At Curamericas Global, we rely on the work of international summer interns to maximize our impact in the global communities we support. This past summer, Vanderbilt University Master of Public Health student, Kayla Somerville, and data science specialist, Evan Tooker, provided program support to Curamericas projects in Guatemala and Kisii County, Kenya, respectively. Their work in Guatemala and Kenya improved the capacity of our data collections systems to monitor the health status of women and children in our partner communities and evaluate the impact of Curamericas’ successful community-based, impact orientated methodology in the birth center projects.

Kayla’s Passion for People

Kayla Somerville, 24, credits her passion for nonprofit work to her love of people and the experiences she has been blessed to have. As an undergraduate student at the University of Memphis, Kayla spent a summer with Amos Salud y Esperanza of Nicaragua as a research intern for their Women’s Empowerment team. Through this experience, Kayla further developed her research interest in maternal and child health disparities in Latin American contexts, which is what eventually drew her to Curamericas Guatemala’s mission. Outside of the classroom, you can find Kayla practicing her sign language or Latin dancing.

Monitoring and Evaluation in Guatemala

During her time with Curamericas Guatemala, Kayla assisted the on-site team with updating the birth complications registry and conducting focus group interviews. The interviews aimed to help improve the project’s Monitoring & Evaluation system. Kayla’s most memorable moment from her experience was “the day when I was able to accompany the nurses to conduct home visits for newborns. As we only have a few homes to visit, we were able to spend quite a bit of time with each mother and her baby. The attention to detail and concern that the nurses had was remarkable.” Upon completing the experience, Kayla’s biggest takeaway was the affirmation that “provision of healthcare in a low-resource setting is possible and can be accomplished in a way that honors the cultural traditions of the community.”

Evan: Continuing a Legacy

Evan Tooker learned about Curamericas Global through his father’s stories. In the 1980s, Evan’s father worked alongside Curamericas Global founder, Dr. Henry Perry, and Andean Rural Health Care in Bolivia, the forerunner to Curamericas Global. Evan had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Perry last year to talk about contributing to Curamericas’ mission with his degree in public health from Franklin and Marshall College, graduate work in bioengineering and bioinformatics at Drexel University, and future goals to attend medical school. Once Dr. Perry connected Evan to Curamericas Executive Director, Andrew Herrera, Evan and Andrew both felt that with his background in data science, Evan could have a great impact in Kisii County contributing to the project’s maternal mortality database.

Developing Relationships in Kenya

During his six weeks living in Kisii, Evan collected census data for the maternal mortality database and helped manage the team’s logistical challenges, such as frequent power shortages and blackouts at the Matongo clinic. The daily barriers to completing the project, such as the power outages, were a big surprise to Evan, but working with the Kisii team and learning about rural Kenyan culture was very rewarding. The working relationships and friendships with the Kenyan colleagues were his favorite part of the trip. “I especially enjoyed our daily morning coffee and chapati (an unleavened flatbread), where we would all sit around and talk about anything other than public health (i.e., the best stalls in the market or the price of Rick Ross concert tickets in Nairobi).” Evan believes that “in time, Curamericas Global and their CBIO (community-based impact oriented) approach to community health will result in a substantial and sustainable reduction in maternal mortality in Kisii County.”

Curamericas Global welcomes all who have a passion to serve. Learn more about our international internship opportunities. Bring your talents and join the Curamericas Global team today!

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