Project Healthy Schools Global focuses on combating the rise of chronic and preventable diseases in developing countries. As developing countries become more globalized, such as the increased number of fast-food opportunities and environmental limitations to exercise, lifestyles change. This change in lifestyle with higher access to fast and fatty foods and lower access to physical fitness ultimately leads to a rise in chronic diseases. Our curriculum, which has been adapted to fit the culture and traditions of Bangladesh, is focused on five health goals with the aim to prevent future adverse health outcomes.
Our team in Ann Arbor coordinates with the Centre for Women and Child Health in Bangladesh who then coordinates this program with schools and teachers in Bangladesh, who teach the lessons to kids. Our current project is in Bangladesh. In 2017, we conducted a pilot of our program and received positive feedback regarding our program.
At the beginning of the BLI Bootcamp in May, our aim was to understand how to best expand our program’s curriculum and reach to more students in Bangladesh. We first completed an in-depth literature review in order to understand what other educational efforts have been conducted in South Asia. Most of our summer, however, was focused on planning our needs assessment trip to Bangladesh in August. Our summer travel was halted due to a dengue epidemic in Bangladesh. We adjusted our timeline and focused on what could be completed from Michigan. We prepared interview protocols for when we meet stakeholders such as health care providers, public health workers, teachers, parents, and students in Bangladesh. We also finalized our Memorandum of Understand with the Centre for Women and Child Health in Bangladesh. Most importantly, although, our team focused on project sustainability and expanding our current team. With team expansion, we were able to delegate our tasks and prepare for our next steps.
- Khadiza Begum – BA Sociology of Health & Medicine 2020
- Joeita Macfield – BS Public Health Sciences 2021
- Raisa Faatimah – BA International Studies – Political Economy & Development 2019
