Introducing the 2015 Summer Interns!

We are very excited to introduce this summer's cohort of interns. They'll be working on launching new Healthy Villages, conducting monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in one of our current Healthy Villages, and implementing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programs in two more villages.

Stay tuned throughout the summer for updates from the field from these fantastic champions for public health!


Launch Team - Bukakaire

Anna Gunod (team leader) is an MPH student at Tulane University, concentrating in Community Health Sciences.  She also received her Bachelor’s degree from Tulane, with a double major in Public Health and Spanish.  Anna spent a semester in Chile, Peru, and Argentina, where she studied and participated in hands-on public health work, and she has previously held public health internships with Fit NOLA of the New Orleans Health Department and Common Ground Health Clinic in New Orleans.  In her free time, she enjoys singing and working with children.  She is inspired by this opportunity to work with UVP and provide much needed support and collaboration to improve public health in the Bukakaire village.  She is most excited to learn about the Ugandan culture and language so that her team can create culturally competent public health interventions and collaborate effectively with village members.

Joseph Senkumba (team leader)

Diane Qi is a biology major, sociology minor at Dartmouth College. Outside of classes, Diane is a research intern at the Norris Cotton Cancer Research Center and leads a student cooking group at the local homeless shelter. Diane has previously worked in mobile clinics in Peru as president of Medlife and in a social work center and low income clinic with St. Anthony’s foundation. After graduation, Diane hopes to continue working with underresourced communities and to further explore the field of public health. Eventually she hopes to enter medical school. This summer Diane is most excited about the opportunity to learn how to collaborate with culturally disparate communities in building sustainable public health solutions.  

Juma Tusuubila is pursuing a Bachelor of Environmental Health Science at Makerere University’s School of Public Health. He aspires to be an environmental health specialist, focusing on health policy to achieve health for all He is also committed to rural microfinance NGO’s as a way to bring economic development and build resilience of developing countries. He enjoys doing drama, dancing, MC’ing, and swimming.

Johnny Su is from Los Angeles, California. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2015 with a B.A. in biology, and he is currently taking a gap year before applying to medical school next year. Johnny has traveled to Europe, South America, and Asia, but this is his first time in Africa. He eventually sees himself working in international health after completing his medical degree, and hopes that this summer internship will further encourage him to pursue a career down this path. He is a member of the Launch Team at Bukakaire.

Brittani Calvert is a senior at the University of  Washington who is majoring in Public Health and minoring in Nutrition. Outside of her studies, she is involved in her school's Student Food Cooperative club and was recently one of their leaders. She is passionate about public health issues surrounding food insecurity, malnutrition, global malnutrition, hunger, and injustice. She plans on pursuing a career that works to eliminate these issues. Brittani is excited to be a member of the Launch Team and experience Ugandan culture. Above all, she is honored to have this amazing opportunity to live in a rural village in Iganga and work with the villagers to create community specific, sustainable solutions in order to improve public health.


Launch Team - Nabirere B

Caila Brander (team leader) grew up in Bloomington, Illinois. She is senior at Washington University in St. Louis studying Biology and Anthropology, focusing on Global Health and the Environment. There, she is a member of the executive board for a public health student group and coordinates safe sex education sessions around campus. After graduating, she hopes to have more international experiences before eventually applying to medical school. She has enjoyed several volunteer positions in Guatemala, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and her home community. She also spent time conducting public health research in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She is incredibly excited for this summer in Uganda and looks forward to the opportunity to gain experience in public health program implementation and to learn first hand about community health.

Kenneth Kaggwa (team leader) is studying social work and social administration at Kampala University. In five years he aims to be a lead project or program designer. He enjoys traveling, story-telling, and DJ-ing in his free time. He is passionate about exploring new skills and ideas in line with societal uplift and development.

Nicole Carbone is currently a second-year Master of Public Health student in the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Maternal and Child Health Department. She is most interested in international reproductive health, family planning, and nutrition. Outside of the classroom, Nicole is actively involved in the UNC Student Global Health Committee and the Carolina BEBES Group that focuses on breastfeeding and birth awareness and advocacy. This summer Nicole is excited about further developing skills she gained in her first year of graduate school and about working with the community to do health assessments and interventions. 

    
Ivan Mutawulira (no information provided)

Lorna Genoud is from Sydney, Australia. She completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney in health and human movement education. She also attained a master's degree from the University of Sydney in International Public Health. She has previously volunteered in Peru, Cambodia and Zambia, teaching and working on health issues. She is an avid sports fan and player; She played soccer for 16 years and has coached and played at semi professional levels. She speaks a few languages, French, Spanish and a little Portuguese and also loves music (used to be a piano teacher). 

Sarah Branoff is from Huntington Beach, California and recently finished her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley. She graduated with a major in Public Health and a minor in English, and is considering pursuing both medicine and global public health in her future. Sarah is extremely excited to work with the other members of her team this summer to empower the members of the Nabirere B community to improve the health practices of themselves and their families. She wants to apply the public health theories she has learned about at UC Berkeley to rural communities in need of health education. After the internship, Sarah plans to take time to backpack around Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia, and hopefully get involved with more global health non-profits. 


Launch Team - Kitukiro

Susan Vertucci (team leader) is from Lawrenceville, Georgia, located northeast of Atlanta. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Georgia in 2008. Susan is currently living in New Orleans, and is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Public Health with a concentration in International Health and Development from Tulane University. She has enjoyed traveling throughout Eastern Africa, and spent one year volunteering at an English Medium Primary School in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. She is excited for the amazing opportunity to intern with Uganda Village Project this summer.

Annette Mary Luyga (team leader) (no information provided)

Allison Gengler is from St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a senior at the University of St. Thomas studying Family Social Science and Non-Profit Management. She has enjoyed seeing the beauty of the world
through volunteer positions in South America, South-East Asia, and the Caribbean Islands. She looks forward to further work in international development after graduation. Allison believes the key to life is a positive attitude and adventurous spirit. She is excited to see all that this internship with Uganda Village Project will teach her this summer!

Kenneth Kirunda is a second year student pursuing his Bachelor’s of Environmental Health Science at Makarere University’s School of Public Health. He comes from a humble background and was raised in Iganga district. In the future, he hopes to become a district health inspector working to improve the status of sanitation in the country.

Rebecca Gale 

Launch Team - Nabirere A

Tali Brenner (team leader) is from Potomac, Maryland. She recently graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelors in Public Health. During her time, she volunteered with NO/AIDS Task Force, which sparked an interest in her to work in the field of infectious diseases. This fall she will continue at Tulane to pursue her Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology.  She can’t wait to experience everything Uganda has to offer this summer as a co-leader for the Launch Team in Nabirere A. Overall, she hopes to get out of her comfort zone and listen and learn from the people around her!

Maggie Ashaba (team leader) (no information provided)

Simone Fukuda majored in Political Science at Wellesley College, but decided later to pursue public health. She assisted the UK delegation during the WHO's Executive Board in 2013 and has recently finished an internship with Emergency Health team at the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies, where she worked on the response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak and learned about emergency health operations.She is excited to learn about a new model of community health and learn about health within the Ugandan context and is very interested in trying the local cuisine, (trying) to learn a new language and meeting new people! In the near future she hopes to complete a Masters of Public Health

Stine Vest Nielson just graduated from University of Copenhagen in Denmark with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health and will this fall study the Master of Science in Global Health program. Most recently, she has been visiting a local NGO in Ghana to initiate a partnership project on sexual and reproductive health and rights. One of the things she is most excited about working in Uganda this summer is that the close collaboration with locals will give her in depth knowledge on  the health issues and everyday life and thus give her new perspectives for future work within global health.

M&E Team - Buwoira

Ali Goldsmith (team leader) is from Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah in 2014, with a bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion and Education. She is a certified Community Health Education Specialist, and was and AmeriCorps member with the American Red Cross. Ali has traveled to Europe, Australia, Central America, and a few African countries. She spent four months in Madagascar doing humanitarian work, which inspired her to study Public Health. Ali hopes to get a Masters in Public Health, and looks forward to spending her summer as a co-team leader on the Monitoring and Evaluation Team. 

Fiona Atim (team leader) is in her second year at International Health Sciences University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Health care management. She has always had a passion for making a difference in the health care system of Uganda especially in the rural setting. There is a great need for health education, sensitization and counseling of people especially in rural areas. She would love to get better solutions to these challenges and she believes that with the help of Uganda Village Project, she will be able to acquire more skills, knowledge and understanding that will greatly contribute to her career.

Ainslee Neu is a junior at the University of Minnesota studying microbiology, public health, and statistics. She has worked in public health at the state level but is excited for the chance to work in a Ugandan community. At school she is involved in a couple of public health clubs. In her free time she likes to run and completed her first marathon last fall. She is most excited to learn more about improving public health in a rural village as well as getting to know the members of the village!

Deanna Fleary is a Junior at American University in DC. She is working towards a BS in public health with a minor in history. Her studies center around infectious diseases and global health. Outside of class she is involved in her school's Student Historical Society and is excited to begin a Resident Assistant position in the Fall. This summer Deanna is looking forward to learning more about different African cultures, and expanding her learning outside of the classroom.

Mia Monkovic (no information provided)

Ruth Mirembe (no information provided)

WASH Team - Kasambika

Gladys Arias (team leader) is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Administration, specializing in health policy and management, at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. A former public health professional, she has served predominately disadvantaged Hispanic communities with high rates of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. Most recently, she worked with Physicians for Human Rights and assisted with public health initiatives at the United Nations Population Fund. She received her BS in Psychology and BA in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2012. Having traveled to five continents since college, she is most excited about falling in love with a new country – while creating healthy communities, one village at a time.

Deborah Akong (team leader) is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s in Environmental Health Sciences at Makarere University’s School of public health. She would like to pursue a career in public health, dealing with disease control to zero the incidence of communicable diseases. In her spare time, she enjoys music, playing board games, and doing Sudoku puzzles.

Sarah Dugan is a rising fourth year at the University of Virginia majoring in biology and global development. She is a research assistant in a biology lab, where she investigates how dorsal root ganglion activity impacts satellite glial cell development. She also is part of an interdisciplinary research team studying the necessary social and technical infrastructures to sustain a secondary water system in a rural Nicaraguan community. Prior to UVP, Sarah worked as a public health intern for an NGO in the Ecuadorian Amazon. While at school, she works on various health outreach projects in the Charlottesville community and enjoys the outdoors in her spare time. Sarah is incredibly excited for the summer and is looking forward to learning more about health problems and health promotion in rural Uganda.

Leonard Opeto is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health Science at the Makarere University School of Public Health. He is very passionate about environmental health. In the next few three years he sees himself practicing environmental health in vulnerable communities. Afterwards, he hopes to pursue a degree in public health management and enter global health management with an international organization.

Thomas Karrel is an incoming senior at Tulane University double majoring in Public Health and International Development. He will also be attending the Tulane’s graduate school of Public Health and Tropical Medicine after this upcoming year, studying Epidemiology or Global Health Systems. He is involved in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at Tulane, and spent the last year serving on the Executive Board. He is also an International Student Mentor and works in the Tropical Medicine labs in Tulane’s downtown campus. With the UVP internship coming up, he is most excited to meet different communities and see the water conditions in Iganga firsthand. Also, he's excited to be living in completely different conditions and be able to “unplug” for a couple months. 

Richeal Walsh is about to begin her senior year at Brown University with a major in Public Health, more specifically environmental and maternal health. At Brown, she is the captain of the women's lacrosse team and a member of the Rhode Island Environmental Justice League. This summer, she is most excited about experiencing Ugandan culture and learning everything she can about the people and the health challenges they face.

WASH Team - Bukaigo

Lucy O'Shaugnessy (team leader) 










Elizabeth Muhumuza (team leader) is a third year student pursuing a Bachelor's of Environmental Health Science at Makarere University's School of Public Health.  During her stay at the Makerere University, she has acquired a lot of knowledge concerning disease prevention and also improved my leadership and public speaking skills. In the next two years, she sees herself as a practicing environmental health scientist and a health promoter in different communities. She also looks forward to doing a master’s degree in public health after the two years of practice, specializing in epidemiology and biostatistics.

Sofia Moscowitz (no information provided)

Katie O'Donnell is a MPH Epidemiology & Biostatistics candidate at Claremont Graduate University-School of Community and Global Health where she is currently involved in health behavior research in connection with HIV in at risk communities.  She is interested in emerging infectious disease on both the national and global scale.  She received her BA in Exercise Science/Kinesiology from Capital University in 2011 and is ACSM certified as a Physical Activity in Public Health Specialist.  Katie enjoys traveling, the great outdoors, and making friends wherever she goes.  This summer she will be part of the WASH team and is most excited to experience Ugandan culture, to work with an international team, and to experience the challenges of working globally in a low-resource area.  


Daphine Wadamaga (no information provided)

Shahana Momin is currently a senior at the University of Texas at Austin, completing a bachelors in Supply Chain management with a minor in Chemistry. She is the Vice President of my school's Business Healthcare Association, where she works with other students to learn about how the business side of health care can have a major impact on the quality and delivery of health care. She also volunteers at a refugee shelter in Austin, TX, where she helps teach international women refugees about sexual health. She is excited to immerse myself in rural Africa this summer and is also excited to use her knowledge of logistics and health care to help better the health of the local communities with her fellow WASH team members!