Student volunteers lend expertise to global healthcare projects

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An educator stands behind a desk and in front of a chalkboard with diagrams about menstruation
Photo courtesy of Teams4U

Student Doctors Charu Ravikumar and Katie Herwig lent their medical knowledge and research skills to projects around menstrual health and sanitation when teamed up with Teams4U this summer.

Teams4U (link) is a small charitable organisation that has worked in international relief and development for nearly 30 years. Earlier this year, they reached out to Liverpool School of Medicine with an opportunity for students interested in global health to volunteer over the summer.

Student Doctor Charu Ravikumar’s work focused on research around menstrual health provision in Uganda, while Student Doctor Katie Herwig reviewed the monitoring and evaluation plan for a hospital-based sanitation project.

Charu says of her experience, “I got involved with Teams4U after hearing about it from the student bulletin. The project I worked on involved investigating how to measure impact following the construction of changing rooms in schools in rural Uganda on young girls, who have previously missed school due to poor facilities for menstrual hygiene management.

A lot of the work I did focused on researching similar projects and outcomes of different methods and designs.

I then evaluated the proposed changing room design and highlighted areas that I thought would benefit from modifications.

This allowed for critical thinking and an opportunity to build upon research skills taught during RS (Research & Scholarship) projects.

I was given a great deal of freedom when producing my report which at first, I found a little overwhelming. However, it was a great opportunity to think and work independently within a professional capacity and be able to make an impact with your ideas.

Working in collaboration with highly experienced and established people in the field of international public health was a great experience.

The outcome of this project is ultimately to increase school attendance of girls so that they are able to use their education as a way out of poverty to a healthier life. I am interested in pursuing my interests in Global Health and Women’s Health in the future so working with an international charity gave me valuable insight into this field and increased my understanding in menstruation poverty in different areas of the world.

 Artist's impression of changing facilitiesCharu's research helped shape the design of the new changing facilities

It has been really rewarding knowing that the report I have produced will hopefully have a positive impact on the funding Teams4U receives to expand their menstrual hygiene project across Uganda and Sub-Saharan Africa. Our attention is often drawn to larger charities and big fundraising campaigns with lots of advertising. However, it is important to support smaller charities, as the impact they can have is so significant.”

Ziz York, Program Head at Teams4U, was thrilled by the support Charu and Katie provided.

"Teams4U is a small charity, based in North Wales, with projects that tackle barriers to education and healthcare in Uganda & Sierra Leone.

The volunteer students really helped hone our research skills and improve our evidence-based needs assessments for the critical, life-saving work we are doing in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Charu’s work has helped us better frame the need for the provision and helped create an improved project design.Katie’s work has equipped us to ask more impactful questions and given us more understanding of how to conduct qualitative research.

We sincerely hope to build on these academic skills and collaborate with more students in the future.”

Discover more

  • Learn more about the projects Charu and Katie contributed to on the Teams4U website (link).
  • Passionate about Global Health? Why not join Students for Global Health Liverpool via the Guild (link).
  • Interested in Women’s Health? Learn more about the work SNOGS (Student Neonatal Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society) are doing on the Guild website (link).