I’m in my global health headquarters…

[Note: I’m in the process of migrating this web site to a new template, and haven’t added anything new in ages. Some sections are up, others down. Please bear with me; I expect everything  will be ‘good to go’ soon!!] 

I GREW UP IN MONTANA, granddaughter of cantankerous cowboys and Norwegian homesteaders. I was too young to think much about medical care or good health back then. Oblivious to germs and tetanus, I preferred scavenging in drained irrigation ditches or rummaging through neighbors’ garbage cans for cast-off treasures – seriously!

My parents and relatives worked so hard for a living; I doubt they had time to think about good health, either. They had good genes, pioneer stock, and physically worked dusk to dawn.  Yet their access to medical care was marginal; some became disabled, others died far too young.

Why?

Yup, I’m in the outhouse. A Montana welcome from my relatives’ double-seater outhouse I used as a kid. Sanitation is a critical component in global health solutions, and that’s really why I posted this picture–not to gross you out or anything. (September 2011)

PERHAPS IT WAS FOR NO OTHER REASON than for where where they were born. These days it’s fashionable to say such things about people living in developing countries, like Africa: their health is deeply determined by where they live, in this lottery of life. But such lotteries are right in our own backyards, from Montana to South Seattle.

Global health, local health, public health: in all this I’m trying to understand the whys of disease, poverty, and hunger that compromise lives and good health. I’m lucky to live in Seattle, living in global health’s ‘ground zero’ for solutions, for help, and for hope.

I want to share what I’m learning with others in simple, easy-to-understand ways–especially with my unscripted global health video mini-lessons. That’s why I created this web site.

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[Note: There are tons of terrific, comprehensive global health web sites out there–good luck wading through them. My site is very selective, highlighting what I’ve learned in classes, readings, and meetings with global health leaders in Seattle; to them my deepest thanks. BTW: I’m neither paid nor receive special consideration for what I include or write on this web site. It’s information, pure as clean water.]

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