What inspired you to go abroad?
"To be loved is to be known" - T. Keller.
I was inspired to go abroad because traveling has always been a necessity in my family to understand my community and continue to diversify our perspectives. Being born and raised in the second most diverse city in the world, Queens, New York, and then relocating to another historically rich community, Atlanta, Georgia, has instilled an expectation of not only diversity but also the practice of inclusion in my personal virtues and services to the community.
Traveling abroad has always been a means to put myself in my neighbor's shoes, learn their history, understand their values, and broaden my own understanding of the world and the community I live in.
Why did you choose International Medical Aid?
Grade Student demonstrating Menstrual Care during Women's Health seminar at a Mombasa High School
I chose International Medical Aid because it perfectly maintains an ethical, ever-growing exposure for the interns and sustainability in the communities in which they are located. I was looking for a program that showed integrity in educating the interns without sacrificing the sustainability in the community these internships were located in.
It was important that tourism and profit were not prioritized over the wellness of the host communities. IMA hosts history and language seminars, cultural excursions, volunteer services, and partnerships with local medical facilities and healthcare professionals, which showed me that they are educating the interns while they prioritize the long-term wellness, education, and support in the community. This is reflected in the premed internship at Coastal General Teaching & Referral Hospital.
As an intern, I was invited to attend CMEs, and the employees were so attentive, which cultivated my knowledge, while on the other hand, interns were allowed to raise money and even host educational classes (i.e, CPR classes) to give back to the hospital as well. The balance of providing an educational space and ethical opportunity is why I chose IMA.
What was your favorite part about Mombasa?
Intubation Seminar at Coastal General Teaching & Referral Hospital
My favorite part of Mombasa was how uniquely different and adamantly welcoming they were to me. I have lived in 5 vastly different cities across the East Coast of the United States of America and traveled to 14 countries, yet Mombasa, Kenya, was the first place where the spirit of the people seemed tangible.
The first thing I noticed was how friendly the people were. It had so many conversations with so many people about their lives to the point that I kept a journal and wrote down every person's name, the lesson they wanted me to remember, the languages they spoke, and the tribes they came from. I have never experienced so many people interested in sharing their family history during the first time meeting someone.
Mombasa, being so diverse in people, diverse in land, welcoming to visitors and refugees, and knowledgeable in so many aspects of their community, definitely made it a city to remember!
What made your experience abroad extraordinary?
Mombasa showed me a level of pride in their history and home that I've never seen before. The culture, landscape, knowledge, and neighbor mentality were so rich that it pushed my experience from unique to extraordinary.
From hearing the call to prayer for the first time to seeing a universal respect and exchange from people with different religions, tribes, and nationalities, every person I encountered shared something with me that I will keep with me forever. It was so rich that it led me to find out my ancestry.
Even outside of the hospital and internship,I was learning. The locals would approach me to teach me about themselves and Mombasa as a people, a land, and a history. Mombasa gave me more than what I can ever give back. I've learned so much from so many people, and they were all so adamant about teaching me about myself.
I was taught how to use parts of mkone trees that are native to East Africa to wash my hair; I was taught so many special words in their "mother language," I was taught how Mombasans view my hometown, New York, as their Nairobi; I was taught so many things about them and myself. Everything from the people to the land was such an intimate exchange that made my experience extraordinary.
How did local staff support you throughout your program?
Making a Cake with Resident Staff during Free time
Local staff were extremely helpful in my program. Many of them were closer to my age than most of the interns, so they became very familiar with me. They always made my mornings easier with their enthusiastic greetings, they kept me on top of the schedule, and they would also talk with me, which helped me get comfortable in the program and the city.
There were moments I would ask them to help me relate to the children in the community service projects we attended, and even places to sightsee in Mombasa.
What's one thing you wish you would have done differently during your time abroad?
I wish I would have experienced Mombasa with the employees I made relationships with at the hospital, rather than just experiencing Mombasa with locals "adopting" me and the friends I made in the internship.
I fostered fruitful relationships with some of the CGRTH employees, but I wish I had been able to see Mombasa through their eyes as well. It would have increased the level of gratitude I have for Mombasa to experience that with the CGTRH employees, who are now my friends and mentors!
Describe what a typical day in your life abroad looked like.
Typically, on a weekday, I would go to the hospital and shadow the physicians or their medical students. I would talk a lot with the Kenyan students in training and trail the physicians to observe their technique and patient care through conversations with patients (mostly) and their medical students. If time allowed, many times the physicians or the students would take my notebook and draw or write explanations for my questions and tips for their care.
I left with a few mentors from the hospital by doing this. Most of the day consisted of the doctors and med students explaining what they just told the patient, their medical reasoning, and their medical knowledge. If the department I was shadowing closed for the day or had a slow patient load, I would float to a department of interest or to a friend of mine from the internship to learn from the doctors and medical students there.
What did you enjoy doing during your free time abroad?
Nyali Beach with new friends from Mijikenda tribe
During my free time, I enjoyed making friends with the interns and locals in Mombasa. We explored the streets, the beach, tourist spots, the zoo, and the malls of Mombasa. My favorite free moments were running into people who wanted to talk while we were exploring!
My friend and I frequented Nyali beach, where we met a Mijikenda man who let us ride his camel from Sudan, then introduced us to a Luo waitress who told us about the best spices of Kenya, which I eventually went to the historical market to buy a curry spice for myself.
For fun, the staff and the interns would socialize at Moon Shine, a club on the same beach where I met so many other locals, where we would sing karaoke and share stories for hours! For educational purposes, my last free time adventure was a personal tour of Mombasa Hospital, a private hospital, so I could see for myself the stark difference between the funding and resources of CGTRH, a public hospital.
The free time really made the trip a well-rounded experience.
What type of accommodation did you have? What did you like best about it?
I had a communal accommodation in which I shared a room with two other interns and a communal living and wash space with an entire floor of people. This was similar to my living situation in my college experience at Fisk university so it was very familiar and nice.
I love how communal spaces open opportunity for "built-in" friends, meaning you automatically have a familiar face at the end of the day.
What is one thing every future participant should know about your program before their program begins?
The one thing every future participant should know about the IMA program before it begins is that cultural sensitivity is important for traveling abroad and healthcare etiquette. There is a huge importance in understanding cultural and medical differences and how to appropriately respond without disrupting or co-opting people of different backgrounds or different communities, while being educated.
Another intern and I made a presentation that our IMA mentor accepted in order to highlight this topic and go over the healthcare background in Mombasa, the differences and shared aspects between a medical and a cultural space, and culturally appropriate healthcare etiquette.
Would you recommend International Medical Aid to others? Why?
Yes, I would recommend IMA to others because it is an educational experience at its core, fruitful for the community, and life-changing for the intern. The immersion, balanced with the wellness of the community, is always optimal for education, sustainability, and community.
Any future healthcare professional committed to being a lifelong learner and an active community member should participate in IMA's global health internship.
What do you feel the biggest benefit of traveling abroad is?
Singing a Swahili-English Teeth Cleaning song to small grade school students during a Dental Hygiene Seminar
I think the biggest benefit of traveling abroad is broadening my perspective to be a well-educated person who is inclusive and accepting of all people.
I was raised in a family big on community, so traveling to see people's history and culture firsthand is important to getting to know our history, current world events, and understanding the people we share the world with and call our neighbors more intimately.
Now that you're home, how has your time abroad impacted your life?
Now that I'm home after my internship in Mombasa with IMA, I have grown to appreciate my work as a medical assistant more. My plan is to become a gynecologist, but working in an entry-level position and having more intimate and grunt work with patient care is important as well.
Also, after appreciating the resourcefulness in CGRTH employees despite the severe underfunding and lack of resources, it helped me notice similarities in low-income areas such as Queens, Atlanta, and New Orleans, which makes me more resourceful and efficient in my work and community as well.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Meaningful travel means letting the destination teach me as much as it can, and second, giving back to the destination as much as I can. This looks like respectively familiarizing myself with the people, land, animals, food, architecture, history, and culture of the land, and being a servant leader wherever I travel. This practice not only gives meaning to traveling, but it also gives meaning to the community I call my home.
