The Baines Report
A Partnership Piece from the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy As of March 13, 2014, women in Michigan are expected to plan ahead for unplanned pregnancies. Yes, you read that right. The passage of the “Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act” in Michigan requires most private and all public health insurance plans to offer […]
Ethiopia is a vast country with terrain that varies from deserts to lush green jungles. During my time in country, there was one aspect that stood out no matter where in Ethiopia I traveled: donkeys. Donkeys were everywhere. No, not the blue donkey taxis–the living and breathing animal kind. I could usually spot them grazing […]
Poverty can easily be seen throughout the capital of Ethiopia, but nowhere is it more evident than when you pass a beggar on the street. Beggars are everywhere in Addis Ababa, and they represent a vast range of demographics. There are men, women, children of all ages and conditions– some with their mothers, some without, […]
While IUDs have become a course of controversy and new restrictions in the US, the Government of Ethiopia is actively trying to expand access to IUDs and other long term birth controls to women all over the country. In 2005 the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia began a Health Expansion Program that created paid and […]
There is widespread belief that small-scale farming is the sustainable and equitable solution to solving the crises of hunger and poverty in developing countries. For an international development course last semester, I reviewed Roger Thurow’s The Last Hunger Season, a journalistic account of how small-scale farming improved the lives of four farmers in rural villages […]
One of the greatest things about working in a tight knit community lies in the stories and friendships that you develop with the community members. Perhaps for me, an even greater part is having a colleague who speaks Hindi and can translate these stories while I am in rural India. We talked with the laborers […]
July 1st – 26. July 2nd – 19. July 3rd – 27. In India there are rarely small numbers. A lot of people, a lot of cell phones and, most importantly for us, there are a lot of people defecating outside. 650 million people defecating outside. Unfortunately, the numbers that I encounter every day are […]
Justine* looked puzzled when she picked up the plastic disc. How were you supposed to play sports with this hard, flat thing? It didn’t look anything like a ball. After a few moments of hesitation, she and the other women at the youth center in Gisenyi, Rwanda had figured it out. They forgot all about […]
I’ve had a lot of internships. I’ve had a lot of jobs. I’ve also done a lot of volunteer work. One thing I’ve learned is that organizational culture matters. There are settings where the team is supported, motivated, and inspired, and then there are those competitive, difficult settings where you can’t wait to leave. Most […]
This summer I am working with Save the Children’s monitoring and evaluation team in the El Salvador office. For the past month, I have coordinated the midline evaluation of a package of programs focused on early childhood care and development. Over the last several weeks, four teams made up of surveyors and nutritionists have collected data […]