On Thursday morning I put on a black polo shirt with a green Mukuru on the Move logo on the chest, got in a car with my Emory colleagues and professors and drove an hour to Mukuru kwa Njenga. When we arrived, we were greeted with smiles, hugs, and handshakes from 8 team members wearing similar shirts. When we sat in a circle for our first meeting, I realized I was joining a team. While I know it will take more than a uniform to build the relationships, rapport, and trust with my colleagues to become a full team member, the shirt represented the start of that process and the approach I appreciate about this ongoing IHP partnership.
Before coming to Emory, I helped coordinate psychosocial support programs for HIV positive adolescents in both Lesotho (Southern Africa) and New York City. While this opportunity draws on previous work I have done with HIV positive teens, what excites me the most about this project is the opportunity to help build a program from the needs articulated by those the program will serve. This combines my previous experience with my interest in learning how to better work at a community level. This is an approach that I have longed to put into practice.
I am so excited to not just work with the dynamic team of Mukuru on the Move, but to become a member of that team. As we spend time together over the next few months and stay in contact when I return to the U.S., I hope that the shirt is not the only symbol of our team spirit. I look forward to becoming part of the team, working in collaboration with other Mukuru on the Move team members while following their lead on the course this project will take.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Whitney Williams is an MPH Candidate 2014 at the Rollins School of Public Health