GlobeMed at UMKC

Success by Nasreen Quadri

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:05:00 -0400

“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more ‘successful’ people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every shape and form. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these needs have little to do with success as our culture has defined it.” —David Orr

As an aspiring physician and current student of medicine, I am endlessly thinking about what it means to be successful. Is it keeping a 4.0 GPA? Is it retaining the most knowledge from hours of studying? Is it truly connecting with a patient in clinic this week by having a meaningful conversation to improve their health?

It seems to me that the true measure of success is something that cannot be measured: sustainable change. But this is at odds with what we are told by society on how to be successes. The expectations of a good income will secure a bright future. They say pursue the specialty that ensures the most return and in that is prestige and respect. But for me, this is tunnel vision; how can we pursue a dream that does not include the livelihoods of forgotten human beings. If we do follow in step, we are choosing to ignore those that are part of our common humanity. If we don’t, we struggle with how to fit in the current model and expectations of society while making a meaningful impact on the world.

This is where the realm of public health comes into play. Throughout my week, I am fortunate to interact with brilliant minds to discuss how public health interventions can improve the livelihood of many of the forgotten people in the world. At GlobeMed meetings, we discuss the importance of nutrition and income generating projects in improving health outcomes in rural Uganda. We follow through by implementing them in our project designs, fundraisers and strong partnership.

On Tuesday evenings, I hear lectures on public health in my Patient Physician Society class that prove the largest impact on the health of individuals has not been advanced technology. Rather the basics of clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, and good primary and preventative health care have the largest impact on people’s health. Then every two weeks, a group of medical students meet to discuss local project ideas and designs in the Public Health Interest group. We delve into barriers to providing public health interventions including language, resources and access, while brainstorming about how to combat these barriers and promote some aspect of health on the individual patient and community level.

These experiences are what help me form my vision of success in the future. It is the simplicity of public health and the far-reaching nature of it which make it so appealing to a young person who is looking for meaning with the passion and desire to make a difference. Essentially, public health and global health have proven to be an oasis for those struggling to define success, for it incorporates the importance of caring for individuals in the most basic of ways to ensure everyone has the resources to a full and productive livelihood. If we each do our part in the grander scheme, we may be pleasantly surprised that success, meaning and sustainable change can and will all converge in one future.

GlobeMed Love,

Nasreen Quadri

GlobalhealthU Co-Coordinator, GlobeMed at UMKC

Yeddanapudi by Harika Nalluri

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:06:30 -0400

I was born in a rural village in India. And when I say born there, I mean born in my grandmother’s home. I mean born on the concrete my mother and her mother grew up on because there was no hospital in the entire village and a doctor had to pedal his way over on a bicycle from the next town over.

I’m not writing about this village to make you feel sorry for these people. Whether you cannot afford to feed your family today, or you learned that your husband has ALS, or you found out that a boy at your college has just passed away—we all face difficult times, and we all suffer. Their story is no different. So I’d like to make it clear that my point is not to ask for your pity, but rather that you read my story and reflect on your own.

Yeddanapudi. It’s eleven letters longer than I can spell, and 5 syllables longer than I can easily pronounce. And it’s a very small village, to say the least. The kind of place where you’re probably related to everyone around you for miles in one way or another. The kind of place where we all gathered around the single television on the street every night like clockwork to watch awful Indian soap operas. Where we slept on cots outside because it’d be insane to be enclosed within walls in the heat, and it felt like we were taking part in a massive slumber party where the whole town was invited every single night.

I actually moved to the US after I turned one years old, and my memories are reduced to the times I have visited. When I was a young girl, I absolutely hated these trips. I didn’t understand why all of my friends were vacationing at beautiful tropical resorts, while I was stuck with the cockroaches and power outages that awaited me in India. I spent those summers homesick for my friends and the life I knew in America, not to mention physically sick because my body was rejecting the unsanitary lifestyle I was adjusting to. But more than that, I felt a much worse, more chronic sickness whilst on my visits. I felt an unbearably nauseating confusion.

It didn’t make sense. Why me? I have an entire extended family of warm and loving people, why are my parents, brother and I the only ones living “privileged” lives? My pre-teen head couldn’t wrap itself around the concept of inequality. Why was I getting regular health checkups with no issues while I had family in India who couldn’t afford their medication? Why am I getting a well-rounded education while girls I played with those summers have been married at 18 because their families couldn’t afford to keep them at home?

There was a lady that worked for my grandma. She came to our house at 6 a.m. sharp every morning to clean the dust and wash the clothes. One summer, one where I was particularly homesick, we became friends. She had one of those laughs, you know; the kind that resonates through the walls and is more contagious than the flu. I remember once my brother and I went home with her because she wanted to give us a meal so badly. We walked for miles.

The next time I visited India, I was so excited when she walked through the door that I ran up and threw my arms around her. I quickly got her water and told her to come sit with me since we had much to catch up on. As soon as I sat down, I paused because she sat on the ground next to me. I was very confused and told her that there were plenty of chairs that she could sit on.

Before I knew it, I heard the shrieks of my grandmother, who took me aside and yelled fervently to cut the nonsense. “She will sit on the ground.” I didn’t even try to cover up the shock on my face. I tried to argue back, “but we’re friends.” My grandma looked at me, stone cold and responded, “She will sit on the ground. Don’t ask again.”

Then came back that awful confusion. Who cares if we don’t share the same social status? She is my friend, someone I care dearly for. Why must I sit above her, even when nobody else is watching?

Those trips back to India were eye opening. They threw social justice and global health issues straight in my face. It happened in a way that I couldn’t ignore, but somehow, even when I came back to the States, I found myself noticing smaller, more subtle inequities around my own communities. And more so than that, I found myself not okay with it.

And I guess that brings me here. To being a part of this wonderful organization that helps me practice my beliefs. To GlobeMed.

-Harika Nalluri

Director of Media Production, GlobeMed at UMKC

Student Power

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:36:52 -0400

Hello all!

Usually I write this blog as GlobeMed at UMKC, but today I’m writing as myself. I just wanted to take some time out to reflect upon the people that are GlobeMed.

It’s truly amazing, the things we can do when we all join forces. A group of about 40 — and sometimes just 15 — can not only raise awareness about inadequate access to health care plaguing the world, but we can raise enough money to grow sustainable gardens, to purchase goats and pigs to provide nutrition and help combat poverty. Not only can we do these things, but we do them. Every year. Every day.

Students can be extremely powerful forces in the world as long as we act upon it and do not let it waste away. Too many students, some that I know, do not seize their power to do good in this world. Sure, the problems facing humanity can be overwhelming. Sure, it’s easier to simply move through life focusing on one’s self. But we can all do better than that.

I truly believe that if everyone was more like a GlobeMed member, we would see huge change in not only global health equity, but alleviating poverty and the realization of human rights for all. And it is so easy to become a GlobeMed member. You simply start by talking; discussing the problems, discussing the solutions. Then we act.

If you have ever felt overwhelmed by the problems facing our planet, facing humanity, please do not shrink away from them. Remember that by acting upon whatever resources you have may just save a life. Start talking, start thinking, start doing, and maybe we will see some huge change in our lifetime.

With love,
Andrea Steere
Public Relations Director, GlobeMed at UMKC

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: The KCRC Family Tree

Tue, 29 May 2012 03:28:40 -0400

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: The KCRC Family Tree :

globemedatumkcgrow2012:

By Emily Brengarth

Due to the high rates of HIV in the Sheema District of Uganda, I ignorantly assumed that the community here would be weaker. However, I have never seen a community that proves the exact opposite.

The staff at KCRC is extremely dedicated to reaching as many people in need…

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: Language and Perspective

Tue, 29 May 2012 03:28:27 -0400

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: Language and Perspective:

globemedatumkcgrow2012:

By: Nasreen Quadri

Agandi!

This is the greeting we use everyday when we meet with the KCRC staff, people walking by on the street, and our dear beneficiaries of GlobeMed nutrition projects. We may also use the word when at a loss for the right word to express what we are trying to say,…

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: I Am Park, Hear Me Roar!

Tue, 29 May 2012 03:28:04 -0400

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: I Am Park, Hear Me Roar!:

globemedatumkcgrow2012:

By Parker Webb

I am sitting here in Cleophas’s office (the program director at KCRC, primary contact here for GlobeMed at UMKC, and my dear friend) after a long day of meeting beneficiaries of our projects. If you don’t know, GlobeMed at UMKC works on nutrition projects (providing gardens…

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: What is GROW?

Tue, 29 May 2012 03:26:43 -0400

GlobeMed at UMKC's 2012 GROW Trip: What is GROW?:

globemedatumkcgrow2012:

Before we get started with all the juicy details of this GROW trip we thought we should explain what exactly GROW is. GROW, or Grassroots On-Site Work, is how GlobeMed chapters bridge the gap between chapters in the US and the grassroots organizations they partner with around the world.

At UMKC…

globemedatumkcgrow2012: Janet (on right) and another community...

Tue, 29 May 2012 03:26:23 -0400

globemedatumkcgrow2012:

Janet (on right) and another community volunteer doing the GlobeMed handshake!

Click here to see the GROW Team's blog!

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:35:31 -0400

Click here to see the GROW Team's blog!:

Be sure to follow our GROW team’s blog by clicking the link above! We can’t wait to find out more about their time in Uganda!

doctorswithoutborders: Somebody Help: The Forgotten Population...

Wed, 23 May 2012 06:53:03 -0400

doctorswithoutborders:

Somebody Help: The Forgotten Population in North Darfur

In the remote Jebel Si area of North Darfur, MSF runs a hospital, five health posts, and a mobile clinic. These are the only health facilities in the area, and they serve a permanent population of 100,000, as well as about 10,000 seasonal nomads. The majority of MSF’s patients in Jebel Si are women and children.

But now a series of obstacles threaten to seriously hamper MSF’s ability to deliver medical assistance. Vital medical and logistical supplies have been prevented from reaching the area, work permits have not been granted, and physical access to the region has become increasingly difficult.

As a result of these obstacles, MSF has been forced to scale down its activities dramatically. Unless urgent steps are taken to rectify the situation, the people of Jebel Si will be faced with the reality of a future without essential health care.

Photo: An MSF staff member checks a child for malnutrition in Jebel Si, where obstacles threaten the continued operation of MSF’s health posts, the only such facilities in the area.
Sudan 2012 © MSF

good: If you’re graduating from college this year, we...

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:31:34 -0400

good:

If you’re graduating from college this year, we apologize: Before being pushed off into the shaky job market, you’ll likely be forced to sit through a commencement speech filled with platitudes and vague advice, usually delivered by someone too old and famous to remember what it’s like to be young and broke. So we asked comedian Baratunde Thurston, porn actor James Deen, tech reporter Jenna Wortham, novelist Emma Straub, and Das Racist’s Victor Vazquez to tell us what 2012 graduates really need to know.

Read their real-talk advice for new graduates here.

For all of our friends graduating, take a look at this different brand of post-grad advice.

We Are Ready to GROW!

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:18:28 -0400

Sorry for the long hiatus in posts, folks!

We can’t believe how fast this year has gone and how wonderful it has been!

Our last major fundraisers — GlobeMed Gala and the poker tournament — were both beautiful events and great successes. The Gala raised over $1,700 and the poker tournament raised around $300. These two, combined with all of our previous efforts, have put us over our goal!

Because of everyone’s help, we will now be able to fully fund the expansion of the GROW gardens and the goat micro-finance program! Speaking of GROW, this year’s GROW team — Nasreen, Emily and Parker — are set to leave early next week. We are so excited to be able to not only visit with our partner, Kabwohe Clinical Research Center in Bushenyi, Uganda, but to also work along side them to help implement these programs.

Due to your generous support, our chapter is able to not only make a sustainable difference in the areas of health and nutrition in a community, but we are also able to take a step towards global health equity.

Keep checking back for more updates from the GROW team on their new blog, globemedatumkcgrow2012.tumblr.com

good: Low-Hanging Fruit: Can an Edible Forest Take Root in...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:37:04 -0500

good:

Low-Hanging Fruit: Can an Edible Forest Take Root in Seattle?

Imagine if your neighborhood park doubled as a communal orchard. Out of fruit in the fridge? Just stroll down the block and pluck the first ripe pear you see. For residents of Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood this dream is about to become a reality, with a community group planning to break ground on the country’s largest “food forest” this summer.

See it on GOOD→

This is such a cool idea! Generally those with low socioeconomic status do not have access to fresh fruit and vegetables, plus urban areas don’t have much room for gardens. It’s great to see a city taking initiative with this problem. What do you think of the food forest as a solution?

Busy Semester for GlobeMed at UMKC

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:36:08 -0500

Sorry for the hiatus in Tumblr posts, everyone!

GlobeMed at UMKC has been very busy planning a bunch of events for you, and they are coming fast! The first event is a part of a series called “GlobeMed Olympics,” which will continue throughout March!

Starting GlobeMed Olympics will be volleyball this Tuesday on Feb. 28th. The following events will be basketball on March 6th, Ultimate Frisbee on March 13th and soccer on March 20th. All sport events will be held at UMKC’s Swinney Recreation Center.

For more information and to SIGN UP, visit the Facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/198431450263773/ . Don’t forget: Those who pre-register will receive $2 off the entry fee!

GlobeMed is also planning a benefit dinner for all of the professionals in our networks! The dinner, called “GlobeMed Gala,” will include dinner, guest speakers and live music. This will be a big fundraiser for our partner clinic, so keep a look out for news about this event!

After signing up for the 2012 GlobeMed Olympics, check out this awesome interactive infographic on access to clean water: http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/1109/water-access/flash.html

And don’t forget about our meeting this week at 7 pm on Wednesday! It will be held in Student Union room 402, with guest speaker and former Peace Corps volunteer, George Pro!

GlobeMed Benefit Concert What a busy weekend for GlobeMed at...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:15:00 -0500

GlobeMed Benefit Concert

What a busy weekend for GlobeMed at UMKC!

From 2 pm to 11 pm on Saturday, Dec. 3rd, our chapter took the time to honor World AIDS Day and hold a benefit concert.

Pre-concert activities included making AIDS ribbons, watching documentaries, creating a new mascot — Globie: coming soon — and preparing for volunteer opportunities. It was truly a wonderful time for our members to not only reflect on the meaning and importance of World AIDS Day, but also for everyone to connect and truly feel the GlobeMed love.

The concert was a great success, as awesome music was mixed with awareness presentations, GlobeMed at UMKC raised nearly $300! Above are just a few of our favorite photos from the day. The rest of our photos from this event and others can be found on our Facebook page.

Thanks again to all of the performers and everyone who came to support us!

In honor of World AIDS Day on December 1st, our newest Executive...

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:37:20 -0500

In honor of World AIDS Day on December 1st, our newest Executive Board member, Harika, has put together this awesome video for all of you! Harika is our Media Production Director and we are very lucky to have her on board.

Notice all the references to December 3rd? More details are coming soon, but be sure to mark your calendars because GlobeMed at UMKC will be hosting a benefit concert for our clinic in Uganda that weekend!

We will keep you posted here, Facebook and Twitter about all of the exciting things to come as the semester comes to a close.

In other news, as the holidays are just around the corner and it is the season of giving, GlobeMed at UMKC would like to ask you and your friends and family to consider our chapter. We completely rely on fund-raising events, volunteering and the generosity of those around us. Not to mention, donations to GlobeMed are completely tax deductible! Help us continue to support Kabwohe Clinical Research Center and their sustainable health programs, while also making a sustainable change in the global community!

Donations can easily be made here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Globe-Med-At-Umkc

GlobeMed Awareness Campaign Many of our executive board, and a...

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:22:00 -0400

GlobeMed Awareness Campaign

Many of our executive board, and a few members, participated in an awareness event on the Volker campus on Wednesday, Oct. 26th.

Just ten days after World Food Day, members devoted their lunch hours to standing in high traffic areas holding signs bearing statistics about Uganda, HIV and AIDS and hunger. They also wore GlobeMed t-shirts created specifically for the event so everyone knew who was behind it.

We hope this not only brought awareness about GlobeMed to those on campus, but more importantly, awareness about larger issues — and injustices. If the event was successful, more students at University of Missouri-Kansas City will be thinking about how they can be better global citizens. Fortunately for them (and us), GlobeMed is one of the ways they can get involved to make a better world.

These are just a few of the photos from our soccer tournament...

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:11:13 -0400

These are just a few of the photos from our soccer tournament this past Tuesday, Oct. 18th. Check out the rest on our Facebook. Thanks so much to everyone who came out and participated! You helped us raise $385! That’s an awesome step towards are goal for the year.

Thanks and keep an eye out for more events like this. We are hoping to host another tournament in the spring!

As we’ve said before, GlobeMed at UMKC loves infographics....

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:57:55 -0400

As we’ve said before, GlobeMed at UMKC loves infographics. For this week, we’ve found a new spin on the graphic. It’s an infographic-turned-video! Although there is a lot of information in the video, it is really a must watch. It focuses on many of the same problems our chapter and GlobeMed as a whole tries to emphasize. It’s less than 10 minutes long and is some great food for thought.

When you’re done watching, let us know what you think!

Great video created by our co-presidents and last year’s...

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:09:00 -0400

Great video created by our co-presidents and last year’s GROW participants. It’s all about last year’s GROW trip! Please watch and start looking forward to more videos.