GlobeMed at UT-Austin Presents DIVERSITY IN GLOBAL HEALTH WEEK 2011

All students and majors can have a role in global health.

Last week, our chapter sponsored its first major, campus-wide globalhealthU event. During these few days, we sought to help the campus and community understand how all students, majors, and professions have a unique role in fighting for global heath equity. We also engaged our student body through diverse educational topics that ranged from social justice in global health to food disparities around the world.


Tuesday - "JUSTICE FOR ALL"

How can you fight social injustice?

Tuesday marked the first event of our global health week. Students and staff were invited to come out and share their views on social justice in the west mall, a popular gathering place on campus. We had bulletin boards at our table and encouraged people to post notes describing what social justice meant to them and which injustices they would like to eradicate from the world. We followed up by asking how we can help fight for social justice as college students from diverse backgrounds. Needless to say, this sparked some interesting conversations! 


GlobeMedders staffed the table and educated the campus about our food cooperative project in Guarjila, El Salvador. Students were able to give their support by purchasing hand-made bracelets and home-made baked goods.


Wednesday - "MOCK CLINIC"

The second day of the event engaged UT students through a mock clinic modeled after our partner, Clinica Ana Manganaro (CAM) in Guarjila, El Salvador. Through role playing interactions simulating an actual day at the clinic, participants were able to learn more about the clinic itself and health issues that frequently affect people in El Salvador and other developing countries. GlobeMed members also helped teach interested students about the free healthcare model that CAM employs and how they have chosen to incorporate the concept of healthcare as a human right into their work. 


Thursday - "MISSION NUTRITION"

$3 bracelets for global health equity!

The final day of tabling was focused on nutrition and food inequities throughout the world. Staff members used a life-size cardboard cut-out to illustrate how a lack of various nutrients can affect one’s body and overall health. Members of the community and campus were also able to hear how our project addresses nutrition-related issues specifically in Guarjila, El Salvador and how they can help. 


Furthermore, we were able to raise several hundred dollars for our project with CAM through the sale of delicious breakfast tacos from Juan in a Million.

Thursday Evening - "Speaker Panel: FIND YOUR ROLE IN GLOBAL HEALTH"

Thursday evening, we were truly privileged to have a wonderful panel of global and public health professionals answer questions about students' roles in fighting for global health equity. Their incredible global health backgrounds enabled them to both answer our questions and inspire us to keep working within this growing movement. From epidemiology to work in the nonprofit world, we learned about the diverse ways to help create global health equity without necessarily being a physician. Peter Perez, one of our very own staff members, created the wonderful video below that highlights the panel and the overall event.

From our on-campus event, we hope that students have become more aware of the diverse issues within global health, along with the diverse roles we can play. 

It was a definitely an exciting few days for everyone who was able to participate. In addition to raising awareness, we were also able to raise funds for our project this year that focuses on child nutrition, education, and female empowerment in Guarjila. 

A big thanks to our wonderful globalhealthU committee and the rest of the chapter who worked hard to make this event such a huge success! We truly could not make as much of an impact without you.




A special thanks to the University Co-op for their generous help with funding for this event. 

globalhealthU Six Week Recap

From 'This I Believe' Statements to defining pragmatic solidarity, our globalhealthU curriculum acts as an effective and interesting informant in global health. Over the past six weeks members of GlobeMed at The University of Texas at Austin have been challenged by the globalhealthU team to think more critically about issues in global health.


globalhealthU has inspired the formation of individual opinions and has created a better outlet to debate them, and in the process globalhealthU has united our chapter in one more way. globalhealthU has assisted us as members of GlobeMed to become more informed members of the global health community. The knowledge inspired by the globalhealthU team allows our informed chapter members to effectively advocate our project with Clinica Ana Manganaro (CAM) in El Salvador. Now when you ask a member of GlobeMed at The University of Texas at Austin what pragmatic solidarity or inequity is, any chapter member will know.