February 8, 2012 by Anoushka Sinha
From the national office, here are 5 things worth reading this week!
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February 4, 2012 by Anoushka Sinha
We apologize for the relative dormancy of this blog for the past couple of months, but that certainly doesn’t mean our chapter too has been hibernating! We have made some incredible strides over the holidays and during J-term, including a very fruitful Holiday Giving Campaign; an incredible lecture by human rights lawyer Brian Concannon, who directs the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti; and our annual Ski Race at the Snow Bowl.
Our original goal for the year was to raise $7,000 to support GHI’s Gukura Program by funding the development of micro-irrigation systems in Rwanda; thanks to the dogged efforts of our group and generous contributions from our community, we’ve already reached about $10,000!!!
After an exciting talk with the folks at GHI, we have a new, more ambitious and far-reaching goal to expand their malnutrition program to 1 new Health Center that would accomplish the following objectives:
We have an exciting spring term ahead of us, and we look forward to continuing to educate our community about global health issues while raising the funds to achieve and implement these goals. Thank you to everyone for your hard work and support!
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November 12, 2011 by Alyssa Palomba
Today is recognized by WHO as World Pneumonia Day. This day is led by the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia. The Coalition was started in April 2009 and consists of numerous organizations, foundations and NGOs all dedicated to raise awareness of the severity of Pneumonia. According to the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, Pneumonia is the leading killer of children under the age of 5. Pneumonia takes the life of a child every 20 seconds. It is more deadly in developing countries because resources to treat it are less accessible. Also people with compromised immune systems, like those with HIV/AIDs, are more likely to get Pneumonia. One of the ways to help prevent Pneumonia is to have a consistant nutritious diet which is what our partner Gardens for Health in Rwanda provide HIV/AIDs patients. Nutrition and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the first step towards prevention of many of these diseases. Making the option of having a healthy lifestyle obtainable is difficult but doable. What the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia is asking people to do is to spread the word about this day and the interest will help perserve funding for the organizations that are apart of this coalition. I have included a link to a video on this day and also please check out the website for the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia at www.worldpneumoniaday.org.
[youtube YwBrRg4pB-4]
Some information attained for this post was found through www.worldpneumoniaday.org.
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November 6, 2011 by Alyssa Palomba
Last week all of the members that attended the meeting were asked a series of questions. We all answered each question on a sticky note and posted it on the whiteboard. After this exercise was done we all were able to look at all of these answers and really see what motivates and inspires the members of our group. I have included the questions and some of the answers below…
Why are you in GlobeMed?
“To gain knowledge of myself as an individual capable of positive change-learn how to best and most beneficially help others.”
“I’m in GlobeMed because I want to take an active role in the shaping of the global health community and I want to do what I can to help those in need of help and resources. It’s also so that I can broaden my horizons and work with new engaging people in this process.”
“So that I do not lose sight of the bigger picture while inside the Middlebury bubble. To be part of something bigger than myself.”
What are your top 3 values and how do you integrate the values?
“Integrity, Altruism, Hardwork…
…Ideally I try to apply those values to everything I do whether it’s GlobeMed, soccer, school, or friends and family.”
“LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE”
“Justice: work to do what is right, not what is easy.
Understanding: Be there for people when they need you.
Compassion: Try to understand and care for what other people are going through.”
“My top 3 values are trust, honesty, and courage and I try to incorporate all of these somehow into my every day life by stepping out of my comfort zone and trying out something new everyday.”
“1. Good is more that simply the absence of evil.
2. Don’t change who you are because of how people around you are.
3. Always be honest—even when it is harder and may hurt more.”
“Commitment, compassion, loyalty…
…trying to treat friends, family and strangers well—giving everyone the benefit of the doubt.”
“Honesty and trust, laughter and having fun, hard work and resilience.”
“Being yourself-Doing what I like to do
Treating other people with respect-Being polite
Helping others-doing favors”
What about global health inspires you?
“The possibilities to make a difference, big or small.”
“The fact that so many of these problems can be solved if addressed in the comprehensive, sensitive way and with the right intensions.”
“people coming together to work towards a common goal—to improve health equity and the well being of others.”
“Global health inspires me because it is an effort for equity among everyone for something that is such a basic need and people coming together to support it.”
“The ramifications beyond health that improving health that improving health conditions facilitates. Providing people with better health service doesn’t just make a healthy human it makes a capable citizen.”
“It’s simply the idea that there are people in the world that don’t have the same amount of resources that most of us do and the fact that we still waste that inspires me to participate in GlobeMed.”
“Global health’s want to improve the lives of many people around the world, especially its focus on health. Everyone deserves healthcare.”
What do you hope your legacy will be?
“That I always did the best I could to improve the happiness of people.”
“One I can be proud of.”
“For people to remember me with a smile.”
“ I hope my legacy will be one of balance: balancing altruism and fin, dedication and moderation, selflessness with self-care.”
“To give back more than I take.”
“I hope my legacy is left in the individuals I meet. And that I can have a positive/helpful impact on at least one person who needs help.”
“I hope that I will be able to point to at least one tangible difference I made in a person’s life.”
“Strong relationships, a social impact, and a happy family”
“I hope I positively influence those who surround me and contribute something to their understanding of truth. I hope I help others and enjoy giving of myself—remembered as a passionate person.”
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October 14, 2011 by Abigail Dill
There was an article in the New York Times fairly recently about how cholera rates in Bangladeshi villages were able to drop by 50% simply by having an inexpensive cloth filtration placed over water.
Even though this is not in Africa, it is very applicable to Globemed at Midd. Help that may initially seem small (such as solar panels to provide electricity!) can have far-reaching and long-lasting impacts.
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October 12, 2011 by Anoushka Sinha
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October 8, 2011 by Anoushka Sinha
Last meeting we drew up a tentative calendar of events, which is as follows:
– Oct. 14: Bunker Night
– Oct. 16: World Food Day
– Nov. 17: Flatbread Event
– Dec. 1: World AIDS Day
– Dec. 4-9: Holiday Giving Campaign
Our goal monetary sum for this year is $7000. The Bunker Night is six days away, so we anticipate building towards that $7k in the very near future!
In the meantime, here’s a list of the other fundraising ideas that were thrown out at the meeting; we encourage you to start thinking about how we might make any of these ideas happen:
– movie screenings
– big speakers
– ski race & 5K fun run (these are two big staple events that were very successful both years)
– babysitting night (another extremely successful event)
– benefit dinner
– seasonal events (e.g., pumpkins for autumn)
– 51 Main exhibit (photos and music)
– Valentine’s Day flower sale
– silent auction
– campaigning at sporting events
– dodgeball tourney
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September 26, 2011 by Anoushka Sinha
After a full house at our information session last Monday, we had another massive showing at our first chapter meeting last night. (Don’t worry, we’ll be in a much larger room next time!) We started with a fun icebreaker, then a Global Health U discussion focusing on the idea of “partnership” that is so integral to GlobeMed, then introductions to the E-Board, and finally funneling into committees for fundraising, advocacy, communications, and grant writing.
At both the info session and our meeting, we showed (at least in part) the following video created by Amy Yang of GlobeMed at UMich. It’s a great intro to GlobeMed and showcases its outstanding achievements:
[youtube zWtnU3sij74]
We’re looking forward to working with all of our members, new and old, in setting and achieving phenomenal goals in our new partnership with Gardens for Health International. Go GlobeMed!!!
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September 4, 2011 by Anoushka Sinha
[youtube vUg7mZalWE0]
Ellen Halle made a wonderful video documenting this past summer’s GROW trip to Uganda. Definitely worth a view!
If you’d like to learn more about the trip, check out our GROW trip blog and Ellen’s photo album.
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September 3, 2011 by Anoushka Sinha
Hi, everyone!
So we finally took the plunge and entered the Middlebury Blog network. Why the big switch? Well, despite the aesthetic appeal of the old site, the Middblog network offers much more in terms of practicality and accessibility to all members of the GlobeMed community. Now, rather than one person (yours truly) in charge of all updates to the site, the entire executive board will be able to post, making the site a more dynamic and community-building tool. WordPress is a simple yet powerful platform, and we believe it will be a preferable medium for storing GlobeMed news and information.
In the next few days I’ll be re-uploading and generating content for the site, and hopefully we’ll soon have a shiny new trove of GlobeMed resources!
Thanks for your patience through this transition, and please let me know if you have any questions.
Anoushka Sinha
Director of Communications
asinha@middlebury.edu
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