“Arriving at meaningful solutions is an inevitably slow and arduous process. Nonetheless, what I saw was: better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence, it takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all it takes a willingness to try.” Atul Gawande “Better,” by Dr. Atul Gawande, is an inspirational account which […]
Tag Archives: Africa
September
14
The power of sharing
posted by louiselittlefair
My second month in Tanzania seems to have flown by, mostly due to the fact I have been travelling for the last 2 weeks. The first trip was to Zanzibar, to meet up with 2 fellow PULSE volunteers, Adrianne and Adrianna both who are based in Nairobi, Kenya. Being the only PULSE volunteer in Dar, […]
August
29
Coming full circle
posted by loriannbono_pulse2018
The first time I thought about applying for PULSE was the day that Andrew Witty announced the program. At the time, I thought that it was for higher level employees — certainly such a wonderful program would not be available to the rank and file GSK employee. It wasn’t until a few years later, when a Philly colleague took […]
September
06
Where is home
posted by manishburman
In only the first two months of my Pulse assignment I have felt more sets of emotions than I felt in the last two years. Working for CHAI has been refreshing, fulfilling and an enriching experience. I came here with unknown expectations and to say that it has exceeded my expectations will be an understatement. […]
March
26
Chapter 6: “To be sitting on a gold mine”
posted by pablocastaneda-casado
Hi everyone, I am still waiting for your answers to my last post’s request with your suggestions for the next one… (That was sarcasm: You see? I’m still here…) as you can see, I’ve already started writing it since it seemed that no one was going to answer or had any questions. So, I’ll continue […]
December
19
What a Journey it has been…
posted by Mark Roderick Vito
Exactly six months today since I started my Pulse journey in the Kingdom of Swaziland. I have never imagined how much I would benefit in this most amazing experience of my life and the impact that I can make to the people. I believe Pulse shapes my heart, my mind, and my soul completely, gives […]
December
15
Vivid memories
posted by vaninakacheva
My days in Kenya are over. But I’m not over Kenya. And while I’m not ready to say good-bye just yet, while the memories from my 6m experience are still colorful and bright, I’d like to share what I’ll miss most about it, what I’ll remember most vividly… The children of Africa Very few people in […]
November
26
Those that can…
posted by amylane66
At GSK one of the key behaviours highlighted for good performance is flexible thinking. Africa excels at this behaviour in so many ways that once you have experienced it you will never say “I can’t do that” again. The can-do attitude is inspirational and astonishing, and it makes you realise that the small opportunities […]
October
07
It’s time for Africa!
posted by amylane66
Selam!! (Peace in Amharic) Without wanting to sound overly dramatic this is a fairly overwhelming blog to write so to do it justice but so you don’t fall asleep, I’ll write it in instalments. It has been a busy schedule for the last couple of weeks… My first trip to Africa, and it did not […]
September
29
“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.”
posted by AlexGordon
Hi All, The quote in the title is from an author called Wendy Wunder, and I felt it was incredibly apt for this months blog. It’s been nearly two months since I last blogged, as August and the start of September were really busy with my work here at CHAI, and I had my mid-way […]
September
28
About death. And life.
posted by vaninakacheva
Probably this is one of the most difficult things I am doing during my Pulse assignment. Writing this post. One week ago my dog died. His name was Casper.He was not just a pet, he was family for 12 years, and I deeply loved him. I always dreaded the moment I would have to say […]
September
21
When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water
posted by marybondarenko
Imagine how your life will change without water? Once I came to my home after a long day, opened the tap to wash my hands and realized that I have no water… thousands of thoughts came up immediately- how I will wash, cook, were I can get even few litters for now… but this was […]
September
17
Dance with me.
posted by vaninakacheva
Imagine you are a teenage girl or a boy, you are young, smart, beautiful, talented. You aspire to play, laugh, create, perform, achieve. Yet, you live in an informal settlement or a slum area in Nairobi. The streets where you live are not safe. You need to do an extra effort to get a decent education, school fees, […]
September
11
#10 of 25. The Power of A Good Story.
posted by vaninakacheva
Stories, stories, stories. In my communications role with Save the Children, I have come to realize that capturing and sharing individual stories is very important. Already three months into my assignment, I take this part of my work for granted. Yet recently I was asked by my friend Mahendra the “why” question – so why you capture these case […]
September
04
Children’s Voices from Dadaab
posted by vaninakacheva
If you think “refugee crisis”, you think Europe. Now … think Africa! As per UNCHR end’15 data, the world’s largest refugee camp is located in Eastern Kenya. Dadaab. It was the site hosting more than 300,000 refugees, most of them fleeing from the Somalia civil war. “It was”, because few years back Kenya and Somalia governments signed an […]
