We kicked off a super packed meeting with a general overview of CHOP, SAW, and what GlobeMed at UC does for some of our newer members. Then we split up into 5 groups and had a fun team building activity to see which team could build the highest tower with spaghetti and marshmallows (pictured on the left). We then tasked each team to draw out their representation of the GlobeMed partnership model with SAW (Social Action for Women and Children), CHOP (Community Health Outreach Program), ATL (our main contact in Thailand), and what we do in chapter. We had some incredibly creative drawings to represent our partnership!
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Every year our chapter sends 5 members to Mae Sot to work directly serve SAW and gain a better understanding of our partner and partnership. This past year, SAW asked GrOW interns to compile a 2018 Annual Report in order to attract western donors. On this chilly Sunday, chapter members of UC Globe Med finally got to review the finished product of this detailed report, gaining a better understanding of SAW's operations, triumphs and struggles. We split into group who each reviewed a section of the report, then each group shared their most important findings. Click the button below to learn more about SAW's incredible work.
This week's internal meeting was about the very important topic of healthcare systems through the means of a fake court case where the chapter was split into a prosecutor and defense of public versus or private health insurance.
Some points that were brought up for a single payer healthcare system: -medical bankruptcy is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America & a single payer system would eliminate this issue -Monopolies would not exist because the government would control prices -More focus would be placed on prevention and perhaps more restrictions would be put on companies In addition, we talked about House Bill H.R 676: Where this bill establishes the Medicare for All Program to "provide all individuals residing in the United States and U.S. territories with free healthcare" This program would be funded from several sources of previously existing finances for healthcare and also various amounts of taxes on populations. Hosted by our Partnerships committee, we had a mock CHOP workshop to provide more insight on how a typical community health outreach program would take place in the Phop Phra area. These rural communities of migrant workers do not have typically have access to healthcare resources or health education.
We split up into groups and were given a topic that could be relevant in a rural community health specific to Burmese migrants. We sat on mats on the ground to simulate the type of experience at CHOP workshop. Topics included reproductive health, respiratory infections and tuberculosis, malaria and Measles. To keep the meeting as close to a real CHOP workshop as possible, we included a pre-test and post-test to have quantifiable data about the material presented to try to have tangible evidence of change/knowledge gained. One of the biggest highlights of this meeting was to see how information needed to be tailored to the audience; where one aspect of the information that is presented may be common sense to one population but vital information to another. When we think about communicable disease like diarrheal issues, it may be commonly understood to our chapter, but reiterating that it's important to have a designated area for fecal matter may be something that needs to be reiterated to maintain water quality. This was also to note that the participants of the workshops are not intellectually incapable of coming to these conclusions, but rather it's important to support communities where general public health knowledge has been lacking or nonexistent. Our next Mock Workshop will be November 1st at the community health speakers series. Today's meeting was led by our Internal GhU where we spent a large part of our chapter meeting talking about the effects of climate change. We were split up into 9 groups and each group had one topic to discuss and then share as a main group. The button below will take you to the website where we talked about the various parts of climate change that GlobalChange.gov included in their scientific assessment of the impacts of climate change on human health in the United States. As a chapter, we noted the interconnectedness of the social determinants of health and how climate change inflate and enlarge pre-existing public health issues. As part of GlobeMed's values, we know that all human life is important and access to healthcare is one of our core values. It was interesting to see how climate change affects so many aspects of an individual's life. From vector-borne diseases, food safety, mental health and wellbeing, climate we discussed that all of these parts affect all parts of society, but also minority groups are impacted the greatest. In addition, we ended our discussion by talking about what we can do address these concerns. We know that small change is important (like metal straws) but also large scale change like voting, raising awareness of fast fashion, meat consumption, and grassroots campaigns. Last but not least, we met with our committees and finally started our GroupMe! S/O to the communications and design for this post! Sunday, November 4, 2018 Chapter Recap The spook is over and the first GlobeMed meeting of the new season took place on a vivid, then soggy evening. Internal gHU gave a presentation on mental health, highlighting the LGBTQ perspective. To kick off the conversation, everyone was given a note card asked to answer a question: Below, are the insights and stories people felt comfortable sharing. For many, this is a demonstration of courage with aims to reduce stigma: The meeting closed with a collective breath on a quote delivered by Anjali, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” (African Proverb). If you or someone you know is at risk due to mental illness, seek professional help as soon as possible: https://www.uc.edu/campus-life/caps.html https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org In preparation for our first meeting of the 2018/2019 academic year, E-Board member's were asked to reflect on GlobeMed's 10 Turths. The following were used to help illustrate our values to prospective members. Globemed Statement: "Every human life has equal worth. Health is a human right and a matter of social justice. Together, poverty and disease form a vicious cycle: People become sick because they are poor and poor because they are sick. The more power and privilege a person has, the more likely they are to be healthy. Across the world, power and privilege are distributed by systems created by people, which elevate certain groups of people while oppressing others." Ellena: “Learning about GlobeMed's approach to change helped me better understand this process. I didn't truly think critically about how the cycle of poverty & health are connected until my PD1000 class brought it close to home - showing the breakdowns of the Cincinnati districts & the disparities between neighbors. And then, at globemed I learned how focusing on this cycle is critical to making valuable change. SAW serves Burmese migrants in almost every aspect possible: they provide education, healthcare, job training, counseling, and social services. My interpretation of this is that in order to solve the world's problems, we need to take a holistic approach, rather than attempting to solve one problem at a time. And that takes teamwork & dedication, much like the attitudes demonstrated by my Glob Mob family. I have hope for the future because of the people in GlobeMed who think deeply about the world's problems and how to solve them” Emily: This statement definitely resonates with everything I've learned in my undergrad through GlobeMed, my sociology classes, shadowing experiences, and just living in Clifton. It is also the one that most angers me and makes me want to impact change in my community. GlobeMed has taught me above anything else that I've experienced that I have the power to do this, even if it's in a small way. The first step to this is recognizing my own privilege. Before joining GlobeMed, I definitely did not see how privileged I was in the world. GlobeMed did something more important, though. It never made me feel guilty for the opportunities and resources I was given in life, although it was tempting to feel that way. Instead, it empowered me to use the power and privilege that I have to uplift others. Although I might not be able to change the systems of power instituted, I can definitely impact change on an individual level to fight systems of oppression. GlobeMed Statement: There are young people everywhere who refuse to accept the world’s massive disparities in health and feel a powerful responsibility to act. We can realize health for all, if we work together. Sam: I've never felt more motivated to work towards the goals of GlobeMed then during GROW when we had the chance to interview some of the students who live at the SAW Shelters and attend the SAW school. Virtually all of the students expressed a desire to attend college not as an escape, but as an opportunity to learn skills in order to further the mission of SAW. So many wanted to study Social Work and come back to work for SAW to help future members of their community. If everyone had such a dedication to building and serving any community, we'd have an even brighter future. Shalyn: This is a concept that I feel is very strong in GlobeMed. I have never met a group of people more compassionate about changing some of the world's massive disparities and feel an innate responsibility to act on them. In GlobeMed is where I first learned the term "Global health is local health." This phrase made me realize how important it is to focus on the world's health disparities, but how equally important it is to focus on local disparities as well. In GlobeMed we address both of these as we hold weekly meeting discussing different disparities within the surrounding community and others all the way around the world. We even partnered with SAW to help in taking a step closer to mitigating the health disparities in Thailand. GlobeMed has helped me to realize how important this passion is, and how when all of us work together, we can accomplish so much more than we ever thought possible. GlobeMed Statement: "Because these systems are created by people, they can be changed by the actions of people. Humanity can choose how we share the resources of our finite planet" "Throughout history, transformational change has happened when people from all walks of life have united in partnership and solidarity to fight for equity and justice" Anna: I signed up for every global health organization because that’s what devout premeds like myself did the first weekend of college. At one meeting, a group was talking about their past trip to Nicaragua when one of their exec members shared his experience. A man had come to the clinic they were working at with a “huge” ulcer on his leg. The student went on to explain how it was “so cool” to see “such a big ulcer” because living in the United States he would have never seen that. As a type this, I realize there are plenty of place domestically where he could see something similar, BUT at the time I was more thrown by the genuine excitement he had about this case. There is no way the man with the ulcer thought it was as “cool” as this student did. By contrast, the GROW interns I met through GlobeMed had so much passion and spoke about SAW’s staff as if they were close friends… in a lot of ways they were. They had spent months with them, spoken to them often, and worked to establish the strong partnership we are so lucky to have today. GlobeMed students felt like there was always more to learn FROM our international partner, that they were giving us a gift by hosting our team. This solidarity was what ultimately drew me into the organization. Sachika: Although it's easy to divide, classify, and distance ourselves from other groups of people on the basis of national borders, cultural barriers, etc we are all human and truly do have a lot in common. Everywhere, there are systems where the people in power reign and have access to resources which they keep from those at the bottom of the social/economic ladder. At first, our partnership with SAW might seem strange because they are so far away and work with a very different community. But we actually have so much in common with them. They also struggle with political advocacy/being acknowledged by the government, struggle with funding or being accepted institutionally/legally as a legitimate organization, etc. Learning about how they deal with these issues then teaches us how we can navigate them when we inevitably encounter them in the future. FG: When I first started at UC, one striking thing to me, was this prevalent idea that young people thought they were above the politics - and policies being made by individuals elected because they didnt exercise their civil right to vote. But joining GlobeMed, I recognize a difference almost immediately. This group had social issues in their radar, and it was like most people had a sign on their backs, that said "NOT ON MY WATCH!". This is powerful, because if there is one thing I have learned coming from a different culture - it is that it really does take one to make a change. And this generation - at least the GlobMob one, has refused to settle for the status quo. As evidenced by the organizations every member is a part of, to the initiatives we take on - I truly without a doubt, believe good health care for all is coming to the end of its mythical days. GlobeMed Statement: “Poverty of means is not poverty of ability. Intelligence, talent, and leadership capacity are equally distributed around the world. Opportunities and resources are not.There are local changemakers in every corner of the world who see the potential of their own communities and are already working to unleash it.The best way to achieve lasting change is to shift power and resources to local changemakers so that they can lead the transformation of their own communities” Molly: Every single person that I meant at the SAW shelters represents this so well. There are so many stories that I can tell here but one that particularly comes to mind is Neyein, also sometimes referred to as ATL’s son. Nyein came to SAW for an education, just like so many other young people looking for education. While we were there, Nyein was working on studying for the GED. We talked a lot to Nyein about his future goals. He told us that he wants to go to University. In university, I was thinking he might want to become a social worker. This is what ATL and Sue are both doing and is a clear way to give back and work at SAW in the future. Instead Nyein explained that he wants to become a journalist and then return to his village. There he can write about the lives of villagers and the disparities they face. The goal of this is to spread the word but also to unite the people so that together they can create change. I love GlobeMed and I am inspired to create change, but the real changemakers in this situation don’t need a plane ticket to go to Thailand, they are already there. Nyein is one of many people, trying to create change out of what he has. Empowering people like Nyein in their own communities is where we will have an impact. Sonya: “This statement is especially powerful to me more so as of now rather than last year because I was able to go to Mae Sot this past summer to visit our partner, Social Action for Women, and to grasp its meaning in action. We visited a couple different communities to listen to talks that the SAW staff would give on family planning and sex education. I realized how little I knew about these topics and how unbelievable it would be to go into this culture that I knew barely anything about and try to tell the way that I think is best to stay healthy. I realized how important it is for you to be a part of that culture and understanding in order to be actually useful to the people you are trying to help. No matter where you travel, there are going to be a certain amount of norms or practices that you will not be familiar with, yet are so necessary to understand to create change in that community. In almost every chapter meeting at GlobeMed we discussed this concept, but seeing it in action made me understand how true it actually is. If you want to create true change, empower others who are qualified to do the work in that particular area, and you shall” June 12th, 2018
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Our ChapterThe University of Cincinnati's GlobeMed chapter is comprised of compassionate, energetic students who believe global health equity can be achieved through partnership. Here are some meeting summaries, stories and incites of our inspiring team.
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