Impact Global Health Alliance Global is proud to have an intern program that allows high school students to learn about our organization and support our work. This summer two Cary Academy students were able to work alongside our college interns and with Executive Director Andrew Herrera. Though they were only here for a short time, they made the most of it. We wanted to share about these interns, their roles, and the great work they completed. Thank you for your help Casey and Kaela!
About Cary Academy Interns
Casey Abernethy
“My name is Casey Abernethy, and I am a rising senior at Cary Academy High School. In order to complete my junior year, I needed to intern with a company; however, I was really interested in interning with a non-profit or a company that encourages women empowerment. With Impact Global Health Alliance Global, I got both. Although I am only interning for a short period of time, I can definitely say I’ve learned a lot and I’m happy to be here.”
Casey has always been very interested in issues women face and how she as an individual can help support equality for women. As she got older Casey noticed that this equality needs to be a focus not only in the United States, but everywhere around the world. She chose to work with Impact Global Health Alliance Global because she wanted to learn about how to empower women from other parts of the world. Casey also said that because she has not been very informed about the health side of women’s issues in the past, she is excited to learn more about how that relates. This area is of particular interest to Casey since her mother used to work in primary care and now works in writing health legislation.
Kaela Curtis
“I am a junior at Cary Academy. I am passionate about social justice issues, especially for underrepresented women and people of color and decided to pursue an internship with Impact Global Health Alliance Global to gain the experience of working with social issues from a global health perspective. I plan to attend college and pursue a career in International Diplomacy and Chinese, with a possible minor in Cultural Studies. I hope to help look at and solve international issues using a diplomatic lens.”
Kaela believes that true freedom and equality cannot be achieved until unjust systemic problems that contribute to the inequality are addressed. While she is very passionate about domestic issues, Kaela decided to pursue an internship with Impact Global Health Alliance Global to gain the experience of working with social issues from a global and health perspective. This specific focus is driven by the fact that she has not had much experience regarding social justice outside of the US or from a public health point of view.
Their Role
During their time at Impact Global Health Alliance Global, Casey and Kaela have worked to become more informed about not only our organization but also public health in general. They have assisted the college interns in various tasks including the inventory of auction items, research, and more. Casey spent a majority of her time translating the Impact Global Health Alliance Global website to Spanish so that its content could reach more people. Kaela spent the majority of her time researching and compiling notes on the Focused Strategic Assessment on Guatemala which detailed the work and some of the qualitative and quantitative results of Impact Global Health Alliance Global’s work in Guatemala from 2011-2015. This Focused Strategic Assessment focused on the effectiveness of maternity/birthing centers called Casas Maternas and the work and integration of midwives called Comadronas.
Looking Forward
Learning played a large role in the time Casey and Kaela spent with Impact Global Health Alliance Global. When asked what they learned during their internship, Casey replied that she was able to learn not only about how nonprofits work, but also discovered what she might want to major in when she begins college. She added that as a rising senior it is crucial that she starts thinking about her interests and potential majors that would match those interests.
“Impact Global Health Alliance Global helped me realize I might want to major in women studies and business management.”
-Casey Abernethy
In response to the question of what she learned during her time with Impact Global Health Alliance Global, Kaela discussed the knowledge she gained regarding the challenges of healthcare in rural and impoverished communities. She mentioned that in the past she had not considered in great detail how geography and culture could clash and dissuade people from seeking care. She continued by saying that the state of health education in affected areas is quite lacking which is also not always taken into account when people try to improve healthcare in these communities.
“Impact Global Health Alliance Global really forced me to look at problems much more multidimensionally and reminded me that while wealth (or lack thereof) does play a role in world issues, so does cultural differences and geography.”
-Kaela Curtis
Kaela concluded that her final takeaway after completing her internship with Impact Global Health Alliance Global is remembering to consider problems from multiple angles. Also keeping in mind that simply dropping into a community and then packing up when your time is done without considering the needs of the community and the sustainability of projects is pretty ineffective and does not contribute to long-lasting improvements or change.
To learn more about what we do at Impact Global Health Alliance Global, you can check out our website. If you are interested in becoming an intern at Impact Global Health Alliance Global, check out upcoming opportunities on our careers page!
