Into the Mystic

I'm ready to go. My bags are packed. I've shared meals and beers and hugs and kisses with my family and friends. I've got my itinerary in my pocket, DEET by the pound, visa secured, and a backpack full of all the essentials for the next three months. I also have a pretty amazing playlist, might I add, to serve as a soundtrack for this journey. I'm ready to go. I'm on my way to the airport, ticket in hand. I'm ready.

Realizing the great need for health education and outreach in the United States-and in Detroit- some people have fairly questioned, why Ghana? I can only explain it as simply as this: I have to go. I tried to bargain with myself in the beginning of my internship search, asking the same questions: why global health, why not domestic? In truth I probably could have been happy interning in Detroit or New York or DC or even Seattle. But every part of me whole-heartedly knows that I have to experience this. It may sound whimsical and mystic, but to me, at least for now, I feel it’s where I’m supposed to be…

Public health tends to attract the idealistic. But my experience in this program so far has only procured my ideals to incorporate sustainability and practicality. We are trained to understand that community empowerment is necessary in the process of change. We must offer the tools we have as public health professionals, while working in partnership with the community to build upon the existing framework. Change can only happen with the help of the community.

In one of my classes this past semester, the professor that is directing my project said something that resonated. She said to truly understand the challenges faced as a health educator/program coordinator in community building, you should live in an impoverished area for some time, where infrastructures are anything but stable. I know some of my friends in the field already can attest to this.

This summer I’ll be working in Tema, a city on the ocean, located about 40 miles from Accra. Tema is mostly a fishing/shipping town, but lacks resources. Women, in particular, endure many reproductive health problems due to lack of access to appropriate services. Many do not seek prenatal care, and the majority delivers at home, which consequently results in major pregnancy complications and maternal and infant death. The goal of our project is to provide education and outreach to the women of Tema, while supporting the one and only OB/GYN in the area, working to build a sustainable health education program/campaign to reduce maternal mortality.

Interning in Ghana isn’t just an opportunity to gain experience in health education within a resource-poor community; I could easily build that skill-set in Detroit. Rather, this is a chance to remove myself from what is familiar and go outside of my comfort zone. I have the opportunity to not only learn a great deal about a community in a foreign land, but to grow as an individual and truly test my capabilities away from home, away from luxury, away from comfort. I’m going to Ghana because it’s a chance to travel and see my world from a different point of view. I'm going because I believe in cultural collaboration. I'm going because I do believe in sustainability and community change, no matter how long it takes. But most importantly, it’s because I believe in this.

So if at very least all I get is a glimpse of global challenges, then I hope to realize the fortunes I have. If it’s a new community experience that I gain, then I hope to be able to draw comparisons to my own. And if it's a view of the inequalities and struggles that women face abroad everyday, then I hope to appreciate the freedoms and opportunities I have. A summer in Ghana is an experience worthwhile, and it's exactly the experience my heart is searching for.