TropicalClinics for Rural Health: Princeton

November is National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month!

Alzheimer's currently affects more than 5 million Americans. It is also the leading cause of dementia worldwide and is the 6th leading cause of death in the US.

Visit alz.org to learn more about the disease, what you can do, and how to honor a caregiver!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness of this disease.

Visit http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month for more information and find out how to help those in need.

Last but not least, meet our wonderful chapter President, Cassie!!

~Meet-the-Officers Photo Series~
Name: Cassie Crifase
Class Year: 2017
Major/Certificates: I’m concentrating in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs with an emphasis on Health and Wellbeing
Hometown: Addison, IL

How many years have you been involved in TCRH?: 4 years – I joined TCRH as a freshman, served as Fundraising Chair my sophomore year, Chief Community Liaison my junior year, and I’m currently serving as our President
What is the best thing about TCRH in your opinion?: The best thing about TCRH in my opinion is being able to actively engage with and make a difference in the lives of people despite my position in the Orange Bubble.

What were you up to this summer?: This summer I spent 8 weeks in Peru and 7 weeks in South Africa. In Peru, I worked on a public health research project all around the country to address the teen pregnancy rate, and in South Africa, I was working at a rural hospital and following up on research I did for my junior Task Force regarding stillbirths and perinatal deaths.

What do you want to do in the future?: My greatest interests in the field of medicine are global and rural health, access to healthcare, and health policy, and I aspire to work particularly with women and children.

Meet Hajrah!

~Meet-the-Officers Photo Series~
Name: Hajrah Hussain
Year: 2017
Major: English
Hometown: Jersey City, NJ

How many years have you been involved with TCRH?: 3 years
What is the best thing about TCRH in your opinion?: The best thing about TCRH is that it allows the community of Princeton University to directly help the community served by the TCRH clinic in Kakamega, Kenya.

What were you up to this summer?: I was interning at a global health strategy company working on research into resilient health systems and various health campaigns going on in the field of global health. I was also conducting thesis research in Hudson County.

What do you want to do in the future?: I would like to participate in a community-health initiative serving my local community of Jersey City before studying family medicine in medical school.

Come to our meeting today in Frist 206 at 5 pm!!

~Meet-the-Officers Photo Series~
Name: Angela Y. Kim
Class Year: 2017
Major: Molecular Biology
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

How many years have you been involved in TCRH?: This is my 3rd year with TCRH. I joined as a member in my sophomore year, and I've been vice president of chaptership expansion since junior year.
What is the best thing about TCRH in your opinion?: TCRH has a strong connection with the world outside of Princeton, and everything we do contributes to addressing part of a real-world issue.

What were you up to this summer?: I was on campus starting lab work for my thesis. I'm focusing on how the permeability barrier of E. coli bacteria is strengthened during the stationary phase of growth.

What do you want to do in the future?: I am an aspiring physician, and one of the fields I'm strongly considering is pediatric surgery.

Meet Manisha! Our amazing VP of Rural Health Activism spent this summer in South Africa working at a rural public health facility. Come meet her and our other exec board at our first TCRH Town Hall meeting of the year, this Thursday (10/6) at 5 pm in Frist, room TBD!

~Meet-the-Officers Photo Series~
Name: Manisha Kapasiawala
Class Year: 2019
Major: CBE
Hometown: Atlantic City, NJ

How many years have you been involved with TCRH?: 2
What is the best thing about TCRH in your opinion?: Being a member of TCRH is a continuous learning experience for both officers and members. Whether it's through dinner discussions, movie screenings, or poster campaigns, I am always learning something new about rural health happenings across the globe.

What were you up to this summer?: This summer I spent 8 weeks in South Africa at the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Unit, Agincourt. I spent time assisting in research on the state of the elderly in rural S. Africa, developed community feedback sheets to spread awareness of factors that affect health outcomes, and assisted in a research study on factors affecting the spread of respiratory illness in the household.

What do you want to do in the future?: I'm not exactly sure what I want to do in the future! While I am not a premed student, I am interested in rural health and health policy, particularly as it pertains to mental health, research in the field of pharmaceuticals, and health consulting. I plan to attend grad school in the future.

TCRH First Town Hall Meeting of the year on Thursday, October 6th at 5 pm!!! Location: Frist, Room TBD

Come out, hear our plans for the year, and meet our executive team members, like Nicolette Cho, our VP of Fundraising!

~Meet-the-Officers Photo Series~
Name: Nicolette Cho
Class Year: 2017
Major: Sociology
Hometown: Rockville, Maryland

How many years have you been involved in TCRH: 3!!!
What is the best thing about TCRH in your opinion?: The best thing about TCRH is that I am able to make a difference and help people in Kenya receive access to healthcare.

What were you up to this summer?: For the first half of the summer, I went on a service trip to Thailand to perform music (cello) to people in poverty, disabled hospitals, and AIDS orphanages. Then for the second half, I worked in the marketing department for CNN.

What do you want to do in the future?: I am not completely sure if I am premed, but I am definitely sure that I am passionate about serving the community and helping people gain equal opportunity to healthcare.

Our clinic is now serving more than 40 patients a day!

to a past rural health activism campaign. This picture may be old, but the poverty rate in Kenya is the same. estimates 46% of Kenyans are living below the poverty line

So excited to participate in Princeton University 's again this year! to Cassie Crifase, our current TCRH President, at last year's face painting stand!

The reports that the life expectancy of a Kenyan male at birth is 60 years - that's 16 years less than that of an American male.

According to the by the CIA, Kenya ranks among the top 10 countries with the greatest number of people living with HIV/AIDS

TropicalClinics - Saving Lives

Thank you to all the runners that came out for today's 5K and a HUGE thank you to our VP of Special Events Minjia for working so hard to put it together!! 🏃🏅

"Kakamega derives its modern name from the local dialect. The story goes that when European settlers first visited the area now known as Kakamega and were offered maize meal, the local staple food called Obusuma, they tried to emulate the eating style for which the tribe was famous. To the hosts though, the visitors were more like 'pinching' the Obusuma. The resulting administrative area was named 'Kakamega', which roughly translates to 'pinch.'"

Today is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day! TB is one of the world's deadliest diseases. Even in the United States, this is a disease that often goes undetected. The estimates that only 20% of Kenyans with TB are not diagnosed. TropicalClinics' labs can perform this vital test.

The halls of our clinic

Beautiful Kenya!

to our Princeton interns at the clinic in Summer 2014

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Part of our story that we want to share is our collaboration with Princeton University. Princeton students have a chapter on campus called TropicalClinics for Rural Health (TCRH). Officially recognized as a student group on campus in October 2012, they are a truly special group of individuals (who we love) that have raised funds for our vaccination program, raised awareness in the US and most importantly some of them have volunteered at our clinic in Kakamega, Kenya. Princeton University sponsors 4 students to conduct an 8-week summer medical internship at our clinic. Those who have participated and made the trip have had a truly incredible time in Kenya. They have provided vital help with day to day healthcare services and also added value in other areas like setting up an advanced IT/computer system. As you can see we have made them a part of our family. More great photos of this program to follow!

We are always looking for new places to start chapters! Starting a TCRH chapter on your high school, undergraduate or graduate school campus is an amazing way to directly assist in bringing quality health care to underserved rural populations in developing nations (beginning in Kenya) while at the same time enhancing your leadership skills and fostering a community of students who are passionate about global health on your campus.
For any student who is interested in the chaptership program, go to tropicalclinics.org and send an email to [email protected]!!!! 😄

In addition to this program on campuses, we also have the Global Ambassadors Program for volunteers which I will discuss in my next post coming up!

We need all the support we can get in our early stages - please spread the word for us if you can!!!! Thank you!!!!

Beautiful piece of art capturing Kakamega, Kenya.
"Play Time" by Eric Dowdle Dowdle Folk Art

An update about life in Kakamega!

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Taking a blood sample for laboratory screening at one of the TropicalClinics medical camps. Nobody likes 🙈 to get poked but so much can be learned from a simple blood test - potentially life-saving information! 🌞 We've diagnosed many people with Malaria this way and treated them successfully at the clinic with antimalarial medicines.

Follow our new Instagram account for updates about our Kenyan clinic and our work on campus!!

TCRH Princeton (@tcrhprinceton) • Instagram photos and videos The official Instagram of the Princeton chapter of TropicalClinics for Rural Health (TCRH) ❤️

Reminder: TCRH 2016 applications are due this Tuesday 3/15!

TCRH 2016 Application Built with Typeform, the FREE online form builder that lets you create beautiful, mobile-friendly online forms, surveys & much more. Try it out now!

TropicalClinics Health Center - Kakamega, Kenya

Apply to be a member of TCRH!! Applications are due by Friday, October 9th at 11:59 pm! Here is the link to the quick application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GzBvJJSR3QpPb9O7xua6d92aO0qDPi9Ytk3wg3fBUoM/viewform?usp=send_form

Tropical Clinics for Rural Health Application Welcome to TCRH!!! Here are the committee explanations for your reference: Fundraising Committee: Members of the Fundraising Committee will help to plan and coordinate at least one fundraising event every month (either on-campus or off-campus) and help to keep track of the earnings from each fundrai…