First Thoughts from Intern & Administrative Team Leader, Andre Anderson

By Andre Anderson 


I just completed my first year of medical school at Brown University and applied to the Uganda Village Project because of my interest in global health and the opportunity to engage public health issues via a grassroots effort. Now, several days into the internship, it has been a whirlwind of events, people and feelings. I am reminded of the days just before I was scheduled to leave for Uganda. My friend excitedly asked me how I was feeling. I responded that I was feeling a number of things. When I discovered UVP, sometime in early November, I was enthralled. I imagined spending the summer tucked away in the simple serenity of a village a world away. I imagined the people I would meet, the villagers and the interns, who would probably form a lasting impression on my life. I imagined actively interacting with and addressing health issues in a country whose health problems have been well documented and publicized in many public health forums. For these reasons, I applied to the Uganda Village Project.

When I found out I was accepted into UVP for the summer, I threw a fist pump in the air of the empty room of which I was studying. In the weeks and days before the trip, the months of high excitement became mixed for the first time with anxiety. I think it stems not so much from regret but more so from the process of having to let go. All that defines you, whether it be the classes you attend, the hobbies you engage in daily or the people with whom you interact with will be interrupted not for one week or one month but for two months. As I sat in the terminal of JFK, I realized the necessity, through painful, of letting go of yourself in order to clear ‘space’ and accommodate the new sights, conversations and feelings that this experience would be sure to bring. In between New York and Uganda, I remained suspended somewhere between thoughts of home and thoughts of Uganda. By the time I arrived, it had been an emotional roller coaster but I found myself experiencing a deep sense of calm.

Now three days into my summer abroad, I am excited to see all that I imagined is slowly coming into form. The village appears peaceful and serene, the villagers and interns engaging and fascinating and the health problems very real and apparent. The adjustment period will take time and to be sure, there will be the ups and downs, but I’m happy to be here for the summer.


Andre Anderson is a rising second year medical student at Brown University and is serving as an Administrative Team Leader in Namunkesu Village this summer. 

Kicking Off UVP's 4th Healthy Villages Program!

By Caroline Nyuguto with contribution from Anthony Bui 

This week marks the start of the fourth year of the Uganda Village Project's Healthy Villages program in Iganga since conception in 2009. The Healthy Villages program is an innovative, grassroots approach to addressing rural healthcare and public health in Uganda. Its goal is to improve the provision of healthcare and of preventative health education to underserved populations across the rural Iganga District.

We partner with the District Health Office (DHO) of Iganga, the Sub-County officials, and the local Health Center staff to target villages that have been identified by the DHO due to primary health gaps and needs.

This year our staff chose five villages that were identified in tandem with the health assistants and various district officials. We held meetings in each of these villages and  received community member support to improve the health status of their own communities. As a result of these successful meetings, this month we will be launching five new programs in Kazigo A & B, Kidaago A & B and Namunkesu villages.

To show and seal the partnership, the Local Council level-1 chairperson signed a memorandum of understanding with us on behalf of the community. Women and men in the communities celebrated with ululations and applause to show excitement for the upcoming summer.

With the addition of five new villages, we also look forward to the 42 interns who are joining us this summer -- our team leaders have safely arrived to Iganga, and several team members are arriving in Entebbe even today. In preparation for them, our staff have been working tirelessly to to prepare for the internship for the last 9 months. In the past few weeks, we have checked on the interns' new houses so that they are free of rodents, bugs, and bats, and instead, stocked full of stoves, mattresses, cutlery, and crockery.

The mood in the office is that of excitement -- the internship program is an intensive, yet rewarding, program that we undergo each year.

We look forward to having the interns around as they assist and engage in various activities for UVP, improving the health and economic development of community members, promoting public health in the villages of Iganga.

Caroline Nyuguto is the Assistant In-Country Director in Iganga; Anthony Bui is UVP's Marketing & Communications Officer

Alumni Profile: Cat Kirk, former UVP team leader, 2011

Cak Kirk interned with UVP in 2011 and served as a team leader in Nakamini village. She has a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and now works at the Sexuality and Health Lab at UMSPH. 

Uganda Village Project (UVP): Tell us a bit about yourself.

Cat Kirk (CK): I just graduated in April from the University of Michigan with my Master of Public Health. In addition to enjoying my post-graduate school free time, I am currently working at the Sexuality and Health Lab at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. At the Sexuality and Health Lab, I work on several mixed methods research projects that explore sociobehavioral risk factors for HIV-infection among young men who have sex with men. Currently, my focus is on a project exploring young men who have sex with men’s perceptions of community and interpersonal communication regarding HIV/AIDS and HIV testing. My time at the Sexuality and Health Lab will culminate this summer at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., where I will be presenting the results of my project. After my time at the Sexuality and Health Lab is complete, I hope to join an organization focused on health and development in Sub-Saharan Africa. My main interest is in capacity building and health systems strengthening. I strongly believe in the important role that community health workers can play in improving health systems in resource constrained settings and so my experience with the Village Health Team during my time with UVP has been extremely beneficial.


UVP: Tell us about your experience with Uganda Village Project. When were you involved and in what capacity?

CK: I worked with UVP in the summer of 2011 as a Team Leader for the Healthy Villages program and was also the 2011 Sujal Parikh Social Justice Research Fellow. As a Team Leader, I had the pleasure of living and working in Nakamini along with four other interns and another part-time volunteer who was studying development in Nairobi. Along with my co-leader, I was responsible for setting the work-plan for the summer and planning/implementing each week’s activities with the team. As the Sujal Parikh Social Justice Research Fellow, I designed a research project to explore the health needs of and impact of HIV/AIDS on older adults in the rural villages UVP serves. The project involved a lot of preparatory work prior to my arrival in Uganda and during the summer I worked with another UVP Healthy Villages intern to conduct in-depth interviews with older adults in several villages. I’m looking forward to presenting the results of my project at the International Conference on Aging, Mobility, and Quality of Life in a few weeks. While in Uganda, we spent most of our days out in the hot sun, conducting household surveys, mobilizing villagers to come to events, or holding the events themselves. There was also lots of down time when the villagers were out working in the fields in the morning. During these times we would discuss plans for future activities, use a GPS to map out the village, or just hang out and enjoy the children around our compound.


UVP: What was your biggest challenge working in Iganga? How did you deal with it?

CK: For me the greatest challenge was the language barrier. Since the majority of Nakamini residents didn’t speak English, I found myself very reliant on the Ugandan interns to communicate. This could be quite frustrating at times, since I really believe making personal connections with the community is essential to this kind of development work. I chose to deal with it by seeking opportunities to learn Lusoga phrases in order to be able to communicate without the presence of one of my Ugandan teammates. At times this included relying on school children or other villagers who did speak English to assist me. Just being able to inform villagers about our programs and answer very basic questions was important for team morale among the international interns and also was a great way to bond with members of the community. It showed my interest in learning their language and culture and this investment paid off in their returning the favor by coming out to our events.

UVP: What is your favorite memory about your time in Uganda?

CK: It is so hard to pick just one memory. There were lots of laughs and great times had while working and just enjoying the beautiful country. My favorite day in the village was probably one of our last when we did our sensitization on family planning. Access to family planning is an issue I’m extremely passionate about and so I was really excited when it was time to talk with the men and the women in the village about their options for deciding when and how many children they wanted to have. We had a great turn out and the men and women both had lots of questions, which made this probably our longest sensitization by far. It was so worth it to be able to talk with the villagers about the important issue and have them really engage with our presentation. Outside of work, I also had a great time travelling around the country on weekends and after the program was over. Sipi Falls and Lake Bunyonyi were absolutely amazing and I’d highly recommend them to anyone spending some time in Uganda!


UVP: What advice do you have for future interns/volunteers?

CK: The best piece of advice I could give to anyone joining UVP for the summer is to stay positive. There are days that will be difficult and frustrating, but if you dwell on those it will only negatively affect the other work that you do and prevent you from being able to really enjoy the experience. If you try to keep a positive attitude, others will notice, you’ll do better work and you’ll enjoy it more too!


UVP: How has UVP shaped your career today and what you aspire to do in the future?

CK: My experience with UVP helped to further strengthen my belief in taking a holistic approach to development. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with local leaders, school administrators, health center staff, and other NGOs during my time with UVP. As I continue in my global health career, I am excited to seek opportunities to engage other sectors such as leaders in economic development, education, and private enterprises in order to work together towards the common goal of improving the health and wellbeing of individuals living in sub-Saharan Africa.

UVP: Tell us about a time you used something you learned/experienced at UVP in your more recent jobs/volunteer experiences.

CK: As I am in the process of applying for jobs after graduation, I have been reflecting a lot on my work with UVP. I frequently use examples from my experience to demonstrate my ability to collaborate with others, conduct a needs assessment, and implement health promotion activities. I really value these experiences and know that when I start my next job I will continue to build on the skills I learned during my time in Nakamini.

Alumni Profile: Sarah Williams, UVP Fundraising Chair

Sarah Williams is a Research Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. She interned with UVP as a Healthy Villages Team Leader in 2009. She has a Masters in Global Policy Studies from UT Austin. She now serves on UVP's executive board as the Fundraising Chair. 




Uganda Village Project (UVP): Tell us a little about yourself -- what are you working on these days?

Sarah Williams (SW): I have a masters degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas. I now work at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in DC, a think tank that focuses on strategic security issues. I'm working primarily on nuclear energy and energy security issues. While I've certainly transitioned away from international development in many ways, I consider my experience with UVP to have been helpful in informing the way I think about national and strategic security issues. The issues we will face in the 21st century in my field are changing, and will increasingly be connected to concerns like human security, infrastructure, and health.

UVP: What was your experience with Uganda Village Project like?

SW: I was a team leader in Walukuba in the summer of 2009. We were beginning the Healthy Villages Program, and I led a team of four volunteers in an effort to build a well, install basic health infrastructure and provide basic health literacy in one of the district's poorest villages.

UVP: What was your biggest challenge working in Iganga? How did you deal with it?

SW: Our challenge was community engagement--from the beginning to the end, we had difficulty gaining the support of the local leaders. Engaging local leaders on a trial and error basis was the best we could do--and listening intently to what they were and were not telling us. Listening more than we spoke helped us better understand the situation in the community, identify who could help us complete tasks, and brought us a great deal of respect.

UVP: What is your favorite memory about your time in Uganda?’

SW: On our very last night in the village, all of the children in the community came to our house and we sang and danced around our large fire pit with the kids singing and drumming. Slowly, the women and men--their parents and grandparents--joined us and it became a raucous send-off that went well into the night. It's a memory I'll have forever.

UVP: What advice do you have for future interns/volunteers?

SW: Have fun, work hard, and manage your expectations. You are not going to change the world in one summer, but you can learn a lot and contribute to important work.


UVP: How has UVP shaped your career today and what you aspire to do in the future?

SW: In an abstract way, my experience with UVP has helped me manage expectations in my current career. Being able to take a step back, breathe, and recognize that all the issues you are trying to deal with and "fix" can't be straightened out at once goes miles to making a career, or a day-to-day task more manageable and enjoyable. Working hard while understanding that all of the work in the world can't necessarily solve a given problem is hugely important, in my opinion.

Deceptively simple science aims to save premature babies

By Kathleen Bongiovanni, MIPH, MS; Photographs by Seattle Children's Hospital

Kathleen Bongiovanni serves as a Member at Large with UVP. She works as a Program Manager in the Center for Developmental Therapeutics at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She holds a Masters in Genetics and a Masters in International Public Health. Kathleen recently won the Gates Challenge Explorations award funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Sometimes even a simple idea can make a difference in people’s lives.  In my case, I hope that the creative adaptation of a simple science concept will one day save the lives of premature infants in the developing world.

As a program manager in the Center for Developmental Therapeutics, I support researchers working in the realm of preterm birth and neonatal health.  So far, the main focus of that work has been on treatment options for premature infants, including the development of the Seattle Children’s Positive Airway Pressure ( Sea-PAP) device, an easy to use respiratory support device for preemies.

The aim of my new research project is to investigate new ways of easily and inexpensively diagnosing lung immaturity in premature infants.  Premature birth is a leading cause of neonatal death in the U.S., but not many people realize that it is also a huge issue in developing countries.  New research has shown that 15 million premature babies are born each year, and helping preterm infants everywhere lead long, healthy lives is an important goal of my research.

In developing countries, especially in Uganda—which is where part of my research will take place—many mothers choose to give birth at home, and fewer than fifty percent of births occur with the assistance of a trained health care worker.  Premature infants are born with immature lungs that often lack the ability to make enough surfactant, a surface tension lowering fluid that opens up airways and makes it easier for us to breathe.  Without surfactant, a baby’s lungs are prone to collapse and the baby as risk for developing respiratory distress syndrome.  If problems go undetected and are not treated quickly, this syndrome can lead to death or lifelong disability.

Mothers in resource-limited countries may not be aware that their infant is born prematurely and may not recognize the danger signs of lungs immaturity, placing these infants at risk for developing respiratory distress syndrome.  About 50 percent of deaths that occur within the first 30 days of life are due to delays in problem recognition and care-seeking.  If a mother or trained health care worker is unable to recognize the danger signs of respiratory distress syndrome, the mother or family won’t know to take the infant to a health care facility.  The resulting delay in care, sometimes up to 3 days, can have a devastating impact on the health outcome of the infant.   

Tests for lung immaturity are available in the U.S. and other developed countries, but these tests are complex and expensive, and require invasive amniocentesis or gastric aspiration.  Alternative lung immaturity tests that are appropriate for use in developing countries do not yet exist. 

My research project revamps an old test that was originally developed in the 1970s.  I characterize it as being “deceptively simple,” and thanks to the newer, fancier tests, many people have overlooked it.  The test is called the foam stability test, or shake test.  It works by mixing amniotic fluid with ethanol and shaking the mixture by hand in a vial, then letting it sit for 10 minutes.  You then look at how many bubbles are in the vial.  Lots of bubbles means that the amniotic fluid contains enough surfactant to support an infant’s breathing- no respiratory distress syndrome.

Amniocentesis is not readily available in developing countries, and would be too expensive to implement.  My idea is that the foam stability test should work by taking and saving the oral fluid that is routinely suctioned out of an infant’s mouth right after s/he is born.  This fluid is similar to what you would collect through amniocentesis, and should perform well with the foam stability test.  Oral fluid can be collected noninvasively, and ethanol is not expensive.  The test is simple and can be conducted by someone with minimal training, making it perfect for use in developing countries. 

Right now, I am working with clinical colleagues at Texas Children’s Hospital to plan clinical studies that are necessary to assess the efficacy of this diagnosis technique. I am also traveling to Uganda in June, and will work with my collaborators there to hold focus groups and interviews with women and clinicians in rural settings. Our goal is to gain a better understanding of their feelings on suctioning and testing infant oral fluid, and how amenable they would be to the lung immaturity diagnostic test.

In addition to my work at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, I am also a member of the board of directors for the Uganda Village Project. One of the reasons that I am conducting part of my research in Uganda is that the rate of preterm birth and infant mortality there is very high, and I believe that simple interventions can make a big difference. Uganda Village Project has a Safe Motherhood Program that provides education and improves access to appropriate medical interventions to people in rural areas, who would not otherwise be able to access these life saving services. As a board member I have the privilege of helping to shape UVP’s strategy and programs, and actually met one of my research collaborators, Dr. Peter Waiswa, through our mutual work with UVP. While in Uganda for my research project I also plan to visit the UVP offices in Iganga, and finally meet some of the people I see at our monthly teleconferences!

My research project  is possible because I won a Grand Challenges Explorations award, a rapid grant making initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) provides funding to individuals worldwide so that they can explore ideas that break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges.  

Read more about Kathleen's work here: http://bit.ly/IQiM5B
Learn more about UVP's Safe Motherhood Program here: http://bit.ly/xD6Iaz

Alumni Profile: Crystal Shen, MD Candidate, Mayo Medical School and Former UVP Intern

Crystal Shen is a medical student at the Mayo Medical School and is a Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholar with the National Institutes of Health in Nanjing, China. She interned with UVP in 2009. 

Uganda Village Project (UVP): What are you doing today, and what do you aspire to do?

Crystal Shen (CS): I am currently wrapping up a year in Nanjing, China as a NIH Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholar. I have been working on STD/HIV research in high risk populations, including female sex workers, through a collaboration between UNC and the China CDC’s National Center for STD Control.  I am also a medical student at Mayo Medical School in Rochester, MN. I finished my first three years of medical school before heading to China and have one year left. Prior to my medical school days, I attended the University of Michigan, where I studied biomedical engineering, and then I worked on the HPV vaccine as an engineer in Merck’s Global Vaccine Technology & Engineering organization.

I will be heading to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health next year to pursue my Master in Public Health degree as a Sommer Scholar. Afterwards, I will head back to Mayo to finish medical school and then see where residency takes me. 

UVP: Tell me about your experience with Uganda Village Project.

CS: I worked as a UVP Healthy Village intern during the summer of 2009, where I was privileged to be a part of the Bugabula B village community.  My team’s efforts focused primarily on community health work. We presented health education outreaches, developed a mosquito net & water treatment supply chain, coordinated the construction of a shallow well, planned HIV testing days with the local government health center, facilitated development of a HIV/AIDs education club at a nearby school, and developed a Village Health Team, among other things.  A key goal was to be as much a part of the village community while we were there. Building trust with village members was important for creating a foundation for future health interventions within that community.  Our day to day schedule varied, but often consisted of spending the morning on various chores (including getting water from the borehole, handwashing our laundry, etc) and then working on outreaches or other goals in the afternoon and evening.  

UVP: What was your biggest challenge working in Iganga? How did you deal with it?

CS: Upon arrival in the village, there were various challenging aspects we had to adapt to. We quickly adapted to such environmental changes as living with no electricity or running water. What we found more challenging was modifying our expectations and approaches to “getting things done.” My team members and I were idealistic and eager to accomplish much during our months in the village. Forging forth enthusiastically, we worked hard to prepare for our first educational outreach. To our dismay, only a few people showed up at the time we planned to start. Concerned about the poor turnout, we began going around from home to home with a local village leader to mobilize people to attend the outreach. 

Although it took a couple of hours, we eventually had a sizeable crowd gathered to hear our health presentation. As the summer progressed, we learned to focus less on adhering to schedules and more on slowly building relationships in the community. Rather than being distractions from our work, our morning conversations with the village women while pumping water at the borehole and the hours we spent playing with children in the yard helped us learn and become more integrated into the local culture and community. We were also extremely fortunate that the leaders in the village were motivated to do all they could to help the community, and were therefore willing to aid us in our efforts. These relationships were essential to our progress in various endeavors. These leaders also became part of the Healthy Villages Team that continued, even after our departure, to promote beneficial health practices through working year-round with UVP staff.

UVP: What is your favorite memory about your time in Uganda?

CS: Peaceful evenings in the village spent playing with kids in the yard were definitely the highlight of my summer. I remember lots of fun times when the kids would draw pictures of common things to teach us words in Lusoga, or when we demonstrated our repertoire of animal sounds to learn the Lusoga names of various animals.  Also, the baby goats and magenta-dyed chickens living near our house were quite memorable as well!

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to return to Uganda a year later in 2010 when I spent a few months in Kampala working on pediatric cerebral malaria research at Mulago Hospital. I met up with UVP staff & alumni (including one memorably festive get-together in Mabira Forest) and also re-visited Bugabula. It was interesting seeing how much had changed over a year as well as what had stayed the same. Some of the children had grown quite a lot and our former house had been repainted in bright colors, but the many familiar aspects of the village still made it seem a bit like home.

UVP: What advice do you have for future interns/volunteers?

CS: Be open and adaptable. Every village is different and it is useful to find out what they need and tailor your efforts accordingly. There will always be surprises, but sometimes that turns out to be for the better. Most of all, enjoy this opportunity to “be on the ground” working with people. It comes with multiple associated hassles, but also can have many wonderful moments.

UVP: How has UVP shaped your career today and what you aspire to do in the future? 

CS: The positive experiences I had working with UVP  helped strengthen and confirm my interest in future work in developing countries, despite the challenges Having the opportunity to work on the ground and live within the community was immensely valuable. 

In the future, I envision working in academic medicine as a pediatric infectious disease specialist combining clinical care, research, and health systems improvement centered around infectious disease issues, particularly in developing country settings.

UVP:  Tell us about a time you used something you learned/experienced at UVP in your more recent jobs/volunteer experiences.

CS: Living in rural Uganda was particularly useful for further developing my ability to adapt to change, to be resourceful, to be patient, and to stay calm in the face of unexpected challenges. Another key lesson from my UVP summer was realizing that investing in people can ultimately be more worthwhile than solely focusing on meeting objectives. These lessons have proved valuable in other areas of my life, including during my third year medical school rotations.  Sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in all of the things that need to be done, but it’s important to focus on the people at the center of it all whether they’re village members in Uganda or patients in the hospital.

Support UVP at the Seattle Foundation's GiveBIG Event on May 2nd

The Uganda Village Project has made great strides over the last year. We conducted 5 hygiene and sanitation campaigns, constructing 881 tippy taps to improve handwashing coverage and building 120 new latrines. In a partnership with St. Mary's, we successfully provided HIV counselling and testing for over 1,400 people across 13 villages. We sold 1800 long lasting insecticide treated nets to help prevent malaria and screened over 500 villagers for eye treatment and surgery. Since 2007, UVP has faciliated 180 fistula repairs. We would like to thank the support of our many donors and the hours of our volunteers and staff that helped us get to where we are today.

And to help celebrate our accomplishments, we would like to invite you take part in the Seattle Foundation's annual GiveBIG charitable giving event.

What is GiveBIG?

GiveBIG is a one-day challenge that encourages Seattle residents to give locally by increasing the size of financial contributions made to non-profit organizations.

By donating to the Uganda Village Project on May 2nd, between 12:00am and 11:59pm (Pacific time), UVP will acquire a portion of matching funds, which comes from a "stretch pool" dependent of how many total donations are raised on the GiveBIG day.

What can you do?

You can help support UVP's programs by making a donation to the UVP profile on the Seattle Foundation's website on May 2nd. Save the link and save the date on your calendar! http://bit.ly/Jy9reh

Also add yourself on our Facebook Event: http://on.fb.me/I8dEVP

Visit our website to learn more about UVP: http://ugandavillageproject.org/.

Best regards,

Uganda Village Project

Alumni Profile: Kate Cerwensky, Program Associate at the Boston University PMTCT Integration Program and former UVPer

Kate Cerwensky is a 27-year-old public health professional and UVP alumna. She currently lives and works in Zambia for the Boston University PMTCT Integration Program and the Zambia Center for Applied Health and Research and Development. She travels on the side as much as she can.

Uganda Village Project (UVP): Tell us about your involvement with the Uganda Village Project – when were you involve and in what capacity?

Kate Cerwensky (KC): I served as the Safe Water and Sanitation Project Coordinator for UVP during the summer of 2008. We were based in rural Kalalu Parish in Iganga. My team of five was tasked to promote WaterGuard, a water-chlorination product developed by the CDC. We also coordinated two side projects: 1) establish a relationship between the community and partner organizations to build five shallow wells within our parish, and 2) mobilize the community for mass distribution of insecticide treated nets.

From 2008-2009 I served as UVP's publicity chair on the executive board. I helped to create promotional materials, including orientation and project area manuals, as well as pursued and established relationships with external partners.

UVP: What was your biggest challenge working in Iganga? How did you deal with it?

KC: The biggest challenge, but the most fun as it turned out, was learning how to live like your rural community. My team had the most rural placement, and therefore we did not have electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, washing machines, air conditioning, etc. It was quite the learning experience, and extremely humbling. We dealt with it as a team - took turns fetching water from the borehole, handwashing our own clothes, etc. Most of all we learned from the community, which helped gain their trust.

UVP: What is your favorite memory about your time in Uganda?

KC: Too many. It could have been coming home after a really hard day in the field to no fewer than 30 children between the ages of few months and 10 years waiting for us in our front yard excitedly. It could have been the shallow well commissioning ceremony (the "ribbon cutting" celebration) after the construction of one of the community wells, with all of the singing and dancing. It could have been the morning I left my village - I was so sad to leave, and one by one my community members gave me a last token of appreciation - an orange, an egg, maize, sugarcane, a live chicken... etc. My bags were already bursting and then I had to find places for 40 random food items, which was incredibly touching. Or maybe it was white water rafting the Nile with the other volunteers :-)

UVP: How has UVP shaped your career today and what you aspire to do in the future?

KC: UVP solidified my desire to get my Masters in Public Health (International Health and Epidemiology). I always knew I was keen for international work, but wasn't sure exactly what that was until my time in Uganda. Since Uganda, I have worked in rural Kenya, and now have been living in urban Zambia, providing technical support and program implementation and evaluation services. I am extremely happy with where I am now, and can see myself staying in Zambia for years to come, growing with my current organization.

UVP: Tell us more about your work - what are you working on and who are you working with?

KC: I currently live in Lusaka, Zambia, and have been working for Boston University's Center for Global Health and Development's local affiliate - the Zambia Center for Applied Health Research and Development (ZCAHRD) - since January 2011. The Boston University Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD, previously CIHD) has been engaged by the U.S. CDC Global AIDS Program/Zambia to provide technical, logistical and limited financial support for the provision of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services to eight District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) in Southern Province, Zambia, through the Boston University PMTCT Integration Program (BUPIP).

UVP: What are the goals of the Boston University PMTCT Integration Program?

KC: BUPIP has two interrelated, overall goals, 1) to make prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services accessible and affordable to women in 80% of the urban and rural areas of the covered districts in Southern Province; and 2) to enable the rapid scale-up of early infant diagnosis (EID) services in the same areas (MOH 2010 testing target for exposed infants was 80%). These goals are being accomplished by continuing our support of the Government of Zambia (GoZ) (Southern Province) in scaling up quality PMTCT services within maternal and child health programs in accordance with the national PMTCT and EID Strategic Objectives.

Secondary essential goals are 1) to provide quality palliative care to HIV-affected children; 2) to implement innovative approaches to reach hard-to-access rural populations through the use of community workers (Trained Traditional Birth Attendants (tTBAs), Community Health Workers (CHWs), and PMTCT Lay Counselors); and 3) to develop effective community networks for increasing awareness and program participation.

UVP: What has your role been at the organization?

Personally, I am a Program Associate for the greater BUPIP, but within the organization sector, I serve as Program Coordinator for our Antiretroviral Therapy in Antenatal Care (ART/ANC) Program Evaluation.

Within six pilot sites in Southern Province, we are working with the District Medical Officers and Maternal and Child Health (MCH) nurse in-charges and staff to provide ART in the MCH wards for HIV-positive pregnant mothers during their antenatal care and throughout the infant's period of breastfeeding (up to 18 months). By providing ART services in the MCH wards, rather than referring these pregnant women to separate ART wards on the premises or to even farther ART facilities, there is a more streamlined service. Additionally we are assigning each HIV-positive pregnant mother presenting at first ANC booking their own Lay Counselor (volunteer community health worker, trained in ART adherence, Adult and Pediatric ART, and Opportunistic Infections) to follow up with the mother-infant pair to provide ART adherence counseling and PMTCT support, as well as remind them of existing appointments to help decrease lost to follow up.

Lastly, my team is attempting to introduce new point-of-care testing technology into Zambia to be used within MCH in obtaining CD4 counts and creatinine levels. It is hoped this will create same day ART initiation as the HIV diagnosis (rather than the current 3 week timespan). In short, the pilot's primary objectives are: 1) Increase the amount of HIV+ pregnant women initiating ART, 2) Decrease the time it takes from HIV diagnosis to ART initiation for pregnant women, 3) Improve adherence for daily ARVs for HIV-exposed, breastfeeding infants, and 4) Increase adherence to MCH and EID services for the mother-infant pairs.

UVP: That is great and so exciting. Knowing what you now know from your experiences in both Uganda and Zambia, what advice do you have for future interns/volunteers? What was one thing you wish you knew before volunteering in Iganga?

KC: I would suggest going into it with an open mind - not a top-down imposing mind. Take the time to slow down your own lifestyle to foster relationships with the community. Remember patience and flexibility is key.

Alumni Profile: Lindsay Cope, Nuru International & Former UVP Intern

Lindsay Cope interned with UVP in Butongole during the first year of the Healthy Villages Program in summer 2009. She currently is the Healthcare Program Manager for Nuru International. She has a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BA in Psychology and Health Sciences from Boston College.

Uganda Village Project (UVP): Tell us a little about yourself – where do you work and what are you working on?

Lindsay Cope (LC): I am currently a Healthcare Program Manager for Nuru International, an organization that works to find community-based solutions to address extreme poverty. We use a community health worker model to prevent under-5 mortality, and operate within the realm of a holistic approach alongside our agriculture, microfinance, wat/san and education programs. I’m not sure how my childhood in Northern California fostered such a passion for Africa, but around the age of 7 I vowed that I would split time between both regions. Though I can’t claim that my every move on a varied path led me to achieve that seemingly whimsical goal—I can say I am thrilled to say I cultivated a more developed relationship with the place I found meaning at such a young age. UVP was definitely part of that process.

I was fortunate to attend Saint Ignatius High School and Boston College, which both put a huge emphasis on service and social responsibility. My parents also pushed me to value that same view, and supported my international exploration. At BC I studied psychology and health science, and after graduation I traveled, then began work for Micato Safaris, where I felt I could find a balance between an upbringing in the hospitality industry and my interests in health issues in Africa, for which they had a dedicated non-profit arm. Thanks to a great experience there I realized I wanted to be more intricately involved in international health, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. After Micato I earned my MPH at Johns Hopkins. A few days after graduation I hit the road for Uganda.

UVP: How was your experience working with Uganda Village Project?

LC: Working with UVP was the perfect opportunity to use the skills cultivated in during my MPH program in a live setting. It was the first year of the Healthy Villages Initiative, and our team was tasked with conducting a rapid needs assessment and create community and school-based participatory trainings on HIV, waterborne disease and malaria prevention. We also launched the first government recognized Village Health Team in the Iganga district. We partnered with PACE and the Red Cross to get this unit up and running, and stocked with commodities.

UVP: What was your biggest challenge working in Iganga? How did you deal with it?

LC: The list is long, and ranges from purposeful mistranslation to a bat infestation, but I think it is the constant, small challenges you see on a day to day basis which makes you feel like for every two steps forward there is a step and a half back. As long as you set manageable goals and remain positive, but realistic, you learn go get through the inevitable frustrations. It definitely makes you well-rounded personally and professionally, and gives you the ability to be a confident problem solver in a multitude of situation.

UVP: What is your favorite memory about your time in Uganda?

LC: There are so many stand out memories from my time with UVP including my introduction to maize, Sipi falls, having the opportunity to answer looming questions and dispel myths about HIV for a hall full of teenagers, and of course the team, but my memory of a young girl, Fatu will be with me forever. Fatu was about 3 years old, and she was extremely clever and engaging. For me she represented so many of the young kids who have the potential to thrive if only they had access to necessary tools to foster healthy growth, education and personal development. She is an inspiration for me to continue working in this sector. I still think of her often. Can someone please check on her for me?

UVP: What advice do you have for future interns?

LC: Know what you’re getting into and embrace it. You will face several challenges during your internship—it’s tough work, that’s why you’re doing it. But no matter what you encounter it will be a rewarding and educational experience for you and the community you’re working with.

Also, recognize that you can’t do it all. It’s a short period of time. Set your mind to do something that you can really dig into and that will be sustainable after you leave.

UVP: How has UVP shaped your career today and what you aspire to do in the future?

LC: Actually living in a community, in exactly the same way all the community members do, was an invaluable experience. There are very limited opportunities to do this. Most NGO workers live on compounds with amenities such as running water, flush toilets, electricity, etc. When I lived in Butongole we were able to experience life the way the community we work with does. We learned about the wonderful emphasis put on familial and neighbor relationships, the value of the radio and how to be resourceful.

We also immediately learned why simple tasks like washing your hands can be extremely difficult and often a missed step. We learned how long it takes to get water, how much time and resources it takes to boil it, and how heavy a 20lt jerry can is. I’ll never forget being the bud of several young girls’ joke as I struggled to get the can to my should, let alone my head, and splashed water all over me.

My current role at Nuru involves a keen understanding of determinants of health behaviors. Having had the opportunity to really understand some of them first hand makes a world of difference. We can’t just preach, “wash your hands” without considering in the many factors that are involved- many of which I never had to reflect on at home.

The challenges we faced also helped me to build important skills related to teamwork, community collaboration, communication, problem solving, commodity procurement, and participatory training. I look forward to further development in these areas as I continue to build my career in pubic health.

Alumni Profile: Benjamin Hans, One Acre Fund & Former UVP Intern

Benjamin Hans interned with UVP on the safe water team in summer 2009. He currently works as a Technical Associate at One Acre Fund in Rwanda. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice from UC Berkeley.

UVP: Ben, tell us who are you.

Ben: I studied Industrial Engineering and Operations Research with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice at UC Berkeley and graduated in 2010. Through a myriad of experiences, including continued growth in college and my sojourn in Uganda through UVP, I was inspired to professionally seek opportunities to utilize the power of technology to bring tangible solutions to development challenges. Today, I work for an organization called One Acre Fund, which currently empowers 120,000+ farming families across Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi. I work as the director of the IT department for our operations in Rwanda, and as a programmer striving to develop more powerful internal software to better serve our clients across different countries.

UVP: Tell me about your experience with Uganda Village Project. When were you involved, with what capacity? What did you do?

Ben: At UVP, I worked with the "safe water team" which had two projects: to create a safe water storage pot business that reduces water borne diseases in drinking water, and to install several chlorine dispensers, which are devices that disinfect dirty water by releasing small amounts of chlorine into buckets that are used to carry water from a well, in some rural villages. My tasks included mobilizing villages, conducting market research, and performing quality control testing on the products.

UVP: What was your biggest challenge working in Iganga? How did you deal with it?

Ben: I believe the biggest challenge for me was obtaining a humbling and sobering perspective of development. I think that a lot of young people, including myself, often romanticize the idea of "saving the world" and "helping the poor" without having a solid grasp of what it's like in reality; progress takes time and lots of sweat from lots of people.

UVP: What is your favorite memory about your time in Uganda?

Ben: My favorite memory was exploring with my buddy by biking through villages and jungles on crappy bikes, playing soccer at remote schools and climbing Pride Rock - all in a day's work.

UVP: What advice do you have for future interns?

Ben: Be humble, be thirsty, and don't forget that you are a guest. Also accept that you will change yourself more than you will change others.

UVP: How has UVP shaped your career today and what you aspire to do in the future?

Ben: If it wasn't for UVP, I don't think I would have chosen to live for a few years as a techy in E. Africa. I love it out here.