Clinical Associate Professor Heather Eastman Mueller's class, “Strategies for Effective Peer Education and Advocacy,” worked with one of her clients from Kenya as part of her participation in the Client-Based International Projects Program. We are holding virtual meetings. Photo by Chris Meyer, Indiana University
Students in the Peer Education and Advocacy class are making an impact far beyond the Indiana University Bloomington campus this semester by working with partners in Kenya to develop a sexual and reproductive health education plan. Masu. This partnership and hands-on learning experience is thanks to a pilot program that brings projects for international clients into the classroom.
The CLIP program (Client-Based International Projects) through IU Global involves four faculty members, five courses, and 173 students and clients from Kenya, Mexico, Guatemala, and Germany. Students in Heather Eastman-Mueller's Strategies for Effective Peer Education and Advocacy class are working with a Hijabi Mentorship Program based in Kwale County, Kenya, and a mobile clinic in Kenya. Has collaborated with the world-class Addis Clinic, which works closely with Hijabi to achieve their goals. Program goals.
“I feel very lucky to have had this experience,” said Olivia Balbo, a sophomore epidemiology major. “It's so gratifying to know that my work is going abroad and making a difference and improving conditions in local communities. That's really important to me.”
new learning experience
Eastman-Mueller, a clinical associate professor in the IU Bloomington School of Public Health's Department of Applied Health Sciences, typically creates lesson plans for her classes and provides support and assistance with health topics for IU Bloomington students. He said he was doing advocacy work. Collaborate with fellow health educators through the Student Health Center. However, she was looking for international opportunities to broaden her students' experiences.
“I put it forward because it can make a difference that goes far beyond the IU Bloomington campus,” Eastman Mueller said. “We have an opportunity to engage in dialogue and provide resources and information to partners who want to collaborate.”
The seven students (all group scholars) said they were happy to be able to help their peers from other countries for the first time.
“An important role as an epidemiologist is to work with the community,” Balbo said. “This project provides the experience of working with an unfamiliar community and creating lesson plans that fit their cultural narratives and the resources they have.”
build a partnership
Founded in 2018 by Nima Nzani Qasim, Hijabi Mentorship Program is a healthcare and gender-based advocacy organization aimed at educating and empowering women and girls. In 2021, the company hired Caroline Wanjiru as a mobile clinic operator in Addis, Kenya, working with Addis Clinic to provide technical support, medical screening, psychosocial support and community engagement for hijabi. We have started cooperation.
Kasim has past experience with IU. She was part of the third Mandela Washington Fellowship, which brought young African leaders to Indiana University in 2019 for intensive leadership education. In 2022, IU students in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies' Global Consultant Group will seek out comprehensive funding to plan for potential donors and apply for grants on their own. Supported the Hijabi Mentorship Program to help develop procurement strategies. Another cooperation included the IU's support in reviewing the newly drafted Hijabi policy.
“Our previous collaboration with Indiana University has been critical in shaping our organizational capacity and effectiveness,” Kasim said. “They have provided us with important tools and knowledge that have played an important role in our growth and development.”
Willo Sheikh (left) and Joy Parker listen to a remote presentation by Nima Nzani Kasim virtually from Kenya. Photo by Chris Meyer, Indiana UniversityQasim said the Hijabi Program is seeking support from the CLIP Program to support a pilot sexual health outreach project that champions sexual and reproductive health as a fundamental human right. . They needed help creating lesson plans for a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health curriculum and a train-the-trainer model for health care providers, peer counselors, and community activists.
The students met virtually with Mr. Kasim at the beginning of the semester to understand the organization’s needs. Lesson plans must be evidence-based and age-appropriate, and he targets three groups: teenage girls, health care providers, and community activists.
The students learned a little about Kenyan culture from Kasim, researched the country's geography, health care system, economy, religion, educational and social systems, politics, and history to create lesson plans.
This class uses ALCOVE, an experiential active learning classroom located in Woodburn Hall, to conduct research, collaborate, share results, give presentations, share feedback, and participate in international I connected with a partner.
Each student created a lesson plan for each target group, resulting in a total of 21 lesson plans. However, the students learned that the unavailability of certain technologies made their original plans impractical.
Instead, Balbo created lesson plans that could be done with paper and pen, such as worksheets or notecards, or with role-playing and true/false questions. One of the plans she created concerned non-sexual consent for adolescents, such as not touching her friend's hair without permission. Willo Sheikh, a junior community health major, created a bingo game about sexually transmitted diseases.
mutually beneficial
Eastman-Mueller said she met virtually every month with her Kenyan partners, students emailed questions and draft lesson plans, and she received feedback via email.
“They asked us for feedback and I learned a lot from them,” Wanjiru said. “It was amazing to see the evolution of the students, especially from the first draft to the final draft. We are currently running a project on sexual health in the community, so these are very It was helpful.”
Kasim said working with Eastman Mueller and the students has been a positive and rewarding experience, saying the students are dedicated, proactive, attentive and adaptable to the organization's needs and objectives. This collaboration will enable the Hijabi Mentorship Program to more effectively tailor its advocacy efforts to target groups and ensure the sustainability of its efforts.
Nathan Perez will present about his experience with client-based international project programs at the Global Learning Showcase on April 26 at IU Bloomington's Ferguson International Center. Photo by Alex Kumar, Indiana University“This collaboration will help strengthen our ability to defend sexual and reproductive health as a human right, promote positive attitudes towards sex and contraception, and promote equity and responsibility in relationships within our communities. '' said Kasim. “By leveraging IU’s expertise and resources, we can increase the effectiveness and effectiveness of our advocacy efforts, ultimately improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes for women, girls, and youth in Kwale County.” You can contribute to the improvement of
Students gave poster presentations about their CLIP program experiences at the Global Learning Showcase held at the Ferguson International Center on April 26, explaining what they learned and answering questions from attendees.
Sheikh said she has always been interested in health care, particularly public health and diverse community care. She said the class and project gave her additional perspective on what kind of job she would like to pursue after earning her degree.
“I think the CLIP program, especially working with Hijabi, was helpful because I gained valuable skills from this class that will help me in the future,” she said. “I found it beneficial to go beyond the United States and work with people from different countries. This helped me get outside of America and see the world through a different lens.”
Nathan Perez, a sophomore psychology major, said he valued the professional experience of helping others and speaking in public.
“It was my first time creating research posters and giving presentations in public,” Perez said. “It was a really good experience. While receiving feedback, I realized that there were some flaws in my lesson plan. It was a good experience to collaborate with other countries. It helped me get outside.”
Expanding opportunities
Elisheva Cohen, a global learning specialist in the IU Office of the Vice President for International Affairs, leads the CLIP program. Although she has supervised similar projects at her school in Hamilton and Luger over the course of five semesters, she became interested in creating CLIP when she joined the Department of International Relations.
Olivia Balbo stands by a research poster about the Hijabi Mentorship Program project during the Global Learning Showcase. Photo by Alex Kumar, Indiana UniversityCohen said the CLIP program aligns well with the IU 2030 Strategic Plan by providing experiential learning opportunities for students and supporting partners beyond Indiana. The CLIP program paired interested faculty with overseas partners, as some faculty were already doing client-based projects domestically, she said. Cohen said IU Global's contacts can help faculty find a client partner if they don't already have one.
Faculty members must apply to the CLIP program. Those accepted will receive a $3,000 grant to support her project. This semester's projects covered topics such as health, corporate culture, financial guidance for low-income community members and Holocaust awareness on social media, Cohen said.
“All of our faculty have enjoyed this experience and our students have reported that they have enjoyed this experience as well,” Cohen said. “One of the things I enjoy about this project is that the students are actually doing something. They get to see what a project in their field looks like and You will be able to apply what you have learned in the course in a concrete way.”
Cohen said the pilot was successful and the program will continue into the fall semester.
