of your activity, your intended actions, and the expectations of your supervisor and/or organization/partners. The experiential learning activity is an honors study abroad based in Harare, though we will also be visiting hospitals in Chidamoyo and Bulawayo. We will be shadowing public health workers at each of these sites. Dr. Kasprzyk and Dr. Montaño, the activity's organizers, have spent years focusing on public health and primary care. I am excited to learn from them and the various lecturers invited to speak. The study abroad consists of the afore mentioned lectures and opportunities to shadow people working in health care. We will cement and find ways to apply this information through daily reflection and by creating a final presentation on what we learned.
Explain how your activity demonstrates the values of the Honors Program Experiential Learning area you selected. Rather than reiterating our definition, outline how your activity embodies this definition. The ZimPHIA study abroad involves spending a month in Zimbabwe learning about Zimbabwe's public health system and the effect the AIDS epidemic has on people's lives. We will also be learning how the government is working to ameliorate it. The extended stay is ideal; there is a difference between spending a several day vacation in a place, and actually living there. We will have the incredible opportunity to work with and learn from people from a totally different culture--and learning from people is easier if you are living in their world. The ZimPHIA study abroad is ideal because the participants have the opportunity to really experience a new culture and live in a new place, learning flexibility and becoming more open to new ideas.
How and why did you select this engagement? What skills or experiences do you hope to gain from it? I found out about this engagement from the honors study abroad page, though it hadn't been done in ten years, which was very disappointing. When I saw that that it was happening I had some embarrassing thoughts of destiny and began my application. I hope to become better at talking to people, learn about Zimbabwean culture, and see how countries that are not the U.S. treat public health. Beyond that, I want to spend my life helping people. If I'm to spend my life making lives better, and I am, or I want to, I can start now. This program gives me the chance to actually do work, and to meet people who are doing what I want to do. I hope this program will give me the skills I need to and ideas on how I can positively impact the world.
How does this activity connect to your concurrent or past coursework? How does it speak to your broader education goals and experiences? I'm in my first year and didn't have an idea of what I wanted to do until I finished chemistry, and even now it's only the vaguest of notions, so I have taken mostly introductory classes. Therefore, the study abroad connects to my coursework only because my coursework is very broad--however, admittance has inspired me to read up a lot on AIDS in general and its effect on the Zimbabwean population in particular. It is horrendous and inspiring and makes me want to do anything--and I guess that is the point. I want, more than anything, to live a life where I can help people, and this study abroad, which is full of people already giving their entire lives to improve those of others, will help me do that.
How will your activity contribute to the larger goals of the organization/your partners?When I was accepted to the study abroad, I immediately began to research HIV/AIDS. I relied overmuch on Wikipedia, got a very western-centric rundown of the history, and read the ravings of an anonymous internet chatter--but I got an idea. It was doubtless watered down and sugar coated--reading about thousands of deaths doesn't tell you that the deceased painted her mailbox lilac, or wanted desperately to meet his nephew, or refused to cook if they didn't have parsley--but it was enough to leave me trembling. It was enough to leave me desperate to do anything. This may be the activity's goal. The more minds are working on an issue, the quicker and better it gets solved, and we may not know enough to do anything yet, but this will help us learn.