nayavill – Page 21 – Gillings Around the globe

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Posted on August 26, 2020 by nayavill

It feels like just yesterday when I started my practicum and like the saying goes “everything that has a beginning, sure has an end.” I successfully completed my remote practicum on August 10, which also happened to be the first day of class for the Fall semester.

My practicum project was aimed at engaging male partners, grandmothers/family members in Lusaka, Zambia to support optimal infant feeding and stimulation of HIV-exposed uninfected infants as well as women’s continued ART adherence. I also participated in secondary analysis of qualitative data obtained from interviews with HIV-positive women and their male partners in Zambia and Malawi.

I am very excited to have worked on a project that is in line with my interest, which is improving the health of women and children with limited access to health care particularly in the areas of HIV/AIDS as well as Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF).

My outputs were counseling materials, training guides and qualitative data summaries. Though I could not make it to Zambia, I am so glad for how much I have learnt about the population, their traditions, beliefs and available community assets. This knowledge helped me to design materials bearing in mind the context of the public health problem as well as being culturally sensitive which would in turn ensure acceptability and sustainability of recommended practices.

I am extremely grateful to UNC Gillings Zambia Hub for this opportunity to broaden my knowledge, develop skills and apply my knowledge on a hands-on real work. I had an amazing preceptor, Dr. Stephanie Martin, who coached me excellently, shared very useful resources and provided constructive feedback on products. I am also grateful for the guidance and encouragement from my faculty mentor, Dr. Sian Curtis. Above all, I am thankful for good health, sound mind and the ability to adapt to change.

This practicum experience has been a great one, which I would not have traded for anything. I hope to eventually travel to Zambia one day!

Below is the new addition to family [I am a new plant mom (fig. 2)…lol] and also currently “plant-sitting” for a friend (fig.3).

– Doreen

KEEP PUSHING

Posted on August 25, 2020 by nayavill

It still feels surreal that I have come to the end of my summer practicum. I must confess that I was not sure how my practicum experience was going to be, given the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to these uncertainties, my practicum completion dates had to be moved a couple of times so that I could meet the goals initially set for the practicum and to gain as much knowledge and skills I had planned to learn at the start of the practicum.

Having gone through all these, I must say I feel more empowered than I ever imagined I was. It was an introspective and self-reflective period for me. I remember feeling quite sad that I could not visit family and friends due to the pandemic. I recall feeling so lonely at a time, but I reached out to an inner strength that I never knew I had and I felt much better and much stronger. This goes to prove that indeed, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’. If you persevere, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Departing New Jersey to Lagos, Nigeria whilst observing physical distancing- “the new normal.”

My practicum even though did not go as planned, has been very interesting. I finally (after much delay) got the opportunity to travel to my home country Nigeria which is the location of my summer practicum. I enjoyed the privilege of working with primary data on child nutrition. I produced a framework for performance monitoring and management for a project that is focused on improving child nutrition in the communities. Even though I couldn’t go out to the communities to put names and faces to the data I worked with, owing to the lockdown necessitated by the pandemic, however, I felt fulfilled knowing that I played a small part in improving nutrition and health status of some vulnerable children. This has strengthened my resolve in learning as much as I can and being the best public health practitioner, I can be. The big lesson for me from this experience is that despite the pressure on the outside, we can draw from our inner strength to stay focused on the goal, adopt new strategies when necessary to make the positive impact we desire to see. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, so let us keep pushing.

– Maureen

When Everything Goes Digital

Posted on August 21, 2020 by nayavill

In March, my practicum in Zambia was moved to an online format. I was frustrated and disappointed because I had been so eager to go physically see oncological care in Sub-Saharan Africa. What I didn’t expect was to gain practical skills during such a hands-off internship. This summer I developed a digital dashboard system for a multidisciplinary team that had just transitioned to a virtual format as well. I was originally very frustrated with the world when my plans got altered to start remote work, instead of traveling, but I realized I was not the only one that was adjusting. To make their efforts more efficient in their new virtual state, and to address historical need for technology, I was employed to introduce a new way of communicating between the team, allowing them to share information at a moment’s notice. I soon realized that the whole world would be having to learn this, and use these skills for a bit longer than anticipated.

Through my efforts of developing the digital data management system, I have researched eHealth systems around the world, and I have seen how low and middle-income countries are focused on developing eHealth strategy documents. The purpose of these is to outline the need for building technological capacity and supporting tech education. It is a public statement to the world and the people that the country intends to step into the technological world. Recently Zambia started benefiting from a new undersea high speed internet cable that has now given the internet to millions of people. Much of the population is still rural, but the new connective cable allows Zambia to join countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe that are also connected.

A practicum like mine would not have been possible even a decade ago because of lack of internet, and the whole prospect of shifting the multidisciplinary team to virtual meetings would not have been possible without the development of software like Zoom that has become so prevalent during the pandemic. COVID-19 is waking the world up to the functional uses of the internet in professional settings. All those meetings that could have been emails are now emails, or virtual meetings. I wonder if the in-person meetings, or offices, will make a full recovery. Now looking for employment at the start of the Fall semester, many if not all opportunities are advertised as remote for the foreseeable future, and will probably transition to that mode from now on. Over the past three months, I have learned many things about the virtual world, but the most important, is that it is here to stay.

– Katerina