{"id":54,"date":"2015-11-20T20:55:02","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T20:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/?page_id=54"},"modified":"2015-11-20T20:55:02","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T20:55:02","slug":"its-a-revolution","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/its-a-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s a Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Team<\/a>

The Fellows placed in East Africa<\/p><\/div>\n

Upon the examination of my experience including the events leading up to going to the field, my time in Africa, and processing the experience coming back, I\u2019ve learned a few things about myself. Being a Global Social Benefit Fellow has reaffirmed my dreams, and even more importantly, it has shown me that reaching for these dreams maybe isn\u2019t as crazy as it once seemed. I was raised to be fearless and relentless in the pursuit of my goals, but I could not help but feel like this opportunity was a little bit wild\u2014even for me. However, getting to the field showed me that fearlessness might be my greatest tool in finding my niche and settling into it. When I look at BanaPads and at Solar Sister, I began to see myself in their reflection. I observed some qualities that they had that I never noticed in myself before, but were there.<\/p>\n

\"BP<\/a>

East Africa Teams Tour BanaPads with Richard and his Team<\/p><\/div>\n

From my point of view, the most potent, and possibly the most important, quality that Banapads has is the grind. They don\u2019t just work hard. They grind.<\/em> They have a team made up of play makers. Every time they go to work whether that\u2019s Champions or administration, everybody looks like Michael Jordan in Game 6. When there is no time and no resources, they don\u2019t see desolation, but an opportunity that cannot be passed over. I have seen first hand what this kind of mindset can do. It can keep a girl in school. It can make a woman not only a keeper of her home, but a financial provider in it. The grind is when you ask Richard if he slept last night and he tells you that he\u2019ll sleep when he\u2019s dead. Solar Sister showed me a level of intra-organizational engagement that I think most companies and organizations are afraid of. Organizations too often fear meeting the needs of their employees, or even worse, engaging with them\u2014the horror! Solar Sister encourages a working environment where everyone can voice their concerns and be actively engaged in addressing these concerns. I saw this when I asked a Solar Sister Entrepreneur how she found out about the organization, and she said Fatma came to tell her community about this opportunity. Yes, Fatma. The country manager. The one who makes all the cogs of the most successful arm of Solar Sister mesh and rotate in sync. Yes, this is the woman who travels hours and hours outside her city of residence to tap into the source of Solar Sister\u2019s success, its entrepreneurs. I admire these qualities in BanaPads and Solar Sister more than I can say. I have seen the grind in myself during the fellowship and at other times, but now I have a name for this. Additionally, no matter where I am in an organization, I want to be apart of something that supports constant engagement between employees at all levels. The grind and organizational engagement are what keep people moving toward the mission. It\u2019s what mobilizes people toward a common goal\u2014toward change.<\/p>\n

\"giant<\/a>

Apart of collaborating is learning about what matters to others and loving the culture of others.<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve thought long about what separates a social enterprise from other businesses, organizations, and corporations. Before I left for Africa, I thought impact was the distinguishing factor; businesses make money, and social enterprises make impact. Upon my return to the States after my time in Africa, I thought that it was more than the impact, it was that social enterprises were movements. Now, I see that they\u2019re something greater than that. They are revolution. They don\u2019t just call for change, they make it. They work to balance out systems that left groups out in their design. They give a place for talented people to flourish. They will leave no student potential uncultivated or patient\u2019s needs ignored or unmet. They aren\u2019t afraid to go against the grain, and they do not step back in times of uncertainty. I want to use my ability to grind and to collaborate successfully with others to work toward a common goal\u2014to be apart of a revolution.<\/p>\n

\"Family<\/a>

My grandmother, aunt, me, and my mom at my high school graduation. My role models. Spoiler alert: why I love women’s health.<\/p><\/div>\n

So, what\u2019s this \u201cdream\u201d I keep yapping about before? It\u2019s my dream to be 80 and still have the passion, spirit, fearlessness, and stamina of my 21 year old self. A life dedicated to addressing health disparities on a local and global scale with fulfill me. The health of women is neglected, ignored, or simply not important in many places. I have seen this glaring disparity in the US, in Africa, and in Central America, specifically El Salvador. I plan to spend the next two years in a Master\u2019s of Public Health Program centering on Epidemiology, Global Health, and\/or Women\u2019s Health. I need to deepen my understanding of the issue before I can run at it and beat it into nonexistence. These programs will give me many of the skills necessary to go into the field and find an effective role in preventing and addressing health issues pertaining to women in low-resource settings. After my education, I plan to work in a global setting. After a few years, I will return to America where I will pursue a doctorate after gaining a better understanding of exactly where my niche in public health is and then continue working here. This fellowship has shown me that I have the capacity to live globally and that I can find a role in Women\u2019s Health where I can impact those who suffer from the greatest disparities.<\/p>\n

\"Paris\"<\/a>

This kid knows how to grind. None of my experience would have been the same without Paris. So much respect. So much love.<\/p><\/div>\n

I know that I can achieve these goals because I\u2019ve seen the best example of how to grind, and I see that quality reflected in myself. Additionally, my desires lead me to pursue work in organizations that work to continually better the people that work there and the service(s) that they provide. As I continue my journey, I will carry these qualities with me to fuel my drive. After this experience I know just how fearless I am, how to grind, and to always engage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upon the examination of my experience including the events leading up to going to the field, my time in Africa, and processing the experience coming back, I\u2019ve learned a few things about myself. Being a Global Social Benefit Fellow has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/shelby\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}