Every health worker has a story of how they came to their field – a tale of lifelong passion for science, an experience that solidified a commitment to care, or a teacher, parent, role model or friend who inspired a desire to help others. As health workers learn and begin practicing, these stories often become the foundation of broader tales of compassion, commitment and determination.
At Health Volunteers Overseas, we hear these stories every day. From our volunteers who renew their passion for medicine by sharing their knowledge with colleagues in developing countries to the students and young professionals in those countries who gain new skills and perspectives on their profession, HVO witnesses the profound role of people in improving and delivering care where it is most needed.
In 2016, HVO will endeavor to celebrate and share these stories. We will highlight the central role of people in global health, showing that they are at the heart of all that we do. At every level of global health – from the ill and injured who seek care to the health worker who serves them to the donor who makes the education of that health worker possible – we know that people are at the heart of global health.
We hope you will join us this year in celebrating health worker stories – by sharing your own global health tale or by becoming part of someone else’s by volunteering at an HVO project site or supporting the work of our volunteers.