This December I will be going to Uganda to work in an HIV/AIDS clinic as a part of my Global Health minor at UC San Diego. The program is an intensive two weeks during which I will shadow doctors, nurses, and local health care workers as they care for patients in the clinic, along with sitting in on counseling session for the patients. This clinic focuses on lowering the rate of HIV transmission from mother to child.

This is different than your standard voluntourism. I'm not going to Africa to build a schoolhouse with no previous construction experience and take pictures with African children to feel better about myself. With this program, I will be helping treat patients that would otherwise not recieve care due to the overwhelming patient to doctor ratio. This will help provide in-field experience to supplement the lab work I have been doing at the UCSD and Department of Veteran's Affairs Center for AIDS Research, and open my eyes to what public health is like in a developing country in preparation for eventually joining the Peace Corps.

I plan to dedicate my life to working in the global health field in developing countries and this trip will be an excellent first step to some real life experience. I work two jobs, but unfortunately neither actually pay me anything; my only source of income is financial aid, which I typically use to buy school supplies and eat. The fees for this program come out to about $2000, which covers everything but airfare, which is another $2000 and payments are due every few months before the trip. So I need a bit of help funding this incredible trip. By donating, you will be helping treat people with a terrible illness in a very resource-limited setting and helping kick-start my journey to eliminate diseases in the developing world. I will be forever grateful if you would help me along the way!

For more information on the program itself please visit:
https://www.cfhi.org/hiv-maternalchild-health-2-week-intensive