Meet our Intern Miranda

Hello! My name is Miranda, and I’m in my second year at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. My passion for global health has lead me to take courses in both Health Sciences and International Studies. I’m currently doing a program called Semester in Development which gives students the opportunity to live, work, and study in Uganda. While taking courses at Makerere University, I am also a proud intern at Health Access Connect.

I have certainly enjoyed being in Uganda so far, and helping with Health Access Connect has made it even more amazing. Recently, Kevin and I traveled over to Kalangala to meet up with Mpola Mpola and prepare to work with more villages. This is the kind of work I absolutely love doing. On his boda boda, Mpola Mpola has taken us all over the island to record GPS points of the villages we visited and the roads we took to get to them.

We went up and down many hills, giving us beautiful views of Lake Victoria; we went through countless palm trees, where the palm fruits grow and palm oil is produced; and we drove through a very flooded road. The villages are very far from each other and even farther from the clinics. There are so many ways in which the medicycle program would make such a huge impact for the people living in each of the communities.

For me, the most interesting part of this trip has been sitting in on the initial meetings with community members. Although I can’t understand what anyone is saying because I know almost no Luganda, it’s very interesting to be there and see relationships being built. Mpola Mpola is incredibly good at communicating with everyone, telling stories, explaining the benefits of partnering with Health Access Connect, and answering questions.

My interests are public health and community development, so it’s really neat to see something so innovative and relevant to the lives of people in Kalangala. Hopefully I’ll be able to join Kevin for field work at least one more time. I’ve met some amazing people, played with some great kids, and have seen the things I learn about in school being applied to real life. I love it here in Kalangala, but I do look forward to heading back to Kampala and working on more things to help Health Access Connect grow and reach more people.