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.

Kiet Le

Bishop Moore Catholic High School

Class of 2024

Kiet Le is currently a junior at Bishop Moore High School. Kiet is a dedicated individual who strives in his advanced placement and honor courses. Working to continue to excel in his studies, he has spent time participating in extracurriculars and volunteering in his free time.

Currently, Kiet has been involved in numerous clubs for over two years now. He has currently been selected to be an intern for the position of Vice President at his school’s multicultural club. Noticing that his teachers were mistreated by students due to racism, Kiet stepped up to notify about the issue that kept occuring. Feeling the urge to advocate for asian hate, he is in the process of starting the asian student associate club to allow individuals who are interested in asian culture to come together without the judgement from others. Being in the multicultural club and starting his own club will allow him to help those who are facing racism to feel that they are not alone and that they have support from a diverse community. Additionally, Kiet is part of the Leadership Team at his school and is on the path to becoming a student ambassador. During his free time, he enjoys listening to music and watching shows

Kiet is excited to be participating in the International Public Health Program this year. Having the opportunity to attend the Public Health Internship this summer, the work inspired him to continue working with Leadership Initiatives to assist out the people in Bauchi, Nigeria. In the future, Kiet plans on taking the skills he learned to implement them in the dentistry field to help out low-income families who do not have enough money to pay for the treatment and medications.

Kelli Le

Kelli Le first heard about Leadership Initiatives (LI) through her school, Bishop Moore Catholic located in Orlando, Florida. She participated in the Advanced Medical & Public Health Internship in July of 2022, where she was able to interact with medical pioneers, diagnose a patient through telemedicine, and create a public health campaign with her fellow peers. During her internship, she was very excited to learn about the International Internship Program (IIP) offered by LI, as well.

As a student in Honors and Advanced Placement courses at Bishop Moore, Kelli is involved in multiple extracurriculars. She dedicates her time to several clubs in her junior year and plans to continue doing so during her senior year. She actively participates in volunteer work with the Junior Civitan Club. She is interested in different cultures and educates herself about various heritages as a member of the Las Avispas (Spanish) Club and East Asian Cultures Club. She is even the intern for the Secretary position of her school’s Multicultural Club. Kelli is also the Secretary of Hippocratic Society, a club that gives Bishop Moore students early experience in medicine through presentations with healthcare professionals, lab activities, hospital tours, and service projects. She especially takes pride in her role on Bishop Moore’s Leadership Team and partakes in multiple volunteer activities for her school and local community. She is also in the National Honor Society and other honor societies for English, Social Studies, Math, Science, and Spanish. In her free time, Kelli loves to spend time with her family or listen to music.

After graduating from Bishop Moore, Kelli would like to continue her studies in Florida. She aspires to focus on medicine during college and wishes to pursue a career as a pediatrician in the future. She believes that the years as a child should be spent healthy and to the fullest. She would like to be able to impact the lives of children through medicine. Kelli is aware of the dedication that it takes to work in the medical field, but she is prepared to take on any challenges ahead.

Bishop Moore Catholic High School

Class of 2024

Julissa Paul is a senior at Cypress Creek High School. She is a motivated student who is enrolled in her school’s International Baccalaureate program.

Julissa Paul enjoys being involved at her school and in her community. She is the co-president of her school’s Christian Organization Relating to Everyone (CORE), as well as a member of ECO Club, National Honor Society, and Orchestra Leadership program. She also has taken on the CareerSource Summer Youth Program and the Orange County Public Schools Social Media Internship, working with a nonprofit organization to develop an online marketing plan. In her free time, loves to listen to music and cook.

Julissa Paul is delighted to be participating in the Public Health Internship. She finds herself engaged in science and hopes to work in the field of dentistry. Julissa is excited to work with medical teams internationally and use this knowledge in her future studies.

Julissa Paul

Cypress Creek High School

Class of 2023

Our Public Health Issue

Tropical Disease

Our Public Health Issue

The epidemic is raging. People are now concentrating on studying the coronavirus, but when summer comes, people tend to ignore the extremely dangerous Neglected tropical diseases(NTDs). NTDs are quite prevalent in Africa and cause a high mortality rate. Furthermore, there are various transmission routes. The main way is through animals or parasites. Worse still, other symptoms may also occur after infection. People having those diseases are gradually being paid attention to, and many drugs have been put into treatment, but there are still poor people in African countries that have not been able to complete the administration of drugs and vaccinations, which results in a considerable number of deaths. It is crucial for people to study on NTDs and find ways to help countries in Africa.

Fast Facts

NTDs indicate 20 syndromes, such as Blinding Trachoma, Lymphatic Filariasis, and Chagas’ disease. Major symptoms are fever, aches, rash and, lymphs nodes.

The major means for prevention is to improve sanitary management regularly. For instance, children tending to rub their eyes often are more likely to infect trachoma, which may lead to blindness. In summary, sanitary education is important for a community.

Health In Nigeria

NTDs are infected by more than one billion people. Specifically, Nigeria accounts for 25%, which means 2 of 3 people are affected by NTDs. The biggest issue of NTDs in Nigeria is that many people are not aware of the danger of these syndromes and keep diseases neglected for a long time. In this way, NTDs will be spread all over the community. In order to prevent this situation, it is necessary to increase the knowledge of the symptoms and access to the medical institutions as individual-level. As for the community, establishing a medical system, inspection, and policies are required to make local people accessible to the medical care system. Moreover, the government needs to regularly clean and disinfect the environment to eradicate viruses.

Our Impact

We raised 700 US dollars from our fundraising campaign for coping with the NTDs in the Gwallagan community.

In addition, after doing lots of research, we wrote several documents for better understanding the information about NTDs comprehensively. Furthermore, we organized information and made a one-pager for introducing people to what NTDs are.

Moreover, we created a large number of survey questions on NTDs for the inhabitants in the community. We are now analyzing the data and preparing for a community workshop, eager for making changes ourselves.

Our Approach

SURVEY

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

OUR PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGN

To raise awareness for neglected tropical diseases 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 neglected tropical diseases, our team is developing a community workshop that equips and educates community members most at risk of neglected tropical disease.

Our Fundraising

$0

STILL NEEDED

$806

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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