The International Public Health Internship

To ensure equitable health for all, Leadership Initiatives works with local leaders to spread health-oriented education in communities in Northern Nigeria. As part of the International Public Health Program, Leadership Initiatives identifies the major threats to public health and the stakeholders most impacted.

Once public health issues are identified, Leadership Initiatives pairs International Public Health Interns with local health specialists and project coordinators. Interns are given the opportunity to help tackle major issues at the grassroots level by working directly with community leaders to develop and implement public health awareness campaigns. Interns will work with Leadership Initiatives staff over the course of nine months to understand the health care system in Nigeria. Leadership Initiatives partners with local health care institutions to hold educational programs that target major health concerns relevant to Nigeria, such as immunization, reproductive health, diabetes, food and nutrition, child health, drug dependencies, food, hygiene, and malaria.

The International Public Health Internship strives to empower young leaders to improve health worldwide by equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need to successfully save lives, develop ethical considerations, and enrich communities all while making a meaningful difference in the world. Through working with interns, Leadership Initiatives enables communities to invest in the necessary infrastructure to address public health concerns that burden developing regions.

Our Internship Team

CLICK EACH MEMBER TO LEARN MORE.

Sabrina Olivares

Somerset Academy Charter High School

Class of 2023

Gabriela Torres is a senior at Somerset Academy High School Chapel Trail. Gabriela completed both her AP Capstone and AS Cambridge programs and is always interested in learning more.

Gabriela Torres enjoys reading and listening to music. Gabriela is a historian of both the National Spanish Honor Society and HOSA; as well as secretary of the Science National Honor Society. She is also part of the National English Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Future Educators Association. During her free time, she works at her local Chick Fil A.

Gabriela is excited to participate in this amazing internship. She has always loved science and medicine and wishes to have a role as a health professional. Gabriela wants to learn more about human behavior and their bodies through interactions to help them and facilitate their lives.

Karen Vargas

Karen Vargas is a rising junior at Somerset Arts Conservatory. Karen is a committed student who is enrolled in both Honors and Advanced Placement courses. She also competed in an EMT competition and is also certified in both photoshop and adobe illustrator.

Karen enjoys drawing and running her online business. At school she is a board member for the HOSA club. During her free time, she enjoys cooking, baking, and helping others.

Karen is very excited to take part in the International Public Health Internship program. She loves learning about different ways she can help others. She hopes to someday become an Emergency Medical Technician. In the future, Karen wants to take the skills she has learned to help make the world a better place and apply these newly learned skills in real life situations

Somerset Arts Conservatory

Class of 2024

Emily Soto is a senior at Somerset Academy High Chapel Trail. She is a dedicated student who is enrolled in Advanced Placement, Dual Enrollment, and Cambridge AICE classes.

Emily enjoys reading and writing her own stories. At school, she is the secretary for HOSA a well as a member of the National English Honor Society and Key Club.

Emily is excited to be participating in the public health internship this year. She has always had an interest in biology, specifically epidemiology, and hopes to become a researcher. In the future, Emily hopes to further disease research.

Emily Soto

Somerset Academy High Chapel Trail

Class of 2023

Camilla Capellan

Somerset Academy

Class of 2023

Camilla Capellan is a senior at Somerset Academy. Camilla Capellan is a dedicated honor student who is interested in the medical field and is enrolled in advance placement and dual enrollment classes.

Camilla Capellan enjoys going to the beach and hanging out with her friends. At school Camilla Capellan is Vice President of both HOSA and National Science Honor Society. During her free time Camilla enjoys reading and listening to music.

Camilla is super interested and happy to be able to participate in the Advanced Medical and Public Health summit. She enjoys learning about all things STEM and hopes to be a plastic surgeon someday. In the future Camilla hopes to be able to use what she has learned to be able to help others.

Aarav Reddy is a junior at Somerset Academy Arts Conservatory. He is a bright student who takes AP , AICE , and Dual Enrollment courses. He loves to learn about the world , especially in regards to health science and aims to spread his passion for the medical field with others.

He plays clarinet in the Somserset Academy Panther Marching Band where he is Woodwind Captain. Aarav is the Vice President of HOSA and Key Club. He is able to take initiative in clubs that focus on his biggest interests : service and the medical field. On his off time he volunteers to teach middle schoolers and primary school students math or science to a non - profit that gives all of its proceeds to students in need in India , his home country.

Aarav is eager to work on the public health team this summer. He is a big believer of innovation in the medicine, and hopes to bring new advancements to the field. As someone who doesn’t come from the most fortunate background , he hopes to bring better lives to people who aren’t as lucky as he is. He hopes to use the skills he learns in this team to do big things in the future.

Aarav Reddy

Somerset Arts Conservatory

Class of 2024

Miguel Torres is an International Baccalaureate (IB) Senior at Cypress Creek High School. He is pursuing the IB diploma while taking Advanced Placement class simultaneously.

Miguel enjoys listening to music and reading in his free time. After school, he runs the school's German Club while also being the Vice-President of POC Alliance. Despite his leadership positions in these two after school activities, he is part of Quiz Bowl, Model United Nations, South Asian Student Association, Asian Student Association, and Psych Club. Outside of school, he is part of an internship program at a non-profit company called Character Lab.

Miguel is excited to be part of the International Public Health Internship during this school year. He is highly interested in pursuing a degree in Pre-Medical Sciences and this opportunity will give him the skills he needs to become a great doctor one day.

Gabriela Torres

Somerset Academy High School

Class of 2023

Milka Michael is a junior at Somerset Academy High School. Milka is a devoted student enrolled in AP, AICE, and dual enrollment classes.

Milka enjoys reading books and writing poetry. At school, she is one of the competition directors of her school’s HOSA club. She is also a member of the National English Honor Society, the Science National Honor Society, The Youth in Government club, and the Student Government Association. During her free time, Milka enjoys baking, reading comics, and rollerblading.

Milka is excited to be participating in the International Public Health Internship this year. She loves learning about the workings of the body and the effects certain variables can have on it. Milka hopes to one day be a pediatric surgeon. In the future, Milka wants to make strides in the medical field through the skills she has learned through this program and school.

Milka Michael

Somerset Academy High School

Class of 2024

Our Public Health Issue

Immunizations

Our Public Health Issue

Immunization is the process in which one is made immune or resistant to an infectious agent by the use of a vaccine. Vaccines imitate an infection and spark an immune response so that the body is capable of handling similar infections or diseases. In underdeveloped countries, children under the age of five are not receiving vaccines or following the immunization schedule set, and are thus, dying from vaccine-preventable diseases, such as pneumonia, polio, and measles. To prevent children from these deadly diseases, it is recommended that they are vaccinated from an early age so that their immune systems are able to build the antibodies required to fight infections.

Fast Facts

Infants tend to be more vulnerable to disease than older children and adults, with many of these diseases causing more serious symptoms in infants.

Several diseases that can be prevented via immunization have no cure or treatment; disease outbreaks can occur when populations are not protected.

Childhood immunizations are incredibly important as they not only protect parents' own children from deadly diseases like polio, tetanus, and diphtheria but also help other children remain safe by decreasing deadly diseases.

In 2021, global immunization coverage dropped to 81%, the lowest rate in over a decade, with the World Health Organization claiming that 25 million infants across the world missed lifesaving vaccines.

Vaccine hesitancy can be detrimental for developing communities and has been attributed to mothers often believing that vaccines were not effective or believing that vaccines contain chemicals that are dangerous to a child's health.

Health In Nigeria

Currently, Nigeria contributes to approximately 30 percent of the global number of unimmunized children between the ages of 0 and 5, with millions of zero-dose children being exposed to diseases like measles. While the government has made efforts to reduce this percentage, a lack of awareness of this issue has spawned little to no changes.

This is an issue, especially for children in Nigerian communities, because there is a lack of knowledge and awareness on the part of parents and caregivers about the importance of immunization. Without recognizing the benefits of vaccines, many parents are hesitant about immunizing their children at an early age. A lack of awareness, low trust in vaccines, low availability of vaccines, and health worker shortages have often accounted for the low vaccination rates in Nigeria, putting the lives of millions of young children at risk.

Furthermore, many communities do not receive proper education about the process, importance, and benefits of early childhood immunization. It is important that families understand immunization and the diseases it protects against rather than fearing adverse effects, encouraging them to seek out health facilities to access available vaccines.

Our Impact

As interns participating in the International Public Health Internship, our team has impacted the Guru Community in Bauchi, Nigeria through fundraising and research efforts, along with the creation of survey questions to inform decisions related to our community workshop.

So far, we have fundraised $135 and expect to meet our goal of $750 within the next few months. We have also created various researched documents to convey the importance of early childhood immunization in the context of Nigeria. Presented with the barriers that the Guru Community faces which prevents parents from vaccinating their children, we were able to create appropriate survey questions that allowed us to understand parents' major concerns.

Moving forward, our team will continue to meet with a project coordinator in Nigeria to design and deliver educational community workshops that provide parents with more information on the importance and benefit of immunizations.

Our Approach

SURVEY

Our team is designing a community survey to identify major priorities and key metrics for immunization and compiling a report on the prevalence, stakeholders, situation, and current initiatives to fight lack of immunization in Bauchi.

OUR PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGN

To raise awareness for immunization in Bauchi, our team is designing a comprehensive public health campaign for the local community to encourage those most at risk to take the steps necessary to prevent further health complications.

OUR COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

To help improve prevention methods for lack of immunization, our team is developing a community workshop that equips and educates community members most at risk of lack of immunization.

Our Fundraising

$583

STILL NEEDED

$167

RAISED

$750

GOAL

Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced some of the highest growth rates globally over the past 10 years. While this means that people in these nations have become more optimistic about their social and economic future, the region continues to face a myriad of historical problems. In order to continue steady growth and achieve a future of equitable conditions in the region, our International Internship Program team seeks to build stronger communities from the grassroots level through fundraising for community development.

Funds raised are used to implement community-based education programs, pay staff to run the operations on-site, and invest in training for local leaders. Leadership Initiatives uses fundraised money to develop a network of support for actionable change and accountability between our team, the Leadership Initiatives staff, and the community stakeholders we work with.

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