Global Health Corps (GHC) places recent university graduates to year-long assignments with public health organizations. Last night members of the Google.org team were delighted to celebrate the inaugural class of Global Health Corps Fellows as they assembled at the Stanford University School of Medicine before embarking on their year-long placements in Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, New Jersey, and Boston. The Fellows met for the first time during a two-week course to prepare them for their upcoming assignments.
The Global Health Corps concept was a product of some exciting brainstorming during the aids2031 conference hosted by Google.org in March 2008. GHC's 6-person leadership team includes Barbara Bush as President, and two Googlers, Charlie Hale and Andrew Bentley. "This has been an amazing collaborative effort. We've had an incredible amount of support from a number of partners, and are confident this first class of fellows will have a tremendous impact," says Charlie Hale.
The organization strives to improve the quality of health services for the poor by matching talented pairs of recent university graduates from Africa and America with health-focused non-profit organizations.
Angie Bengtson from Minnesota and Mweya Clement from Tanzania are a duo that will begin their one year assignment with SACIDs (Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance) in August. As Research Analysts, they will develop and improve early warning systems of infectious disease. Angie and Clement are among 22 promising young fellows chosen from a pool of 1,200 applicants. The fellows will promote cultural awareness while improving healthcare systems in need.
We salute the new class of fellows and wish them luck in their exciting new adventure!