First and foremost, I’d like to thank GSK, PULSE, GCSD, colleagues, family, and friends who supported me during the past year. It’s because of your support, generosity, and kindness that I was able to make this life-changing opportunity a reality, and volunteer with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Nigeria. Early January 2019, when […]
Category Archives: CHAI
July
22
Cancer under the Canopy
posted by Tony
Imagine if you were ill but your condition was never diagnosed. How would you feel if a loved-one was dying of cancer, but you couldn’t afford their treatment? Many Liberians will never know if they have cancer and those who are diagnosed are faced with an almost impossible problem to fund their treatment in one […]
March
18
DOING and LEARNING in Eswatini — Doing
posted by markburgert
I have called this series of comments “DOING and LEARNING in Eswatini”. In these blog posts, I have shared some of my experiences with a focus on the LEARNING. I have not yet written about the DOING of the work in my GSK PULSE volunteer assignment. My assignment role was as a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis […]
March
06
DOING and LEARNING in Eswatini — Sustaining
posted by markburgert
DOING and LEARNING in Eswatini — Sustaining One of the missions of the GSK PULSE program is to contribute real and lasting value to society through the volunteer assignments with our partners around the world. My six-month assignment is long enough to contribute value to the society in Eswatini. During my assignment, I have […]
January
16
Working with EPI in Eswatini – Part 1 Community Dialogue
posted by Malika Almansouri
First, I wish you a happy new year. 2019 started for me in Eswatini with some of my family who visited me, it was awesome 🙂 Months after the first blog, and before going back to GSK Belgium, I’m sharing some memorable experiences. All this time, I’ve enjoyed every moment working with EPI (Expanded Programme on Immunization), CHAI, WHO, […]
January
08
Dear Future PULSE Volunteers
posted by lorrainewing
It’s been 162 days since I started my PULSE journey. What have I learned? As my assignment is coming to an end, here are my top 5 tips for those who applied or are thinking about applying to the 2019 cycle. 1. Be adaptable: have an open mind. You will be new to the work pace and […]
November
21
PAB#2: Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable!
posted by ajalfabete
When I was in primary school, I am used to the arrangement where my Mom would give me my total 5-day allowance at the start of the week. And it was up to me how to spend it – whether I want to live a “grand” life, from a kid’s point of view of course, […]
November
20
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Myself.
posted by Helen Bemis
When I met my husband, he said I was a rabid recycler. What I don’t think he realized was that 5 years in Congo early in my career made me not only a rabid recycler as a well as a MacGyver wannabe. Who wouldn’t want to escape from situations/solve problems with nothing but a paper […]
November
03
The papaya tree in the neighbour’s backyard
posted by ritamoitasantos
There is a papaya tree in the neighbour’s garden, that I can see from my landlord’s kitchen. At the end of each day, I sit in the kitchen’s door steps to get a stable network signal to talk with my family. Inevitably, I stare at the papaya tree. It has been growing quite a lot […]
October
17
Camouflage Uniforms
posted by lorrainewing
2 pm on a rainy Thursday, I sit in a room surrounded by boxes of latex gloves, red sharps disposal containers, and a group of men and women in camouflage uniforms. I am at the National Borders Service central base camp, where I have the chance to support the Ministry of Health in a three-day […]
September
27
You can learn to surf…
posted by louiseclarkepulse10
Life in Liberia So I’m three months in and only just making the time to write again. It feels like it has gone so quick and yet day 1 feels like a lifetime ago. My team at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) sits in the Ministry of Health (MoH) building, which is outside […]
September
10
Patience and Persistence
posted by lorrainewing
A few weeks ago, I joined the rest of the team for the Mesoamerica Malaria Meeting in Antigua, Guatemala. It was a great chance to learn about the ongoing work in other countries, their pressing challenges, and the success stories from recent years. It was also exciting to hear the Global Malaria leadership team […]
August
22
My 1st month with CHAI in Eswatini
posted by Malika Almansouri
I’m writing for the first time a blog to share my experience in Eswatini (previously Swaziland). A couple of years ago I could not locate it on a map, now I’m living and working in Eswatini 🙂 DISCLAIMER: What is written below reflects solely my opinions and does not engage any other person or any […]
August
10
Malaria and the City of Knowledge
posted by lorrainewing
It’s been two weeks since I started my PULSE assignment with CHAI in Panama. Their office is in an area called City of Knowledge, right across the street from the Miraflores locks of the Panama Canal. These buildings used to be part of a military base in the 20th century, but have since been transformed […]
August
03
Sand from the Sahara!
posted by ritamoitasantos
It’s the expression that will forever be associated in my mind to my first field trip in Nigeria. Not because I’ve actually been in the dessert, but because in Kano, when the wind blows, grains of sand get lifted in the air. One can argue that it may not be sand from the Sahara (the […]
