In this short video Danielle Gilbert shares about her volunteer experience at the Children’s Academy and what it has meant to her. Danielle spent six weeks with HP in the summer of 2016 and has returned again this summer for a full two months. She is a recent graduate from the University of Colorado, Denver, with a bachelors degree in Public Health, with hopes of beginning a masters in Public Health in the fall of 2018.

Danielle is spending her time at the Children’s Academy this summer doing wellness checks on all of our 200+ students and entering the data collected into an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. The next step is to secure funding to train parents from the community as school nurses so that they can care for students and maintain the EHR system toward the end goal of assuring that students stay healthy and don’t miss school due to avoidable illness. This project promises not only to improve student outcomes over the long term, but also to parents acquiring skills that will make them more employable and will make their community and families healthier.

Danielle’s experience provides an excellent example of how partnership between the global north and south, if thoughtfully designed with the best interests of all stakeholders in mind, can be a win-win for both the volunteers and the school and local community. Long before construction began on the Children’s Academy in 2012, local residents made it abundantly clear that they both needed and wanted access to health care. As a result of this project (as well as, of course, our partnership with Haiti Clinic), the residents are getting what they needed and requested. In the meantime, Danielle is acquiring invaluable experience that will inform her work in public health for years to come.

HP is very grateful to Danielle for volunteering at the Children’s Academy and committing herself to making Bawosya a healthier place for children and families. We look forward to seeing this project through and hope to get the opportunity to host Danielle again for years to come.

To learn more about Danielle, view her volunteer profile here.