Expertise and experience:
1. Advising and mentoring Amherst College students and young alumni who seek to explore and pursue careers in health.
2. Teaching (until December 2010 at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and as adjunct lecturer at UMassAmherst School of Public Health), mentoring, advising, dialogue, organizing, advocating, and experience to learn, practice, and pursue health in all its dimesnions. Has included courses on health disparities, and cultural and linguistic competence, internships, independent study, research, seminars to build leadership capacity of young people and future public health work force.
3. Synthesizing research on social determinants of health, resilience, traumatic childhood experiences, racism, chronic stress, and conditions for productive dialogue that will have a significant impact on future public health practice.
3. Translating this research into humane MCH and public health practice to improve the health of women and children, with systems that honor families, communities, and cultures.
4. Integrating cultural understanding and respect as a key strategy to end health disparities.
5. Changing the language of public health and medicine to better reflect our ideals and purpose.
6. Bringing multiple stakeholders together to untangle complex public health challenges and take collaborative action to solve them.

Service
1. Inspiring a new generation of leaders in public health and service through a wide range of local, national, and global opportunities.
2. Until January 2011, consultation to individuals, communities, organizations to build capacity in the above, by
a) Inspiring keynotes, presentations, workshops.
b) Organizing forums to build essential but previously unlikely partnerships.
c) Serving as catalyst for intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue.
 c) Writing papers and grants.
3. Organization and facilitation of interactive meetings with broad stakeholder participation to unite diverse parties and spark action to create public health equity.

For more information, contact:
raaronson69@amherst.edu

"A smile is the light in the window of your face, which tells people that your heart is at home."
- Kolawole Bankole, M.D, M.S

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A Potential Future Search Conference in South Africa!


Notes from our first conference call:

Monday, June 30, 2008
90 minute call, 20 participants from around the world, including 3 in South Africa, a participant from the Netherlands, Canada and all over the US. Participants also included 4 students from Amherst College and professionals in a wide range of fields including physicians and consultants.



Purpose of Call:
Start to explore in a broad way the possibility of a Future Search Conference in South Africa on Maternal and Child Health in 2010 or 2011. The Future Search Conference, and the planning that leads up to it, would help lay the foundation and plant the seeds for Humane Worlds for Child Health: A New Global Center of the Future Search Network (FSN). It would build on the inspiring Future Search Network (FSN) Learning Exchange that took place in Johannesburg in November 2007, graciously hosted by Dumisani Ncala, John Goss, Tamara Sutila, and Aria Merkestein, Also, today’s call will explore the potential for youth and young people to play an important role in developing and planning for this conference, as well as in other activities of the Center.

Humane Worlds would like to explore with our South African colleagues, friends, and partners the potential for a Future Search Conference there in 2010 or 2011 to bring diverse groups together to focus on Maternal and Child Health and to set a long-term direction for the Center. All of this is in a preliminary explorative phase.

Agenda:
1 Welcome and Introductions
2 Mission and Vision of the HWC and the Future Search Network
3 Brief Introduction to Future Search Methods and Principles
4 Connections with Amherst College : Summer Internship Program of the Amherst Center for Community Engagement, Dream for Democracy , Class of 1969 Project .
5 Connections with South Africa: Future Search Network , Cotlands Project, Dream for Democracy, Global Camps Africa, others.
6 Dialogue on a Future Search Conference in South Africa on MCH and the future of the Humane Worlds Center: Initial thoughts, ideas, dreams, issues, complexities.
7 Next steps: What actions and further conversations are needed to proceed? Who else to include? Further information needed? When to reconvene?
8 Close: Feel free to briefly share learning or impression from today, and how you would like to be further involved. Or feel free to take some time and get back to me. Please send your full contact information

Key Points from the Call:
  • We should be sure to include and not duplicate the vast efforts which are all ready underway in South Africa.
  • Identifying a diverse group of stakeholders and participants with primary leadership in South Africa will be one of the most important steps in the planning process.
  • It is important that everyone is in the room and everyone has their voices heard throughout the process of planning and beyond.
  • We should be careful not to go into this effort with the attitude of "helping" people. We need to be open to learning from each other.
  • Building a grassroots level organization is paramount.
  • The Learning Exchange in 2007 which took place in Johannesburg, inspired continuous work in community based projects.
  • Dream for Democracy: Started in October 2007 by 3 Amherst College students. Focus on citizen and civic engagement, open dialogues about democracy through the power of students’ debate and discussion. Works to educate, engage, and empower youth.
  • Cotlands: A children's home in 3 different locations of South Africa. The only hospice for children born with HIV/AIDS.
  • Global Camps Africa: Summer camps for children and youth. A successful program seen as a vehicle for social change, especially changing attitudes towards HIV/AIDS.
  • Important to connect with students, especially at the universities in South Africa
  • Funding and developing a planning committee need to be addressed.
Overall it a really great first meeting. Thank you to all who participated!

Next meeting will be scheduled by Dick for the coming months...
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