Stories and Service in New Orleans

Austin Frizzell is an undergraduate alumnus of GW and current MPH student and George Washington Presidential Administrative Fellow at the School of Public Health.

Stories are embedded in the very fiber of the New Orleans and I had the chance to hear some of them during a recent trip. Along with two other GW staff members, I joined 41 undergrad participants and five undergrad leaders for a week of service in the city coordinated through the GW Alternative Breaks program
(http://gwalternativebreaks.wordpress.com/).  The Alternative Breaks program now sends students and staff throughout the United States and Latin America during winter and spring breaks, but it began 8 years ago, with the school’s first trip to New Orleans.  As a GW staff member, I went as a learning partner and while my role was to enhance the educational experience of the undergraduates on the trip, I learned a lot myself through the stories I heard. While we scraped and painted houses for low income veterans there were stories. As we helped teachers in their classrooms and organized a library at a KIPP school, there were more stories still.  Our service focused on physical tasks, but these stories reminded us that our work in New Orleans was also something more[AF1] .

There were stories of survival.  One volunteer coordinator recalled how water covered her neighborhood after Katrina.  How she had no place to turn as her friends and family had their own lives flooded out.  We learned from President Cowan of Tulane University how he announced to the arriving class of first year students and their families that they needed to evacuate.  He remained while the campus was flooded with three feet of water.

There were also stories of pain.  I had a brief opportunity to see the folk art museum curated by one of the homeowners we were serving.  Among busts of blues legends, pictures of old New Orleans, and sculptures made from odd scraps of metal, there was something else you noticed.  As you neared the back of the small museum, news clippings of Katrina and scenes of chaos were interspersed throughout the other creations.  You couldn’t help but be a little quieter in that part.

The seventh grade students I met at KIPP, however, did not share such stories with me.  They were instead happy to tell me about their future college majors (sports management, biology, and architecture to name a few) as well as why independent reading was boring since they did not get to choose their own book.  My 7^th grade assistant for reorganizing the library told me about the smartest student in his grade and how he tried to work as hard as her. I felt lightened from some of the weight of a week of difficult stories as I listened to the kids at KIPP.  That being said, I am now starting to realize these students’ stories of the future were not so different after all from the other stories I heard. Throughout the stories of survival and pain, there was always a thread of hope.  Hearing these stories, I think we all found inspiration in the dreams of New Orleans’ citizens and their hopes for the future of the city and for themselves.

Israel: Day 9 – Clalit Health Services

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

This reflection comes from Alicia Wiygul:

Beach in Tel Aviv

“I woke up this morning to a classmate knocking on my hotel room door in Tel Avivi. We had agreed to go for a jog down at the beach. After trying and failing to rent bikes, we jogged down the boardwalk all the way to Jaffa, where we enjoyed some local pastries and fresh squeezed juices. The weather was beautiful and I could have stayed by the water all day, but we had to get changed for a meeting that afternoon.

Clalit Health Services, one of four HMOs in Israel

We met the group and headed to a primary care clinic in the Tel Aviv city center run by Clalit Health Services , one of the four HMOs in Israel. The area director and clinic staff, including the head physician and head nurse, were extremely welcoming and informative about the regular operations of the clinic and Clalit as a whole. After hearing so much about the HMOs and primary care services in Israel, it was great to finally visit one and put it all into context.

The group met back at the hotel for a final de-brief session with our host, David Chinitz, where we all shared the most surprising and memorable moments of the trip. It was a good time to reflect on all we had experienced and learned over the 10 day period in Israel and the West Bank. As someone who had never studied a health system before, the hospital/clinic tours and didactic sessions with the faculty at the Braun School of Public Health  were eye opening and intriguing. I’m thoroughly excited about the potential and challenges ahead in the healthcare management field.

My flight from Ben Gurion airport was extra early the next morning, so I went out for one last shawarma in Tel Avivi and called it a night!”

Israel: Last Day

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

This reflection comes from Yuwei Zhang:

“As I bid Tel Aviv goodbye, I felt like I was parting from a dear ole’ friend. My mind raced through the myriad of people, sights, and sounds that I had encountered during my short love affair with Israel. My most memorable moment was the time that I had spent on the beach and how it acted as a bridge between the present and the past.

Yuwei Zhang meditating on the beach in Israel

There I was, doing the Falun Gong sitting meditation on the sand, just a few steps away from my hotel. I wasn’t afraid; I wasn’t anxious, and I didn’t feel any cause of alarm from passersby. However, if I tried to do this same thing in China, where Falun Gong is banned, I would have been arrested, thrown in jail, and tortured. I clearly remember how ten prison guards at a brainwashing center had forcibly yanked my arms and legs, at the same time, in an effort to force me to give up practicing Falun Gong. While in Israel, no one gave it a second thought. In addition, I was surprised at the different attitudes people in Israel have towards religion and how different religions are able to peacefully coexist there. In China, from grade school on up, religious people have always been considered backwards and superstitious, as the Chinese Communist Party had successfully destroyed people’s traditional belief in the Divine and replaced it with atheism.

I also noted that the relationship between patients and doctors in Israel is very different than in China. I heard of stories of patients in China attacking and killing Chinese doctors for the poor treatment that they had receive. And then there’s the ongoing fights and scuffles between doctors and hospital administrators. In Israel, things like this are very rare indeed, which I attribute to people’s religious beliefs. All of this and more, made it very hard for me to say goodbye and farewell to my new found friend, Israel!”

Israel: Day 7 – Galilee Hospital, Sea of Galilee

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

This reflection comes from Melanie Watman:

Today was jam-packed with activities. We spent most of the morning in the Sea of Galilee area (Kinneret), including boat ride upon the Sea of Galilee.

Local artwork displayed at the Sea of Galilee (photo credit: Melanie Watman)

We learned about the importance of this lake to the water supply, as it is the main source of drinking water for the whole country. Apparently there is a red line marking dangerously low water levels in the lake, and if the lake becomes lower than that line, citizens are mandated to cut back on their water use and can be fined for not complying (washing your car in public, for example, would not be allowed).

Melanie Watman and Ashley Walker enjoying the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee (photo credit: Melanie Watman)

This body of water also has huge biblical significance; this area was home to Jesus for much of his life and is where he performed many of his well-known miracles. Many Christians travel to this area just for the religious significance. There is honestly too much history in this area to discuss, but the area was truly beautiful and so unique.

Later we visited Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya where we toured the hospital and had a great discussion with Dr. Masad Barhoum, Hospital Director and Family Physician. He talked to us about the issues involved in running a public hospital and how difficult it is to keep an influx of funding; the problem with running a public hospital is that many people have to be appeased (local authorities, politicians, Kinesset members, etc.).

Lecture with Dr. Masad Barhoum MD, first Arab Christian to become director of a public hospital in Israel at Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya

Despite this, he said the most important part of the hospital for him is that they treat the individual person, no matter where they come from, their political beliefs, or their religion, which you may find surprising in such a politically tense country like Israel. He said it is ethically immoral to ever turn away someone that needs medical attention even if they may be someone who hates the country. This was extremely inspiring to hear and made everyone belief that this hospital, as well as this country, are truly capable of doing amazing things.

Israel: Day 6 – Tomb Garden and Local Markets

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

This reflection comes from Ashley Walker:

“I feel that today was an entire day geared toward an integral, yet indirect aspect of healthcare: people and culture. After a dairy breakfast at the Dan Panorama, the group went to the Tomb Garden, one of two places that Jesus may have been buried. It was a stark contrast to the other site we toured a few days back, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Inside the tomb–(left to right) Jared O’Neal, Sam Gerold, Meredith Waters, Juliet Feldman, Jualenda Boschulte, Alecia Wiygul, Victoria Callahan, Ashley Walker (photo credit: Melanie Watman)

This location is more of a visual representation of a cave and a garden written about in the Bible. Our Canadian pastor tour guide believes that it does not matter where the actual place is, just that you believe. This is yet another example of the rich history of Israel.

We had time in the afternoon to get broader look at the country we are staying in. Several of us took the light rail to Machane Yehuda, a local market.

Halve: A shop at Machane Yehuda selling blocks of delicious variation of halva, a crushed sesame and honey based treat. (Photo credit: Melanie Watman)

The lively chaos was an experience! It has been my favorite part of the trip thus far to hear shop keepers hollering and encounter the smell of fish interrupted by sweet fruit or pastries baking as we rounded the corner. A picture does little to capture being there. After we toured the Tomb of King David, the traditional place of the Last Supper, and Shepherds’ Fields in Bethlehem, we traveled to Be’er Sheva. The flatter ground along the way was green and I saw several types of agriculture. This city has much more of a modern look and feel. At our evening meal, there was a large group of guests in the dining hall sitting together and involved in flamboyant singing and conversation; it is clearly the start of Shabbat. I found myself chuckling at how Americans would react to this behavior at a hotel in the United States. Religion seems to have a much deeper connection to everyday life here than in any other place I have traveled. I am anxious to see what other features of Israel this trip has to offer.”

Israel: Day 5 – Knesset and Bethlehem

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

This reflection comes from Victoria Callahan:

“Today was a day packed with activities. We started our morning with Dr. Ronit who spoke to us about environmental health. She gave a very comprehensive presentation about the studies that have been conducted in order to better determine what is detrimental to health in Israel. From the Hebrew University we went to the Knesset for a tour through the government building. We saw the beautiful Marc Chagall tapestries representing Israel’s past, present, and future.

After a few hours at the Knesset, we boarded the bus to Bethlehem. Passing through the checkpoint and to the other side of the wall was incredible. On the wall was graffiti expressing the hope for peace. The restrictions to stay within the walls the Palestine people must comply to is a difficult concept to grasp coming from the mentality of a free America. It was fascinating to observe their lives and then compare with the way of life on the other side of the wall. It was a day that really provided a small glance into what is occurring in this part of the world.”

Israel: Day 3 -Hadassah Medical School and Yav Vashem

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

This reflection comes from Sam Gerold:

“On the third full day of the Israel trip, we visited the Hadassah medical school campus in Jerusalem to listen to a lecture from Dr. Meir Brezis, one the country’s top nephrologists.  He lectured on a number of different topics related to medical research, but the one that stood out to me was the topic of research misconduct.  Pharmaceutical companies commissioning researchers to conduct evidence-based studies typically withhold the negative insignificant results and publish mostly the positive significant results.  These companies have been participating in this kind of research bias for years, and this is detrimental to the information available to the public.

After listening to Dr. Brezis, our group visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum.  I studied abroad previously in Tel Aviv, so I had visited Yad Vashem before, however, each time I go there it elicits many different emotions.  This day had a particular special meaning for me because my grandmother and grandfather are both Holocaust survivors.  My grandmother, a Jew from Poland, survived various concentration camps and death camps with her mother.  My grandfather ran away from their town a day before the Nazis invaded and enlisted in the Russian army to serve as a soldier.  Both of their families perished in the Holocaust except for their mothers.

View from Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum. Photo credit: Sam Gerold

As I walked through the museum, it became very difficult to listen to the survivors detail their stories about the Nazi atrocities.  I could not help but imagine my grandmother and great-grandmother surviving day to day in the camps.  Every day for them was a nightmare and even their stories do not illustrate the depths of the Nazi depravity.  It is nothing short of a miracle that my grandparents wake up every morning and lead ordinary lives.  When I reached the part of the museum that is dedicated to Auschwitz and the other death camps, a Rabbi, who shared his survival story in a video interview, explained this phenomenon best. He said that people ask him how he could possibly smile when talking about his experience. He answered that he smiles because otherwise he would cry endlessly.

The emotional tour at Yad Vashem ended as I exited the museum and was greeted with a beautiful view of the Jerusalem Forest.  It is a very peaceful to look out at the city, which was just a dream for the six million Jewish victims during the Holocaust.  Israel was born in the ashes of the Holocaust and World War II and is a testament to the victims’ resilience and perseverance.  We honor their memories by perpetuating the Jewish identity in spite of the Nazis’ attempts to destroy it completely. “

Israel: Day 2 – Hebrew University

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

The second set of reflections come from Juliet Feldman:

“Today was our first day attending Hebrew University to begin learning about the Israeli health care system. Despite the tremendous amount of snow still impacting the roads in Jerusalem (one professor told us that he has never seen snow in Jerusalem like this for 30 years!), we made it to the university in time to hear from three professors. We were honored to hear from Hebrew University’s Dean of the Braun School of Public Health, and two professors who are actively engaged in health care research and policy.

To get a sense of Israel’s demographics, there are 8 million people living in mostly urban areas. Compared to the US, the unemployment and birth rate are low and Israeli’s have a longer life expectancy. 7.6% of Israel’s GDP is spent on health care (18% in US) and while this percentage has been steady for years, our professor predicted that Israel will likely need to contribute more to health care services in the coming year. In 1995 Israel enacted national health insurance law (NHI), which includes:

• Mandatory universal coverage for all Israeli citizens (coverage provided by four HMO plans)
• A uniform benefits package that everyone must receive
• A centralized collection of a health tax to finance the system

Interestingly, they shared that when Israelis are asked what they feel is the biggest issue in health care, they say privatization. While 55% of hospitals are owned by the government, more and more care is becoming privatized. We had one professor who shared his views that accessibility to public services may be curtailed when private services take over because of financial incentives. We then heard an opposing perspective from a professor who was not convinced that privatization was the primary cause of issues in Israel’s health care system. It was a fascinating to hear two different but valid perspectives on this issue and was a great example of how nothing in health care is black and white.

Today provided a great foundation about the Israel’s health care system and engerized me for the more to come this week!”

Israel: First Day

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

The first set of reflections come from Jualenda Boschulte:

“Today is my first day in Israel. It started out as a difficult day — I was late meeting the group due to a missed plane connection, and the delay set me back fourteen hours. When I arrived, Jerusalem had just experienced a Biblical size snowstorm. All the roads to Jerusalem were closed.”

A rare snow storm blanketed Israel and closed down the city of Jerusalem, causing travel headaches for students flying in for the trip. Photo credit:  Jualenda Boschulte

After reuniting with classmates, Jualenda sent us another update reflecting on the group’s trip to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The church is identified as the place both of the crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, making it a major pilgrimage center.

“To my delight I experienced Jerusalem in a way I never expected. After the tour, I was overwhelmed by the sacred relics and the intensity by which Christians , Jews and Moslems practice their faith  There is a deep permeating beauty to these practices.”

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Photo credit: Jualenda Boschulte

Israel: Jerusalem, My Happy Home

Several of our students are traveling in Israel as part of a class on healthcare delivery offered by the Health Services, Management and Leadership (HSML) department. We’ll be sharing updates on their thoughts and experiences on their trip.

This reflection comes from Meredith Waters:

Today was our first full day in Israel. After a  long 13 hour flight and 4 hour bus ride to get from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the night before it was great to settle in at the Dan Panorama Hotel and have a good night’s sleep. In the morning, we walked to the Old City of Jerusalem to tour through the Christian and Jewish quarters of the city. In the Jewish quarter of the city, we visited the Western Wall and underground tunnels. We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,

Exterior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

which is the believed site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. (Sepulcher is another word for tomb). We also went to the Mount of Olives, which is a former olive grove at the top of the city that offers a breathtaking view of Jerusalem. It is also where, according to the Bible, Jesus ascended into heaven.

As a Christian, I had heard and read about these places for my entire life, but when I got to Israel I was surprised how disconnected I felt towards the holy sites. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is shared between several Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches and there is not a Protestant presence. There were many pilgrims there worshiping, but it appeared that they were worshipping the physical building instead of God. To me, it doesn’t matter if the site is the “real” site where Jesus died and was buried, what is more important is that he died on the cross, was buried, and rose again to save us from our sins.

I’m sure everything I learned about religion and culture in will give me a better understanding of some of the challenges that they face with their health care system.