Tamara Jolly, Malawi (update)
28 July 2010
Tamara Jolly reflects on her experience working as a volunteer
in Malawi.
Between 2006 and 2008, Tamara worked in Lilongwe, Malawi as
a Speech Therapist at SOS Children's Village, one of AVI's partner
organisations.
Since returning to Melbourne, Tamara has completed a Masters
degree in Public Health majoring in international health whilst
working part time at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne as an Adult
Speech Therapist on the Neurosurgery Unit.
Most recently she has been working (as a volunteer) at
Nossal Global Health which is part of the University of Melbourne
on a project for the community health global network.
I started my Masters two days after I returned from Malawi.
I wouldn't have had the interest in international health if I
hadn't worked in Malawi but I learnt so much during my placement
and realised how integrated everything is.
When I went to Malawi I had specialist skills in Speech
Pathology, but to be really effective, you have to understand about
prevention of basic diseases, equity of health care and access to
health care.
These are things I wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn if
I had stayed in Australia but in Malawi I had to deal with these
things every single day.
My placement was the catalyst for studying a Masters in the
first place and I wouldn't have got as much out of my Masters if
hadn't lived and worked in Malawi.
I had reference points for everything I was learning and
practical examples for all the theory we were being taught.
Changed forever
My experiences in Malawi blew my world view wide open.
It has made me very passionate about what I do and how it should
be done in the best way possible. It has inspired and motivated me
to take risks and explore beyond what's comfortable. It also
equipped me to be able to do so.
I've had opportunities I would never have had if I had stayed in
Australia. It changed me forever and challenged me far more than if
I had stayed at home.
In Malawi, I had some of the hardest experiences of my life both
personally and professionally and had to think outside the box. All
these things gave me the confidence to present myself in a
different way and as a result opened doors I would never have
imagined possible.
Raising awareness
In Malawi and India someone's impairment isn't their biggest
disability.
It is the social attitudes and environment which carries
physical barriers that are bigger disabilities.
Raising awareness about health and disability and improving
training and communication can help to address social
discrimination and change the suffering a family experiences
because they have a child who has acquired a disability as a result
of a preventable disease which causes ongoing fevers or a severe
episode of malaria.
What I'm doing now
Since completing my Masters in December 2009, I've been working
at Nossal Global Heatlh (part of the University of Melbourne) on a
project for the community health global network.
I spent four months developing a training course in disability
awareness and inclusive development for the Uttarakhand cluster of
30 health programmes in northern India, and then spent two months
in India facilitating the training and conference for
representatives from each of the programmes.
It's a good model to replicate because resources and skills are
shared amongst the different organisations working in community
health and it avoids duplication.
It helps facilitate networking and ideas and is more sustainable
because organisations under the banner of the cluster receive more
support and recognition.
I've learnt from first-hand experience that it is more effective
to mobilise communities to involve people with disabilities than
trying to tackle disability in isolation.
Read more
Tamara has previously written about her assignment in Malawi for
AVI.
Read
how baking cakes helped Tamara to get to know her local community
in Lilongwe.