Every spring, more than a dozen student groups at Duke organize Global Health Week, a series of events designed to shine a light on global health issues and on the work Duke student groups are doing to address these issues. Global Health Week 2015 is just around the corner, starting on Monday, March 30 and ending Saturday, April 4.
Organizers Dub Event “G(local) Health Week”
This year, the event will center around the theme “Global is Local” to bring attention to the health disparities in the Durham, North Carolina community. Organizers have partnered with health clubs, professors, the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), and Durham service organizations for events ranging from discussions to volunteer opportunities to sports activities.
The Duke Partnership for Service—the governance organization for student service groups, social action groups, and initiatives—sponsors Global Health Week.
Global health and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies major Nandita Singh ’16 co-led the event planning for Global Health Week with Sofia Stafford ‘17, a global health and cultural anthropology major. Both students oversee global health initiatives for the Duke Partnership for Service.
Singh is excited about the week’s theme. She notes, “Global Health Week, especially with our ‘G(local) Health’ theme, is an opportunity for global health organizations, students and professors to help us assess public health issues with an interdisciplinary lens.” She’s hoping that the service opportunities and participatory experiences offered throughout the week will help students learn more about the health issues facing the local community.
Each Day Offers Events and Opportunities
The events kick off on the morning of Monday, March 30, with a global health fair in the Bryan Center, where various global health groups will showcase their projects, interests and community work.
Here are just a few other highlights:
- Monday: Volunteer at the Durham Rescue Mission, a local homeless shelter
- Tuesday: Play wheelchair basketball with Bridge II Sports, an organization that creates opportunities for physically challenged children and adults to play games and sports
- Wednesday: Talk with DGHI staff and current students about the global health major and minor
- Thursday: Volunteer with McKids and Ronald McDonald House
- Friday: Attend a food and environmental sustainability panel
- Saturday: Run in a 5K to support Camp Kesem, a summer camp for kids whose parents have been diagnosed with cancer
Duke’s Partners In Health Engage chapter is also sponsoring a global health photo/short essay contest. To enter the contest, submit a photo that illustrates global health inequity with a brief paragraph about the photo and what global health inequity means to you. Submissions will be accepted until noon on April 4. Any member of the Duke community is eligible, and a prize will be awarded to the winner.
For more details about these and other Global Health Week events, visit the Global Health Week Facebook event page.
This year, the event will center around the theme “Global is Local” to bring attention to the health disparities in the Durham, North Carolina community.
