IVLP Alumni Spotlight: NGOs leading the way in response to COVID-19 in Cote d’Ivoire

Posted under: IVLP By /
co-author:

Mr. Aboubakar Sylla works in the field during the COVID-19 pandemic

This post was submitted by Mark Rebstock, Vice President of External Relations in Meridian’s Professional Exchanges Division. As cases of COVID-19 began to emerge in Cote d’Ivoire in March 2020, non-governmental organizations began to mobilize to meet community needs. For NGO AGIS, headed by IVLP Alumnus, Dr. Aboubakar Sylla, this meant setting up informational sessions about the importance of hand-washing and other precautions, collecting and distributing PPE and other supplies, and a special operation to disinfect the bus stations in Cocody, Cote d’Ivoire. Dr. Sylla registered AGIS in 2012 to prevent pneumonia in children and to reduce the mortality...

Continue  

The Values of Courage and Humility by Timothy Kane

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Chinese Embassy Tour

On December 8-9, I had the honor to engage 26 international visitors (IV) from Afghanistan in a leadership workshop during an exchange program coordinated by Meridian International Center entitled U.S. – China Training Programs for Afghan Cooperation and Reconstruction. This unique group was comprised of diverse key stakeholders from two distinct sectors of Afghan society: agriculture and public health. More specifically, the IVs representing agriculture were livestock specialists fighting animal diseases and the public health participants were specialists, doctors, and midwives safeguarding the health of women and newborns. Needless to say, this group embodied a diversity of backgrounds and...

Continue  

Golden Weeks of Healthcare, Exchange and Celebration

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

The delegates listen as the WISER tour guide describes how they create different scenarios to allow medical students to prepare for disasters or emergencies that could arise while with a patient.

This past October, 24 Chinese medical professionals participated in a U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Healthcare Training Program. They attended a week of training  at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Unlike most Chinese who returned to their hometowns or traveled around China to celebrate the 1949 founding of the People’s Republic of China, these 24 Chinese visitors spent  this “Golden Week” in the classroom at UPMC for training sessions on hospital administrative finance, information technology, handling the media and U.S. insurance. In addition, they had the opportunity to tour several top facilities such as the Children’s Hospital of...

Continue