This summer I split my time between two very different but equally formative experiences: the S-CHIP program (Summer Community Health Improvement Project) through Indiana University School of Medicine – South Bend, and a Global Health Initiative internship in Lima, Peru.
Through S-CHIP, our team partnered with Imani Unidad, a nonprofit working to expand the services of their outreach center on the west side of South Bend. Using a survey developed by professionals at the school, we went door to door talking with community members and gathering their input. By the end of the summer, we had synthesized this data into findings we presented back to Imani Unidad, giving them concrete information to guide their expansion. Alongside this project, I also worked with DePaul Academy, a corrections facility for boys ages 14–18, where I provided STEM and math tutoring to students working toward their GED. This experience taught me how to meet people where they are, whether that meant building trust on a stranger’s doorstep or breaking down a math concept for a student who needed a different kind of encouragement.
In Peru, I worked with our team in Lima, helping run workshops for two of our core programs: Vida Sana, which supports mothers, and Creciendo Juntos, which serves children ages 5–12. One thing that stuck with me was learning that certain health centers in Lima are required to carry out community outreach initiatives of their own, a policy I came to see as a genuinely effective way to connect care with the people who need it most. While there, I also created a video featuring interviews with program participants and put together a pamphlet explaining how community members could access local social benefit programs.
Together, these two experiences showed me how public health work looks different depending on the community it serves, yet the core of it stays the same: listening first, then building something that actually meets people’s needs.
