Check out this cool GlobeMed Video! (created by our chapter advisor at NatO, Sarah Endres)
GlobeMed from the Perspective of a Staff Member…
Hi everyone! My name is Lubabah Chowdhury and I am a newcomer to GlobeMed. I am a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, and I plan on double majoring in English and Near Eastern Studies. My parents are from Bangladesh, but I was born in upstate New York, and I spent my sophomore through senior year of high school in Paris, France due to my parents being relocated through their jobs. I’m not completely sure what that makes me, but someday, I’m sure I’ll figure it out!
As I said before, this is my first year in GlobeMed. I have always wanted to make a difference in the world, but was rather disillusioned by the clubs my high school offered. The clubs would sell t-shirts that proclaimed “Stop the genocide in Darfur!” or “Recycle!” and host bake sales, but that never seemed like enough to me. Admittedly, raising money is better than sitting back and watching people kill other people or waste hundreds upon thousands of tons of plastic per year…but isn’t it slightly problematic if your club members can’t point out Sudan on a map, or tell you which types of bottles are recyclable and which ones aren’t? Isn’t it hypocritical that members of your clubs come to the meetings, but don’t truly contribute in any meaningful way?
I knew that being part of GlobeMed was going to be different from my high school experience. Yes, we try to raise funds. But we know exactly where that money is going. Our staff members are committed whatever they have chosen to work on, be it advertising, campaigning, or educating other members of the chapter. But most importantly, GlobeMed is not just about sending a big fat check to the partner organization of their choice. It’s about learning and increasing awareness about global health inequity around the world, because we understand: the more you know, the better you can help.
I’ve been having an awesome time at meetings, and I’m super excited to be part of such a wonderful group! Thanks for reading, and lots of GlobeMed love!
A little bit about our organization…
There is great disparity in the access of quality healthcare around the world. One of GlobeMed’s core values is that the access to healthcare is a human right and a matter of social justice. As such, GlobeMed seeks to empower students and communities in the developing world to work in solidarity to make a tangible, sustainable impact and strengthen the movement for global health equity.
Although the organization is young and growing, GlobeMed has been recently been acknowledged as one of ten “Best Health Practices” by the U.S. Summit and Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy.
At the chapter-level, GlobeMed at Cornell will…
(1) work closely with our partner organization to design and develop health/education-related projects best suited for their developing community, (Cornell’s partner organization, CEPAIPA, is located in Guayaquil, Ecuador)
(2) implement a campaign of fundraisers on campus to help support our project and partner,
(3) educate Cornell’s campus with a unique global health curriculum to help our community develop a critical understanding of pressing issues in the field of public/global health, and
(4) provide members of our chapter to visit our partner organization’s community for a GROW (grassroots on-site work) internship to evaluate our progress, develop and strengthen our partnership, and learn from grassroots leaders.
Through their involvement today, students commit to a life of leadership in global health and social justice. To learn more, you can visit globemed.org, imagine2030.org (a GlobeMed campaign), and GlobeMed’s YouTube channel.
