Hello again! I am in D.C., and this week has been so incredible. With the Coronavirus, most everything is online, so I haven’t been working in person often, however I was able to go into the GW Medical Faculty Associates to meet Tracie Bass. She gave me a little bit of a tour of the building, and introduced me to the work I would participate in while in the city. My hotel is only two blocks away from the building so the commute is super easy.
I was able to do a staff meeting with Kristina Williams, the Director of Community Engagements, Doctor Jehan El-Bayoumi, along with Ashanti Carter and Loic a fellow intern. We talked about our plan for the student bootcamp I mentioned in my previous blog, and we figured out timing for the next four weeks. Hana Akselrod is the speaker who is going to be on the Zooms with the kids (middle and high school). She is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Each week of the four week camp is dedicated to the following: Health Equity and Social Justice, World Changing 101, Exploring the Issue, and lastly, Careers for Change-Makers. I have been making the activities for the warm up before Dr. Akselrod speaks. I have created crossword puzzles, student interaction games, word finds, and prompts for curious conversations. Here is an example of two questions in the multiple choice dedicated to Health Equity exploring the difference in equality and equity:
Equality and equity are very different when talking about social justice. Equality gives everyone the same thing no matter their needs. Equity gives people what they need based on their situation. The example I used involved two people, a person who is hungry and someone who just ate. Equality would be giving both people an apple, equity would be giving the hungry person both apples.
On the Zoom meeting I mentioned earlier, Dr. El-Bayoumi shared how getting people to graduate high school adds ten years to their lives. People may ask how getting youth to graduate high school involves health equity, the focus of Rodham, and the truth is that based on where people live, their life expectancy changes dramatically. Adding ten years to someone’s life is immensely important and impactful. There is also the Impact Speaker Series you can find on the Facebook page for Rodham; the most recent one talked about COVID and its impact on Education and the Education system. Along with education, I am also involved in the Student Film Festival where students submit short videos talking about their experience during this COVID pandemic, and also during the Black Lives Matter movement. I am right in the center of this movement and I was able to see the Black Lives Matter Plaza, which is across from the White House. The street has Black Lives Matter written on the pavement and it is closed down. It is humbling to walk through that street.
Along with my work schedule, I have also done some exploring of the monuments and outdoor sightseeing. The sites are almost empty and I am the only one at most places. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience to be alone in a place where hundreds of people normally are daily. Here are some photos of my adventures, including my view flying into Ronald Reagan Airport!
(We took our masks off for this picture!)
I look forward to my last week in D.C, and will update you all about it soon!
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