After months of recruitment, preparation, and anticipation, we finally welcomed HHI’s new International Programs Directors, Megan Schultz and Nicole Pfeiffer, to the Dominican Republic last week.  Over the course of the year ahead, Meg and Nicole will be taking to new heights what Angi and I began here in the DR.  Our first few days of training have been filled with ideas, questions, community introductions, and meetings, and they will soon be taking the reins as Angi and I transition out.  Loyal blog audience, meet the newest additions to HHI:

Nicole comes to HHI from Chile, where she spent the last two years working for the English Opens Doors Program, a joint initiative of the Chilean Ministry of Education and United Nations Development Programme.  She taught English in the desert mining town of Copiapo, and was later hired to manage international promotion for the EOD program in Santiago.  Originally from New Jersey, she graduated from The College of New Jersey in 2008 with a Bachelors Degree in International Studies and English, and also completed study abroad programs in Argentina and Thailand.  She brings experience working on behalf of marginalized communities around the world, including elderly and disabled residents of inner-city Trenton, low-income high school students in Union NJ, women and children affected by AIDS in Thailand, refugee children from Myanmar, and abandoned and runaway teenage girls in Chile.  She also interned for the International Organization for Adolescents, where she assisted in researching strategies to prevent child trafficking, and was awarded the International Studies Research Award from TCNJ for outstanding independent research.  Nicole is passionate about improving global health and promoting cross-cultural exchange.

Meg comes to the Dominican Republic after completing her third year at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, and will be dedicating the next year to HHI before returning to earn her MD.  While an undergraduate, she studied abroad in the Dominican Republic with a focus on community and public health.  After graduating from college with majors in English Literature and Spanish, she joined Teach for America and worked as a high school Spanish teacher in Baltimore.  She obtained a Masters in Education from Johns Hopkins University in 2005 before moving to Boston to complete the post-baccalaureate pre-medicine program at Harvard University.  She also worked at Partners In Health, assisting with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis research in Peru and later developing a curriculum for community health workers in Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi and Haiti.  As a medical student, Meg was named a Future Leader in Preventive Medicine by the American College of Preventive Medicine and a Global Health Scholar by the American Medical Student Association.  She served as President of the MEDiC Council, a network of student-run free clinics in Madison, and Student Leader of the UW Chapter of Physicians for Human Rights.  Meg is passionate about the roles of education and healthcare as agents of social change and justice.

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With one week until Angi’s departure and the beginning of her first year of medical school, and two weeks until I move into my new role as HHI’s Executive Director, we are on the brink of a major transition.  It’s encouraging and motivating to know that our international presence will be in strong hands with Meg and Nicole.  The blog will not be the Angi-and-Laura Show anymore, but will be expanding to include articles by the new IPDs, trip members, Board members, and other guest bloggers — anyone who is involved with HHI.  Many welcomes and much growth ahead!

Adios for now,

Laura

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