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Sunday, December 6, 2009

He had started his essay for medical school

My introduction to Peace Corp Volunteer work in Africa had a rocky beginning. After spending my first three months training to teach science in Kenya, there was political upheaval and social unrest; my first assignment’s site was in the heart of the unrest. The United States Government decided to evacuate all Peace Corp volunteers, and I never really began my project in Kenya. From Kenya, I was lucky enough to be relocated (after several months) to Ndanda Secondary School in southern Tanzania. I was the first Peace Corp Volunteer at the site, and the school is seriously understaffed. Before I arrived, there was no Physics or Calculus teacher for the “A” level curriculum. For that reason, the school had a terrible reputation for teaching maths and sciences. Consequently, I spent my first year at Ndanda Secondary School learning how to teach introductory college level physics and calculus, and adjusting to a new culture, language and education system .
After almost a year, my comfort in the culture and Swahili language skills had advanced enough to allow me to look to fulfill another Peace Corp obligation, Public Health advocacy. Through another one of my school assigned tasks I was teaching physical education once a week. Since about 100 students typically come to the class, I had started running with the students. One of the students Lenigius , told me about the newly student organized club “FEMA”. He explained that FEMA’s role was to fight the spread of HIV by promoting healthy lifestyles and clean environments. The club needed a “mwalimu mlezi” (faculty guardian) for advice and to liaison with the school
administration. He invited me to a meeting of the organizers and showed me a list of documents and names and a club charter signed by the national chairperson. We began meeting every week in whatever classroom we could find.
Highly-motivated leaders and a groundswell of interest from the school
community differentiated FEMA from the schools previous extracurricular
activities, none of which lasted more than a few months. Although, none of the
students were infected, Tanzania is a country where almost 10%
of the population is HIV infected; all of the students have personal knowledge of just how devastating the disease can be.
At one of our first meetings more than 100 students came to watch some short television dramas about various facets of HIV,. Afterwards many students attended our
events, and I saw boys at our concerts who had otherwise skipped classes for
months. After some early stabs at lecturing on health issues I let the
club chairman, Mussa, run our meetings and settled into a role as
advisor and coordinator. Faraji, our vice-president, returned from
a conference in Dar es Salaam with a love for “energizers”, such as
instructing the audience to spell F-E-M-A by waving their butts in the
air. Soon, club members were called to perform at every school
function, and we began monthly concerts to educate their classmates.
With the help of a Peace Corp grant and a local NGO, we organized a weekend conference for the regional A level schools which was 10km run followed by an AIDS awareness presentation, HIV testing and condom demonstrations.
We have just elected new leaders and are trying to found new branches in other nearby secondary schools.
In college I was active in student government, the swim and water polo club, and the Newman society. I was a student among students. Now, I am the professor and advisor. The club has taught me how to lead, not to control. I cannot dictate my needs and wants, but have to inspire through teaching and behavior. I have learned the importance of interpersonal relationships, and allowing others to have their own thoughts and ideas. These attributes directly cross over to the practice of medicine.
More than any other profession, health care is about interpersonal
relationships and allowing the patients to have an understanding and stake in their own care. I realize now that I learned this as a child when to earn some extra
money I would work filing charts at my father’s Internal Medicine
office. I would quiz him about the names on the medical charts and
he would answer with stories of individuals with their own careers,
families and life circumstances. This knowledge of the individual helps my father in his diagnosis and care of his patients’ illnesses. In order to cure sickness doctors must
first understand their patient.
Additionally, my time in Africa, especially my work with the FEMA club, helped me understand the importance of groups. Health care is a community value, not only an individual service. My students, who at night must study under streetlights
because the school cannot afford to pay the electric bill, still put
in hours of their time to reach out to their fellow students to improve
public health in their community. I was inspired by these student efforts to
identify and address problems in the community. As an outsider
with a two-year contract, it took some time to find my place in the
school; however I am proud of my role as teacher and advisor. Peace
Corps service has taught me the value of communities, and the importance of individual activism in that community. I am looking to begin a career in medicine when I return home so that I can continue to help solve society’s most pressing problems by using science, leadership and education .

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