Service

Before this program’s pre-departure class, I had a negative view on public health service trips because they seemed to always have a mission of remedying the problems of a “third-world” country in an unreasonably short period of time. Additionally, the end product of the trip was often unsustainable by the people living in that community. Consequently, hearing that this program was under the title of “global service” made me a bit apprehensive to apply. But, after working closely with WaterAid Zambia on my research project for these past two weeks, I now have a more complete idea of the meaning of service as it relates to this program. As Tine had mentioned this past semester, service does not always mean that we as global health students are providing a tangible product such as newly built schools or homes that is magically supposed to “fix” a community of people. Sometimes, service can be as simple as allowing for others to be seen, as this was made abundantly clear these past few weeks. I am providing service to my organization by simply being willing to listening to their interests and concerns. Along these same lines, I am also providing service by helping them gather information on hygiene and sanitation conditions in the urban community.

Growing up in a family that regularly engaged in charitable work, I have always been motivated to serve. Having the opportunity to volunteer and shadow in various hospitals in my home state allowed me to be exposed to many different people and their many medical issues. No matter what the situation was, I could always find a way to relate to them on a human level. From these experiences and many others, I always feel motivated to serve my community as well as international communities. On a much smaller scale, I have also experienced service in the untraditional sense through various friendships in my everyday life. For instance, being an emotional support system for a friend in need is a form of service. So, service is not something that can only be provided in a global context. Instead, it is something that we do every day for the people in our community.

From these past experiences and these two weeks in Zambia, I have realized that service is not something that can or should be measured. The impact of a service project like this is subjective, varying from person to person. In the context of this program, the occasional paper from our research may not be the product that my organization values the most but instead the passion and curiosity that my research partner and I had in their public health endeavors as an organization, perhaps it made them feel seen as Tine had mentioned earlier and that is service to them. And this is an act of service that would be difficult to measure or quantify. Overall, service has many definitions, especially in the field of global health and I look forward to identifying more ways service manifests itself during this trip.