Sanibonani!
Posted Monday, June 26, 2006 4:51 PM
Sanibonani is the plural form of Hello in Zulu. This is my first blog entry on this or any site, and I have a lot to say about my experiences as a student at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. I have to start with my most special experience here. Well, the experience wasn’t really here, but the result of being a student here. I was selected to participate in the MIRT (Minority International Research Training) Program, which provides training experiences abroad to students interested in minority-focused research. This program is funded by NIH and has affiliations with universities and research institutions in Australia, South Korea, Israel, England, Sweden, and South Africa. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in research at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa! I’ve always wanted to go to The Continent, and to go there for such a lengthy stay (3 months) and as a part of a special cause made the experience even better than I expected.
My research there was focused on developing communications against adolescent substance use and abuse. My specific role was to develop focus group guides for health workers in the communities so that researchers at UKZN would have input directly from the target audience, allowing them to create the most effective campaign possible. I’ve been working on different research projects at Hopkins since 2002, so I had some experience, but doing research in an unfamiliar culture required many skills that I had not yet learned. I’ve always enjoyed learning about new things, and the faculty and staff at UKZN provided extensive learning opportunities on and off campus. I was able to travel to Johannesburg to meet with the Director of Research and Development at Soul City Communications. Soul City uses research to develop literature, television shows, and radio broadcasts with the goal of promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyles. I observed UKZN’s undergraduate community health nursing students plan and implement impressive community health interventions in Durban communities. I attended the 2nd South African AIDS conference in Durban during my very first week there. The list of awesome educational experiences goes on and on.
In addition to the research experiences, I greatly enjoyed being immersed in African culture. I was there with 2 other Hopkins students and we made friends with several Zulus and Xhosas who showed us around and allowed us to experience Africa in a way that tourists wouldn’t. We went to cookouts, parties, concerts, malls, the beach, family dinners, and just hung out. Being in South Africa was an experience I’ll never forget! In fact, at the end of my trip my boyfriend came to visit. We went to Cape Town, Zimbabwe, and Zambia - and he proposed to me at Victoria Falls in Zambia!! I’m so glad that Hopkins provided this African experience.
I have a really busy summer ahead of me. One of the faculty at UKZN forwarded me a Call for Abstracts for the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Research Conference in Durban. I wrote an abstract, with help from my friend Safiya, Cultural Competency in Nursing Education to Facilitate Effective Healthcare , and it was accepted! I’ll be going back to Africa in early August to present this work. Once again, JHUSON is supporting my travel and my interest in research! I’ll even get a course credit for developing the presentation. I took a course this past spring, Communication Strategies for Health Education and Health Promotion, and the Professor is helping me to incorporate the relevant strategies from that course. I can’t wait to go back to Durban!
As soon as I get back from South Africa I’ll go straight to Florida for the National Black Nurses Association’s annual conference. I am presenting there too. This presentation, Breastfeeding to Reduce Health Disparities from the Cradle to the Grave, is the result of my work on an NIH-funded research study to support low-income breastfeeding. During the training for my position on the Breastfeeding Support Team I learned about all of the amazing benefits of breastfeeding. For example, research shows that breastfed babies are less likely to become obese, have less incidences of diabetes, lower rates of hypertension, and lower rates of asthma - to name only a very few benefits. I realized that these were some of the same diseases that disproportionately affect the African-American community. So, if more people breastfeed there will be better health outcomes across the lifespan. While I’m at the conference I’ll be promoting JHUSON and recruiting potential students since Hopkins values diversity and the different perspectives people bring from various backgrounds.
Okay, I didn’t mean to write so much for my first entry, but I’ve had so many great experiences during my Masters program! Next time I want to discuss the classes I’m taking this summer and the activities included in their requirements. I also want to talk about my two new jobs. I’ve been a Nurse for almost 7 years now and I keep discovering new and exciting roles and opportunities. This profession provides so many options and they are all very rewarding. I look forward to sharing more of my experiences soon. Take Care!