Buenos! My name is Anshu Abhat and I was fortunate to participate in the 2008 Voces y Manos summer trip to Rabinal, Guatemala. I am currently taking a year in between my 3rd and 4th year of medical school at the University California, San Diego (UCSD) to pursue a Masters of Public Health in Health Policy at Harvard University. My experience with Voces y Manos and the PRIME-Health Equity program at UCSD were important influences that led me to pursue an MPH.
Voces y Manos allowed me to work with the health community in Rabinal, Guatemala to understand how a community can come together and achieve goals related to public health.
I am continually impressed by Voces y Manos’ relationship with the youth in the community. I am now seeing my Guatemalan friends become nurses, physicians, and leaders in their community. Those I met in Guatemala continue to inspire me, and I would love to return to Rabinal after finishing medical school.
I hope to translate some my experiences in Guatemala to work with local communities in California. I hope this work can eventually be translated into policies that affect underserved communities in the US and eventually abroad.
Ahhh vaya!
-Anshu
