Heart to Heart

The ICHA Blog

A little over a year ago, Tim Sasaki started volunteering with ICHA in what was to be a rewarding introduction to the field of global health. After working with an indigenous rights organization in Ecuador, a reforestation project in Guatemala, and a Nicaraguan micro-finance NGO, he knew that his focus had to be global. Working at a therapeutic school in Oakland with emotionally disturbed children has shown him the value of his local community as well. Needless to say, an international organization like ICHA, which partners with a community abroad, is the perfect marriage of his interests.

Tim is working towards a Masters degree in Public Health and Social Work. He enjoys taking pictures, cooking, running, and playing his saxophone.

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“Your heart is you!” by Tim Sasaki on October 5, 2009 | 0 comments

The end of last week proved to be a very busy one for us here in Elmina.  While the clinical team continued their hard work at the Elmina Urban Health Center, Lyza and I have been busy visiting schools, meeting with teachers and headmasters, and working closely with an officer from the District Education Office to develop a program for the schools.  Most recently, we met with the SHEP (School Health Education Program) Coordinator, a liason between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.  We discussed a school program to include a CVD workshop for teachers, a Heart Health Week, and a student-run Heart Health Club in the secondary schools of the KEEA municipal.  She was enthusiastic, supportive, and excited about the development of these projects.  We definitely have our work cut out for us!

 

 

We also had the privilege of meeting with Mr. Brian Daniels, a teacher, volunteer, and youth health educator.  He comes to us rich with incredible experience educating the youth from all over Ghana about the importance of health, be it HIV/AIDS, polio, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, or reproductive health.  He too expressed his enthusiasm for ICHA and has inspired us to work hard in the coming months.  At the end of our meeting, Mr. Daniels reached out his hand and expressed our need to come together for humanity.  "Your heart is you!" he said, "If your heart fails, you fail."

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Growing up in a small town in Wisconsin by Tim Sasaki on September 2, 2009 | 1 comment

Believe it or not, growing up in a small town in Wisconsin has certain and often overlooked advantages, aside from an endless and cheap supply of cheese, football, and brats.  Familiarity and comfort are obvious pluses, but the best thing about growing up in a small town is that once you step outside, you really come to appreciate the immensity of the world that surrounds you.  The travel bug got me early and has taken me to places I never dreamed of seeing.  While awe-inspiring sights will forever color my memory, the people I've met along the way are what make me wonder the most and make me want to know more.  We have so much to learn from each other.  Each trip, every experience, and every encounter with another way of life adds to my growing sense of the world and keeps my curiosity bubbling. 

 

 

I would say that this curiosity, about the way people live and how humans struggle everywhere, has fueled a passion to make life a little easier for the next.  Live simply so others may simply live, right?  When public health flew over my radar, the lights went on and I was lucky enough to come across an organization like ICHA.  I jumped on board a few months after it's inception in 2008, and since have had the wonderful privilege of working with some truly talented people on projects including community health awareness research, local and global networking, and currently, I'm part of a motivated team writing cardiovascular health and culture surveys for our pilot project in Elmina, Ghana. 

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