Global Health: A Love Letter
Learning about - and then working in - global health has given me the tools to remain focused and optimistic in a world that is neck-deep in despair. It has changed the way I think and the way I live. It has given meaning to my career and a structure to my life. I would not be the person I am if I trained in some other field and I am profoundly grateful to have stumbled into employment that I love.
Global health problems have definitions. You can learn to identify their causes, and start to work on solutions. Even when problems have multiple causes and many effects, you can still always find a place to start. There is something you can do to improve things, somehow. Being part of a solution, however small, helps you face the troubles of the world.
When I fill out my expense report for the third time because I keep formatting it wrong, worry about using up my sick days, or go to a meeting so long and so dull that life becomes a Dilbert cartoon, it is more bearable because I am in this for a reason. I have work that saves people's lives. Doing something that has a direct impact on human life makes all the routine job nonsense easier to face.
I don't know for sure what job I will be doing next year. But I know the general outline. I know what health approaches I believe in: primary health care, systemic approaches, building capacity, doing good M&E. I know what work on those topics looks like, and I know how to find that work. I know that when I work for a good project I am happy, and that my exact job description doesn't matter that much.
My love for global health has affected everyone in my life. My husband once got a job in health on the strength of my passion for it; I talk about health issues so much that he knew the vocabulary and major issues. I am well-known among my friends for my ability to advise and troubleshoot contraceptive methods. I have talked more than one fence-sitting acquaintance into getting their child vaccinated.
Thinking, writing, talking about global health is at the heart of my personality. I have had jobs that weren't directly related to health, but the health component always sneaks back in. Somebody always has a question - does this project make sense? Should we really be donating refrigerators? And I end up being known as the person who'll find the answer. I am proud to be that person, proud to know that even when I am not working in health I am still paying attention.
I am proud to work in global health, and I am proud to advocate for this cause. You can't talk people into falling in love, but I don't mind trying.
COMMENTS (0)