Community voices: developing strategies for early pregnancy disclosure in Ethiopia

Men writing on posters with a wall of sticky notes in the background

Pictured above: Community Advisory Board members discuss strategies to encourage early pregnancy disclosure and care. By Clara Pons Duran Rose Service Learning Fellow Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Epidemiology I’m in Ethiopia, sitting in a car. While I observe the fields and witness the construction of some factories and big buildings that will transform the landscape in the next few years, I reflect on my recent experiences.   My…

Advice for Working with Community

Fellows from the Fall 2022 cohort

“Listen to everyone! The community is made up of so many diverse people and everyone has something unique to share.”  “Be patient. Although your project is #1 priority to you, the organization has 20 other urgent topics they are working on.”  “Be mindful of layers and multiplicity of experience that happens within a community – don’t overgeneralize.”  “Try your best to take off the Harvard cap and jacket!! And be…

“The Water Guy”: My Reflections Studying Water Systems in Rural Honduras

Hand full of sediment over water pump

Pictured above: Local volunteer holds sediment at risk of contaminating spring water collection site in Santa Lucia, Honduras. By Nava Barman Rose Service Learning Fellow MPH Candidate, Global Health Background When I visited Intibucá, Honduras for the first time as an undergraduate in 2017, I was struck by its similarity to my family’s hometown in Northeast India. Tucked away in the mountains away from any major city, life is more…

Reflections on Field Based Experience: A Lesson I Learned From Female Head Porters Popularly Known As “Kayayei” In Accra Ghana

By Ruth Zeto Rose Service Learning Fellow MPH Candidate, Global Health Growing up in Ghana, I saw teenage girls like me carry aluminum pans on their head with goods from one part of the market to the other for income. Not only teenage girls did I see, but also women. On the busy streets of major cities like Kumasi and Accra, they can easily be spotted with aluminum pans with…

Launching the 10th Cohort of Rose Service Learning Fellows

Hailu Tamiru, Teguo Djoyum, Erin McGuinness and Kevin Linn

Pictured above: DrPH students awarded Rose Service Learning Fellowships are among 14 fellows in the Fall 2022 cohort. (From Left to Right: Hailu Dhufera, Teguo Djoyum, Erin McGuinness and Kevin Linn)   In its fifth year of supporting students and post-doctoral fellows in community engaged research and practice, the Rose Service Learning Fellowship launched its 10th cohort of fellows on Wednesday December 7.  Thirteen students and one post-doctoral fellow will be…

Student Field Post: Health in Artisanal Miners Communities: The Harsh Realities of Cobalt Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Cobalt mine in Democratic Republic of Congo

By Benita Kayembe Rose Service Learning Fellow SM Candidate, Global Health and Population When talking about the economic development of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is usual to hear people highlight how rich this country is in natural resources. The Congo is indeed rich in natural resources and lately has been at the center of discussions regarding Cobalt since up to 60% of the global reserve of this…

Student Field Post: Connecting with the Massachusetts Firearm Community on Matters of Lead Exposure

Participants holding up target in front of an American flag backdrop

By Christian Hoover Rose Service Learning Fellow MPH Candidate, Department of Health Policy and Management In 2021, my research team made an alarming discovery: children living in communities with more gun licenses, or more lead ammunition, had higher blood lead levels than children from lower-licensed communities. When a gun is discharged, lead dust explodes into the air. This dust is inhaled by the shooter, leading to a primary exposure. Additional…

New Community Engaged Learning Fellows in the field

Twenty new fellowships have been awarded to students and post-docs at Harvard Chan to support their community engaged learning work spanning the U.S. from Boston to Alaska, and globally in El Salvador, Uganda, and Madagascar, among other locations. The fellowships include the flagship Rose Service Learning Fellowship, now in its fifth year, and the Herbert S. Winokur Fellowship in Public Health for the Mississippi Delta. The newest Global Mental Health…

James H. Ware Award 2022: Patience Sumbawiera Saaka

Awardee: Patience Sumbawiera Saaka Program: MPH in Global Health Project Title: Stories for Impact – Ending dehumanising widowhood rites in Bolgatanga, Ghana, through Storytelling Organization: Widows and Orphans Movement (Bolgatanga, Ghana) More about Dr. Saaka Across several ethnic groups in Ghana, women go through a set of rites and rituals as part of the funeral rites of their dead husbands. The practice of widowhood rites is particularly very onerous on…