July 24. 2015. Meningococcal Disease

http://www.path.org/menafrivac/meningitis-belt.php

When I began working at the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), I was not also sure what the specific topic would be. There were several options about meningococcal disease that I would be able to contribute to work on. Though I will be the first author for the paper, but honestly, the disease itself sounds pretty new to me! Nonetheless, it is interesting for me to know about this disease because it is predominant across sub-Saharan Africa. Here at IVAC, there are passionate people who are working for AGEDD Project, stands for Adult Global Estimation of Disease Burden and Distribution of Serotypes of Serious Pneumococcal and Meningococcal Disease. I learn so much about how to collaborate with each other to find a new subject to write for the benefit of AGEDD Project.

Meningitis, the best well-known subset of invasive meningococcal disease, is caused by inflammation and irritation of the membranes that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The symptom is stiff neck, fever, rashes, deafness, mental retardation, seizures, or paralysis, and some survivors lose their limb, or suffer permanent brain damage. In the Africa’s meningitis belt, a total of 450 million people are prone to this deadly disease. From West to East, Senegal to Ethiopia, epidemics of meningitis has swept across this region by killing one in ten people infected and leaving people severely debilitated. How to eliminate this disease? Thanks to a unique partnership between PATH and the World Health Organization cost-effective new vaccine MenAfriVac has been distributed, and 150 million people have received it. However, the serotype of disease has switched from typical Neisseria meningitides A to C, and it actually caused another epidemic in Niger and Nigeria this year.

The topic for meningococcal disease can be various: about vaccine policy, vaccine effectiveness, or history of epidemics in Africa. I hope that well-organized research about this disease will be done soon so that everyone in the world can react to prevent it in the future.

July 17. 2015. JHU Fellows

The building reminded of me last year this time. I grinned at the building and said ‘Hello, it’s been a while!’ inly. I have been here in June last year for World Vision orientation. One year has passed in an instant: Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, South Korea, Mozambique, and back to the U.S. during one year. In the office, there would be new Johns Hopkins University fellows who have been receiving training from this morning. I was a little nervous at first to get inside the office. What story would I tell them? Erin invited me to come to the World Vision International office in DC for sharing my Global Health Fellows Programme experience to the upcoming group of JHU fellows. A security guy opened the entrance door and took me to the orientation place. “Hello, people!” It has been more than a year since I saw Erin last time. We embraced each other, but I was kind of embarrassed because five ladies who sat on the chair in a line were looking at me at the same time (I did not know where to look!) This year, there would be five female JHU fellows who will work Lives Saved Tool from August/September. Where are men? There were 2 female and 2 male fellows last year. Men, let’s give it a little more effort for public health! J

I arrived 30 minutes early, but my sharing experience and Q&A went off immediately. Haha, I liked this flexibility. I talked this and that; overview summary of my fellowship focus, my personal experience and learning, and top recommendations for a successful fellowship. I should have known who the audience are to understand how much they are familiar with Africa. I simply considered that they must be novice about anything for Africa, but they were not. Many of them were originally from Africa or someone has already been to Africa. Ooh… This was the big gap between my school colleagues and friends outside of the school. My school dudes and junior colleagues are normally into Africa! Since I have seen many friends these days who do not care whatever I say about Africa, I said too much basic things to them, such as “Behave humbly in Africa!” When I said, “I want to be an Africa expert!” they laughed; I was saying that in front of native Africans! Anyway, they are going to go to Laos, Mauritania, Kenya/ Ethiopia, Senegal/ Mali, and Zambia/ Malawi/ Swaziland. They have just become my great motivation because they are rising stars for public health in Southeast Asia and Africa. I was very happy to share my experience with them, and I hope they will enjoy their work and life outside of the U.S.

The next step after fellowship work? Yeah, one thing always leads to another, and we have to prepare for that. I believe there will certainly be an interesting life that makes me really excited. All I can do is to try harder than yesterday to become an “Africa expert.” J Wait a sec, Africa. I will be back!

July 11. 2015. Good Spoon

I have always passed them by. I cannot deny that I must have been scared or I simply thought that was not my problem. At the same time, I have had a bad conscience that I could not do anything for them. ‘Maybe next time… when I become stable, I may help them…’ Suppressing discomfort in the innermost recesses of the heart, I did not bat an eye and avoided that location in a hurry.

They are not different. Actually, I do not even want to differentiate between “homeless” people and “home yes” people by saying “they.” We are the human beings and creation made by the author of nature. I honestly do not know anyone’s story on the street. So you cannot slander people without knowing anything about them. Abysmal suffering from being forsaken by truelove, being cast out from society, or worn out by poverty… Many people at the shelter already closed their mind and did not seem to share their story. I mingled with them and asked him right next to me to sing a hymn together, but he said “No.”

It is well, (it is well),

With my soul, (with my soul)

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

2 hymns resonated throughout the hot but mentally frozen air about 10 minutes, and I was greatly embarrassed at that moment. I felt like they were blaming God lamenting their lives. I guess every single person might have had experience to feel bitter against God for his heartlessness, “Oh, God. Why did you do this to me! Why am I suffering from this?” People are disappointed with incompetent-looked God and they drift apart from Him. I do even feel like this way that God seems to do nothing and just stands by and looks on with folded arms what’s happening on the earth. If someone who never even sang along the chorus would ask me “Do you still believe in God? If so, why?” I would say “Yes!” because at least, Good Spoon team comes to Baltimore to share God’s love by giving free food, daily necessity, and clothes once a month. The life seems to be so bleak and fall into endless darkness, but at least, there is hope for all of us. Hope that God is always be with us to become a partner of our joys and sorrows.

<Click the Good Spoon Homepage>

Good Spoon does missionary work and social services for the urban poor in the U.S. It was established in 2004 to begin providing free meals on the street, and expanded its service to having their haircut, providing clinic, helping employment and recruitment, solving the cases of unreasonable remuneration, opening ESL, Korean class and tutoring class, and share the happiness during Thanksgiving or Christmas for free. The biggest objective for Christian on the ground is to spread the gospel. It must be not a good thing to see if Christians are selfish enough to be baldly pompous and self-serving. I know that there is no “next time.” That’s why I join this work. Even though I am not still sure how I can understand and help them fully, I believe paying attention to them and praying for them at any time would be an immediate contribution that I can happily to do.

That was what I have always had a load on my mind. I have only been concerned about people in Africa while I have not done anything for my community. To be honest, I wanted to ask and double-check myself if I am really willing to put all of my energies into people’s health in Africa by working for people of a community, my neighbors in Baltimore. No matter where neglected classes of people are, I want to embrace all of them to share the God’s love. Because it could also have happened to me. I could also have become the underprivileged and I could also fall into that situation anytime. There is no complete peace of mind and comfort in a changing world. People meet and part every single day, and you cannot rely on any people forever. What you can do is to find happiness and holiness in the Lord and appreciate the heart’s-blood, the LIFE at this moment.

Let's just look at the world in a different way. The world is so beautiful!

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