From Tufts to Rwanda: An Inspiring Journey of Move Up Global Fellows
Move Up Global Fellows: Grace, Tim, and Cora, posing with their local mentors Dr. Nina, Nicole, and Olive in Rwanda
Meet Grace, Tim, and Cora—members of the June 2024 cohort of Move Up Global (MUG) research fellows. Grace, a Tufts graduate in Biopsychology and Spanish, recently earned her Master’s in Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Tufts University School of Medicine. Tim studied Biopsychology at Tufts and will begin his MPH in Health Services Management and Policy at Tufts University School of Medicine in the fall. Cora, who majored in Biopsychology and Community Health at Tufts, is heading to Harvard this fall to pursue her MS in Global Health and Population. They were all varsity athletes during their time at Tufts—Grace and Cora in volleyball and Tim in swimming, as well as members of Tufts for Health Equity, a student organization dedicated to promoting health equity and developing sustainable partnerships with two NGOs that work to improve health and education in rural communities in Nepal (PHASE Nepal) and Rwanda (MUG). Grace, Tim, and Cora share interests in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and malnutrition. Apart from their work in Rwanda, they have been spending their time hiking, playing card games, listening to music, and reading.
Photo 1. From left to right, Grace, Titien, Tim, Nina, and Cora at the summit of Mount Bisoke. Photo 2. Cora, Grace, and Tim enjoying their day off at Lake Kivu.
Since beginning their fellowship in June, the fellows have immersed themselves in Rwandan culture and the communities surrounding Volcanoes National Park in which they are living and working. Grace, Tim, and Cora have spent weekends exploring the Northern Province, Musanze District, such as Musanze City, Lake Kivu, The Gorilla Naming Place, and Volcanoes National Park (the oldest national park in Africa, which is dedicated to the conservation of gorillas and Rwanda’s natural forests). A memorable experience for them was hiking Mount Bisoke, one of the five volcanoes within the park. While the five-hour trek and 1,300-meter elevation climb were grueling, it provided them with a deep appreciation for the land they were working in, as well as team bonding with Dr. Nina and Titien, two members of IREME Education for Social Impact, MUG’s implementation partner.
While these aspects of their fellowship were characterized by fun, immersion, and appreciation, there were many other instances they deemed memorable during their time in Rwanda, including their walks back to the IREME office from Rwinzovu Primary School. Following their health education sessions, the fellows were accompanied by dozens of students, ages ranging from 4-16, on their 30 minute hike back to the office.
Move Up Global Fellows visiting the Rwandan cultural heritage sites.
These walks back were filled with the sounds of joyous shouts, an occasional footrace, and an abundance of hand-holding. Within a couple days, the students were calling out Grace, Tim, and Cora’s Kinyarwanda names: Mahoro (Peace), Mugisha (Blessing), and Mutesi (Royalty), respectively. Likewise, the fellows began to pick up on phrases and conversational responses in Kinyarwanda.
Grace, Tim, and Cora spent their first few days in Rwanda with introductory visits to health centers and Nyabirehe and Rwinzovu schools to gain understanding of the cultural nuances and most pressing health challenges faced by the community. Their time centered around building relationships and trust with the community. As the fellowship progressed, the fellows dove into their respective public health projects. Tim and Cora teamed up to focus on health education in schools, teaching proper WASH practices such as handwashing with soap to students at Nyabirehe and Rwinzovu primary schools. In their time between classes, they created health education pamphlets on malnutrition, oral health, water treatment, soil-transmitted helminth infection, menstrual health, skin infections, and conjunctivitis—key health issues affecting school-aged children.
MUG Fellows working with teachers and community health workers to teach hand hygiene at Nyabirehe Primary School.
Simultaneously, Grace collaborated with the IREME team and community health workers (CHWs) to develop a household survey aiming to identify the root cause of malnutrition. The survey includes questions about family size, income, hygiene practices, and dietary habits– factors hypothesized to influence childhood malnutrition. They selected a subgroup of 29 children for survey implementation during home visits. During each home visit, the team recorded the GPS coordinates of the household for future GIS mapping and spatial analyses to identify hotspots of malnutrition. Tim and Cora’s project intersects with Grace’s during the implementation of the household survey. Based on survey responses, Tim and Cora, alongside the IREME team and CHWs, provided tailored health education to address each family’s specific needs. Cora has focused on explaining water treatment via cloth filtration and boiling, and has stressed the importance of handwashing. Tim has educated families on basic nutrition, emphasizing the inclusion of at least four colored food groups (white, green, brown, and orange/red) on every plate. After each home visit, the team provides a large soap bar made by community members to the family as part of IREME’s Isuku (meaning cleanliness in Kinyarwanda) project.
As the fellows’ journey continued, their efforts did not just address immediate health issues but also established sustainable interventions that left a lasting impact on the community after their departure. Grace and the IREME team have been training the CHWs in survey implementation and GIS mapping to ensure the project’s continuity. The team aims for CHWs to help the household survey reach a final sample size of approximately 700 families in the coming months. Tim and Cora have focused on creating comprehensive health education pamphlets and PowerPoint for class lessons that will continue to serve as educational resources for future MUG fellows and teachers. After returning to the U.S., the fellows will continue their involvement with MUG by sharing their stories and experiences to raise awareness about MUG and IREME’s mission and impact. They plan to engage in mentorship to future fellows via participation in the MUG Youth Board. Looking forward, they hope to represent MUG and present the results from their household survey at a global health conference in the U.S. or East Africa.
From left to right: Damscene, Nina, Tim, Cora, Grace, Nili, and Olive conducting a household survey.
This process for the fellows highlighted above, which started by first engaging with the community, learning from them, listening to their needs to create educational materials, and implementing household surveys and conversations during home visits, was a process filled with adaptability and acknowledgment. When asked, the fellows characterized this learning and working process as a way to “learn how to relearn and apply knowledge and skills that complement and support the existing community.” They have learned more about themselves and honed their critical thinking skills with a focus on community-based and sustainable solutions. Each home visit is a unique conversation and situation, while each class may respond differently to the health education curriculum, and each child may pose different health needs and priorities. Accordingly, the community has also shown incredible resilience and receptiveness. During home visits or conversations with people in the community, hearing about their struggles or unmet daily needs are often accompanied by boisterous laughter. Some take notes during the at-home health education sessions and ask deeper questions to gain more knowledge, which has been very motivating and reassuring to the fellows in knowing that their work is being accepted and absorbed.
From left to right: Dr Nina, Damascene, and Grace during home visit.
The time spent in Rwanda has been full of experiences that have encouraged the fellows to think critically about upstream intervention tactics to major challenges such as clean water and malnutrition that promote behavior change. One such experience came following one of the fellows’ first education sessions on handwashing at the primary school. They were on the way back from school one day when children from the village were heard yelling, “the foreigners that teach us handwashing!” in Kinyarwanda. It can be hard to witness the lasting impact that education has on a community, but hearing that the fellows’ status had been upgraded from “foreigner” to “foreigners that teach handwashing” was a small sign that their identity in the village is not just shaped by their nationality, but by their ability to connect with children on something as simple and important as washing your hands with soap. It was an experience that illustrated the power of education in breaking down cultural barriers, improving health outcomes, and leading to lasting, healthier behavior change.
Grace, Tim, and Cora’s advice to future fellows is to come into the fellowship free of expectations. Years of education and prior international work experience is a great first step to understanding the issues being faced in Musanze, but every research and work experience has a learning curve. Collaborating with colleagues, utilizing local expertise, and ethically engaging with community members to hear their testimonies can equip fellows with a plethora of new knowledge that not only encourages professional growth but also brings humanity to the issue in a way that fosters personal growth.
Joining the Move Up Global Fellowship means becoming part of a community dedicated to creating sustainable change. Our collective efforts are the seeds of a brighter, more equitable world. Through this fellowship, we are building a network of changemakers committed to addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. Together, we can make a difference that transcends borders.”
—Olive Nyiraneza, Executive Director at Ireme, MUG’s implementation partner in Rwanda.
The Move Up Global fellowship is an incredible opportunity to work alongside a team committed to life-changing and groundbreaking work in global health. Grace, Tim, and Cora are grateful to play a small part in the work of Move Up Global and IREME Education for Social Impact and look forward to seeing the evolution of the fellowship in the years to come.
Learn more about the Move Up Global Fellowship Program.