As I continue on in my career in global health, I find it important to reflect back on key moments. One that is particularly energizing is from the Unite for Sight Global Health Conference from 2009, where I had been selected as one of the Volunteers of the Year for my research on informed consent and multimedia aids to improve services for illiterate villagers undergoing cataract surgery. I was also asked that year to serve on the conference’s plenary panel moderated by Jeffrey Sachs, a world renowned economist whose book I had read that past summer while I was in India. The experience for me was surreal at the time– I had never sat before an audience of that size (it took place in Yale’s largest auditorium with an audience of over 2000 people), and meeting Dr. Sachs face to face after reading hundreds of pages written by him was strange yet awesome all at once. My nervousness is obvious from the interruption of “ums” and “uhhs” throughout my answers.
Looking back at a younger, less experienced version of myself is anxiety provoking– I want to run up to the panel and tell myself to stop hesitating and be more confident and to the point. But I also see something I envy– a true understanding of the struggles of the villagers I had spent time with, and a deep sense of empathy. Now, nearly 6 years later, I have travelled much more, and worked with a number of marginalized populations. Part of me feels like I am getting used to seeing poverty, disease, and struggle. It still affects me, and the drive remains, but the first time is always a defining landmark in one’s life. A lady at the conference comments at the end of the video how my experience had invigorated her once more (she had been working in global health for over 30 years), and today, I feel the same when I reflect back on this special moment.
