Building a Movement for Global Health Equity - Defining Our Generational Duties
06/13/2010
GlobeMed's Ashley Hagaman charts her course for the conference.
In 2006 a small group of university students began organizing around issues of poverty, social injustice, and health inequity. This small group of students began to mobilize, grow, and catalyze a shift in discourse and action surrounding student engagement in global health. Back then, about 100 students strong, we began to define what our role was in global health. After several lessons learned, we've simply deferred to the experts - brilliant community leaders that are already performing incredible, innovative, and highly effective global health work. We called our burgeoning network of students and community leaders GlobeMed, and with our energy, passion, and a university community full of resources, we've created partnerships all over the world with these leaders to help their already tremendous work. Well, there we are. A beautiful model and a great group of changemakers makes for (the start of, at least) one incredible movement. So where do we go from here?
The theme for this year's conference is ‘Global Health Goals and Metrics'. What's GlobeMed's goal? Easy. To build a movement for global health equity by transforming our generation (that's the millenials) into inspired, effective, and capable global health leaders. And what are the metrics to define our goal? That's a bit tougher considering this word ‘movement'. We can measure the health impact of our partners and our projects, we can measure the growing GlobeMed alumni community, we can measure the increase in knowledge of our current students - the options are quite endless. But really, how are we measuring this critical movement and how are we making sure its progressing forward in an effective way?
Here are some upcoming sessions where I’m excited about to learn more and hopefully begin to answer some of my questions:
1. Goals: Putting a Dealine on Your Vision: Setting, Monitoring & Evaluating Your Goals
2. Careers in Global Health: How We Got Started
3. Integration: Getting Results and Reaching Goals
And soon another critical question arises for me. With our model rooted in partnership and solidarity, how do we work together? How do we build a generation of young people that can more than replace the incredible visionaries of today? How do we fulfill this moral duty so that tomorrow still has a path to hope, love, and justice? We'll start this discourse on Monday night at our networking event.
In any case, these questions should stir some deep contemplation and reflection for all of us. For the millennials, how do we grow, progress, and become prophetic leaders in a world where inequity persistently plagues the oppressed? How do we radically push the moral arc towards justice? And the questions for those older generations - how do you pave a just path forward? How will you mentor, challenge, and demand excellence in those that will replace you?
I hope we answer some of these questions in the coming week.
Ashley K. Hagaman works for GlobeMed.
This is the first I’m hearing of GlobeMed and the idea of a global health “movement” around students…however, I had a similar idea as I was finishing my MPH at Boston University last year. The result was a new student journal entitled “The Movement” which you can read here http://www.bu.edu/themovement/. I have sinced moved on from BU but the journal is still running strong. Just thought you (and others) may be interested
— Anand on 2010-06-25
Hey Anand,
Thanks so much for sharing this journal! Awesome to see so many students that feel the reality of this movement as well.
Excited to see how GlobeMed and other students organizations can work more closely with the Global Health Council to drive forward this movement and build a generation of students deeply committed to global health and social justice.
- jon
— Jon Shaffer on 2010-06-28
Hagaman has really given an account of power of youth like healthwoman for the globe.Joining hands and sharing ideas will make all to work together and togetherness is success and godliness.
— Dr.Sadhu Charan Panda on 2010-07-01