Impact Stories from Public Health Policy Area

Team Sierra Leone launches Wata Na Life impact project

Fellow(s): Faatu Kanneh, Makalay Sesay, Mary Lusenie, Monica Sellu, Titoh Sallay Sheriff

Country: Sierra Leone

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Public Health

Team Sierra Leone launches Wata Na Life impact project

Fellows Faatu Kanneh, Makalay Sesay, Mary Lusenie, Monica Sellu and Titoh Sallay Sheriff (Sierra Leone, 2022) recently implemented the first phase of their seed grant-winning impact project, Wata Na Life, which was established to advance access to clean, safe and sustainable water and provide water treatment solutions to prevent illness.

Launched in Grafton, Sierra Leone, the inaugural event featured the team handing off their recently installed clean water tank to the local community stakeholders.

The project was made possible with the funding of a $3,000 USD seed grant from TechWomen along with support garnered from the Milla Group and Guma Valley Water Company. A highlight included a visit from impact coach Barham Zuhdi, who attended the groundbreaking event.

Report Date...: 1/1/2024

Fellow(s): Nezha Larhrissi

Country: Morocco

Cohort: 2013

Policy Area(s): Public Health

Fellow-led NGO, eSTEM Morocco, recognized by U.S. Ambassador to Morocco for Marrakech-Safi earthquake aid work

Fellow Nezha Larhrissi (Morocco, 2013), President of seed grant-funded NGO eSTEM Morocco, was invited for a special meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Morocco H.E Puneet Talwar to acknowledge and discuss the NGO’s intervention and aid efforts taken this fall following the 6.8 magnitude Marrakech-Safi earthquake in Morocco. ESTEM Morocco took part in a consortium of six other NGOs led by Association Maa Wa Namaa, which galvanized a caravan of relief workers to advance on the impacted region within 48 hours of the initial quake, offering field support to some 1300 families in 27 douars across Alhaouz, Taroudant, Chichaoua and Essaouira.

Nezha led a group of voluntary Moroccan IT engineers and oversaw the production of a portable mapping system, SeismeHUB, which provided timely insights pinpointing where urgent relief support was most needed across the more than 2000 douars severely impacted by the earthquake. In addition, eSTEM Morocco bridged and fostered connections between various working groups supporting communication, medical aid, field operations, reconstruction, digital data processing, fundraising, documentation and finance.

“On the ground we took also care of talking to women and girls, trying to provide presence and psychological relief,” Nezha detailed in recent communications.

The results of the response efforts can be found in an Arabic-language report prepared by Maa Wa Namaa.

Report Date...: 12/25/2023

Fellow gives talk on upcoming public health initiative

Fellow(s): Aliaa Ahmed (Egypt, 2022)

Country: Egypt

Cohort: 2022

Policy Area(s): Professional Development, Public Health

Fellow Aliaa Ahmed (Egypt, 2022) recently delivered an address unveiling an upcoming public health campaign at 4th International Annual Conference of the Egyptian Academy of Bone Health and Metabolic Bone Disease in Cairo. Representing the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB), where she serves as the Growth Lab’s Head of the Nutrition and Research Unit, Aliaa outlined their upcoming Vitamin-D centered wellness initiative to promote national health outcomes, particularly in the elderly population, by raising awareness, distributing supplements, and providing educational resources on the vital role of Vitamin D in health. In her role at EFB, Aliaa shapes public programming and data-driven reporting. She is also the founder of Dep-Nomken, an initiative addressing the nutritional needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities, and a public health and nutrition lecturer at both the American University in Cairo and Tanta University.

Report Date...: 11/20/2023

« Previous 1 2