CHAPTER UPDATES

GlobeMed at UNC's first meeting of the new school year will take place on Thursday August 29th in room 3102 in the Student Union. Interest meetings will be held Wednesday August 21st and Thurday August 22nd, also in room 3102 in the Student Union. Also be sure to look for us at Fall Fest!

GlobeMed October Newsletter

Committee Updates

GlobeMed at UNC has already kicked off the semester strong with many planned events in the upcoming months.

Community Building:

During the beginning of the semester, community building will be crucial in building relationships with members, as we have lots of new members. Community Building has mainly been focusing on the planning for Fall Retreat which is being held Sunday October, 27 from 11 AM-4 PM at Jordan Lake. They will be focusing on what the GlobeMed model is, and how politics and agriculture affect public health. Lots of fun bonding activities, small group discussions, grilling, and s'mores are planned. CB is also working on other small CB events like the super successful picnic they had last week, and a potential Habitat build.

GHU:

GHU is preparing for a documentary screening next week during the general assembly meeting. They are working hard to select a documentary that highlights goals of GlobeMed and raises awareness about global health issues. They are also exploring different opportunities and avenues to raise awareness in the pit and across campus Hopefully, in the next couple of months they will also expand ithis awarenees into local high schools.

Campaigns:

The Campaigns Committee is working on lots of exciting projects. They’re been busy planning the Red Tie Affair and already have seven committed performance groups! They also successfully organized a Sweet Frog benefit night on Franklin where 10% of the proceeds went to GlobeMed. This year we have also been succesfull in raising money by attending many of the football game clean ups. They’re looking forward to working with local businesses to plan more benefits nights in the future.

Individual Giving:

Currently, the Individual Giving Committee is working with Duke’s GlobeMed chapter on the Kenan Biddle Grant. By working together, both chapters hope to foster collaboration and partnership between the two schools. The committee is also very excited to announce a new letter writing campaign where GlobeMed members will send letters to family and friends to raise money for our new partner! The Individual Giving Committee is also staying busy by working on YFund, a grant for the Campus Y.

Member Spotlight

GlobeMed at UNC is excited to welcome many new members this year. We love that so many members are enthusiastic and passionate to learn more about GlobeMed. The communications committee was able to interview one new member, Shristi Tiwari, who is a sophomore psychology and history double major. Shristi stated, “As a new member, I came in with an expectation of gaining a lot of knowledge concerning health issues, especially HIV/AIDS. I knew that I needed to expand my knowledge on health issues concerning the world, and that has definitely happened so far. In addition, I have been able to learn about health issues concerning the local area I'm from as well. GlobeMed provides an array of knowledge that is focuses on important topics far beyond HIV/AIDS.” During meetings, members have been able to learn more about health equity through ghU presentations and small group discussion.

For Shristi, her goals are to expand her knowledge of the healthcare status of different countries, especially that of our new partner. “I would love to have an opportunity to be a GROW intern, but would also be happy raising awareness and educating people about HIV/AIDS on a local level as well.” Many other new members have similar goals and are excited to help make a difference. Shristi, is also planning to go to Summit to expand her knowledge and talk with others about health concerns that are so prevalent in today's world. “By sharing thoughts and ideas, we can help advance towards our goal of global health equity.”

Repartnering

Our last partnership was a long, unforgettable, and rewarding experience. For the past five years with the help of Health Alert Uganda (HAU), we were able to expand this partnership to numerous programs, including the vocational scholarship program, mama kits, seed-lending initiative, and the youth sunday program-creating a positive, tangible impact in the in the Gulu community. Unfortunately, based on reasons related to communication and organizational capacity, we are currently in the process of repartnering with another organization. In the next monthly newsletter we will be pleased to announce our new partner.

In the News

Who ever thought that the development for HIV may be found in cats? According to an issue of the Journal of Virology the research of feline immunodeficiency virus, the virus that affects cats, may be lead to the finding of HIV vaccine for humans. "One major reason why there has been no successful HIV vaccine to date is that we do not know which parts of HIV to combine to produce the most effective vaccine," study corresponding author Janet Yamamoto, a professor of retroviral immunology at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. Further research has shown that certain peptides can work with the production of human T-cells.

Jackie Kimigisha

Through the School of Public Health, many members got to enjoy the presentation, “Living Positively with HIV” by Jackie Kimigisha this month. This was both a reflective and inspiring story.

Upon looking at Jackie Kemigisha, you may expect to have met a woman just like any other. However, there’s more to her than what meets the eye. As a courageous woman far from her home in Uganda, Kemigisha battles every day. This endless battle is not just any battle, it’s a battle with HIV After being raped during her teenage years, Kemigisha got infected by HIV. After being rejected from her home and loved ones, she felt alone and without school. She later turned her life around and found a new reason for living. She recently started the program, Girls Awake, an organization that uses music, dance, drama and sports to make HIV education fun. Her goal is to educate woman about smarter ways of living with HIV. Her bravery and strength had made her overcome many challenges and providing her with the motivation to strive for greatness. She is currently enrolled in an university and getting a degree. This amazing woman is definitely someone to look up!

The Origin of AIDS

The School of Public Health had yet another informative lecture two weeks ago, called “The Origin of AIDS” which was presented by Jacques Pepin. GlobeMed members were able to learn about the introduction and spread of HIV from the 1920s all the way up until today. Pepin gave a great, concise presentation of the spread of AIDS from the pan troglodytes troglodytes class of chimpanzee to humans in the DRC, a region in Africa. Through a holistic perspective he was able to piece together how the perfect storm of societal pressure of urbanization under colonization, prostitution, reused needles in clinics, and an influx of migrants lead to the rise and spread of HIV.

One member, Shristi Tiwari, stated “The Origin of Aids presentation was such a knowledgeable presentation that gave me and many others an insight as to where and how AIDS came to be such a problem in the modern day world. It broke many stereotypes that I feel the general public has about AIDS and how it got passed from one human being to another. It was important for me to understand the origin of AIDS because we work so closely with this particular health problem in GlobeMed.”