Kari Brown

Journal 1

1/14/19 (h) 2:00-4:30pm; 1/15 (h) 2:00-4:00pm

1/16 7:00am-3:30pm; 1/17, 7:00am-3:30pm,

1/18 7:00am-3:30pm

30 hours total

Journal 1

The first two days of the week, I worked from home. I work from home two days a week,

because of spacing issues due to the merging of the Opioid branch. However, I still had a good

amount of work to do. The first two days I spent reading about the VAS program and its

background. I was able to learn about their implementation programs and policy changes. It was

neat to read about it and know what they were talking about when they would mention norms

and values, safe environments, income, education and other intervention strategies. I was also

able to read up on their partners such as WHO, PEPFAR, and Together for Girls. It took a while

to get through all of the information as well as understanding and remembering it, because there

are so many countries.

Wednesday through Friday I worked in the office. Thankfully I am not commuting from

Milledgeville, however the commute from McDonough is still rough. I wake up at 5am on these

days in order to be on the road by 5:45-6, so I don’t hit rush hour traffic. Honestly, when it hits

3:30 I am so ready to go and so tired. I am definitely not used to these hours, but I’m getting

there. Security is also crazy. I have to have a fancy badge to get in anywhere and even to connect

to Wifi. The hardest part of the day though, was trying to figure out how to get out of the parking

garage. I know that sounds silly, but there’s SO many floors to it.
 Although adulting has been an adjustment, I have already learned so much. Wednesday

was kind of a slow day, because they were still setting up my office and paperwork. Thursday

was a really good day though. I was able to go to the main CDC campus and sit in on a lectur4e

with my team about PEPFAR. I knew a little bit about PEPFAR, but now I know so much more.

The speaker was Deborah Birx, who was appointed by President Bush, President Obama, and

now President Trump. She was appointed as the global AIDS coordinator and has made many

accomplishments. She started out the lecture aiming towards younger adults/ students, telling us

her mistakes. She went on explaining that she had misconceptions of the government thinking

that it just controls everything. However, she has learned that the Federal Government gives you

an opportunity to change the future as well as change policies that affect people’s lives. As she

was finishing her opening statement, she went into what PEPFAR does and how it started. The

coolest part to me though, was that Mrs. Birx actually gave a shout out to the VACS team for all

of their data, because it served as a vital role in their research and being able to reach people and

give them treatment for HIV/AIDS. It was really eye-opening to see how this team of 15-20

people impact thousands of lives in these different countries.

Friday I was able to sit in their branch meeting and talk about different data collection

software’s and new countries that are being added to VACS. I was also able to help write survey

questionnaires for Malawi and Kenya. It was interesting to see how we had to ask the same

question, but in a different way since some sayings are taboo in other countries. I’m still not sure

what my “big” project will be yet, as my supervisor is in Moldova this week, but he says next

week we will go over everything and figure out what I’m doing!

I am so excited about this internship, not only because it is with CDC, but because of the

topic. Child abuse is so near and dear to my heart and I feel so privileged to be able to help make
a difference in any way that I can. I am definitely soaking up all the opportunities and education

that are being presented. I have met so many people this week as well and I hope to somehow get

my foot in the door here!

Kari Brown

Journal 2

1/22/18(7am-4pm; 9hours); 1/24/19 (7am-4pm; 9 hours)

Journal 2

This week my days changed. I was glad they changed, because the first week I went on

days where most people teleworked. My days changed from Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

to Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. So, since this Monday was a holiday, I was able to have the

day off. This week was also really nice, because more people were in the office and I was able to

meet new co-workers.

On Tuesday, I spent the day programming the tablets for the survey questionnaires. This

was getting repetitive, but since I hadn’t gotten a CDC email, I couldn’t really do anything else. I

also was able to collaborate with the Emory grad students and work with them on some of their

projects. I also had the chance to talk with them about the grad programs as well and hopefully I

will be able to meet with some of the professors.

Thursday was a great day! I received my email and lap top and I was able to finally

access some of the files they had been waiting to send me. The big thing I was able to do on

Thursday was to help set up the branch luncheon. This was really cool, because people on my

team are from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Haiti, Ecuador, Columbia, Greece, and other places! So

everyone brought a dish from their native country and it was amazing. Not only was the food

amazing, but the conversations were even greater. I was able to get to know my co-workers and

how they came here and what exactly they did before CDC and now. I found out by talking to

one lady that I am really interested in becoming a Health Educator Specialist. I am realizing that

I am more interested in the implementation side of things, rather than the data side. She is
allowing me to help with her with implementation programs and I am very excited! Now that I

am all set up and know more people I am looking forward to the rest of my time here.
Kari Brown

Journal 3

1/28/ 7:00am-12:00pm, 12:30pm-3:30pm; 1/29 (h) 8:00am-12:30pm, 1pm-5pm

1/30 (h) 10am-4:00pm; 1/31, 7:00am-12pm, 12:30-3:30pm,

31.5 hours total

Journal 3

This week I was finally able to get my lap top, which meant I was able to have access to

all the projects my team is working on. On Monday, I was able to work on getting more tablets

ready for the Moldova data collection phase 2 and I was able to work on a literature review I was

assigned to do. Along with that literature review, I was also assigned to comparing surveys from

Kenya and Mozambique.

The literature review I was assigned to do is about abused boys in Uganda. My supervisor

explained to me the Uganda was over sampled and it is the largest sample in the world and that

no one has touched it yet. Therefore, He has asked me to get the research started by doing a

literature review on any information involving abuse, child neglect, drug use, perpetrators, etc in

Uganda. I am very excited about this, because it made A’s on all my literature reviews last

semester and I am excited to use my knowledge from that class and impress my supervisor.

The survey comparison I had to do all taught me so much. The surveys were over 200

questions, so it took me about 2 work days to complete and also fully understand. This exercise

allowed me to understand what VACS does more clearly and it brought a ton of questions. I was

able to speak with my colleagues about my questions on Thursday and it was such great

conversations. This conversation lead to the health educator specialist wanting me to sit in on a

call with other CDC workers to discuss trainings that she is creating.
 On Thursday, I was able to sit in on a meeting with leaders from USAID, PEPFAR, and

Moldova. This was so cool, because I was able to join in on the conversation about how data

collecting phase two would work. I was also allowed to sit in on the meeting about the data

collecting for Mozambique. I really enjoyed this meeting, because I was also able to contribute

ideas and give my opinion. It was neat being able to use my education from GCSU and actually

understanding what was happening and the process that was happening.

My favorite part of the week though was working with the health educator specialist. She

allowed me to help create her trainings and after the meeting went on to tell me how impressed

she was with my ideas and work. She then offered to let me help continue these trainings with

her and to maybe use them for my end of the semester project. I have found that I love doing

what a health educator does rather than data, so that has been a good lesson. I have my meeting

Monday with my supervisor to discuss my project further. Overall, this experience has been

worthwhile, and I absolutely love it.

Kari Brown

Journal 4

2/4/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 2/5/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 2/6/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 2/7/19 (h) 8:00am-

12:00pm; 2/8/19 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm

110.5 hours total

Journal 4

This week I focused more on my semester project and the data part of the VACS survey.

On Monday and Tuesday, I worked with the Health Educator Specialist and we nailed down

most of the training topics I am going to present as well as design. The four topics are the

background on VACS, Gender roles in countries, HIV/AIDS and either interviews and technique

or community involvement. I am so excited to create the trainings and show what we do. It has

been really hard explaining the purpose of VACS and what we do, but now that I have been

immersed in it, I feel like I can accurately explain what we do.

This week I also worked more on the data side of VACS. At first, I was not excited about

doing the data part, but after we got into to it, I found myself enjoying it. I did not necessarily do

the coding part, but instead we looked for confidence intervals within the data. I was excited for

this, because we did this in research methods and I was pumped I knew what to look for. After

we found the confidence intervals we would try and think of why the data would show this. For

example, one of the confidence intervals I had was the time of day girls would get raped in

Zimbabwe. The data showed that the time of day this would happen the most was either in the

afternoon or evening. I suggested to my team that this might be because girls are walking home

from school or fetching water and doing chores. In this society, parents are at work long into the
late afternoon and the girls have to run the house. Being out alone makes them more susceptible

to predators.

Overall, I love what I am doing, and I am learning so much. I also applied to the

Public Health Associate Program and I am hoping my experience and this internship help me get

the position. I am so excited for what this internship has prepared me for so far and I am looking

forward to the next coming weeks.

Kari Brown

Journal 5

2/11/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 2/12/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

2/13/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 2/14/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

2/15/18 (h) 8:00-1:00pm

146 hours total

Journal 5

As my internship continues to move forward, I am realizing how lucky I am to have this

opportunity. As I sit in the weekly meetings, I am taken away by how much this project impacts

these children globally. When I first started, I was given small tedious tasks and I did not

understand why I had to do them. I was thinking to myself, like why are they given me grunt

work? I want to be doing the big stuff! However, I am realizing that all the “small” things, like

setting up tablets, revising survey and formats all play a huge part in violence against children.

So now that I am understanding this, I am appreciating all the tasks I am given and really putting

all my effort into it.

This week, I met with the other interns and we brainstormed more ideas for the Trainer

Certificate Program and how we would implement it. I am using my knowledge from HPPP and

Methods of Health Promotion to help me think of ways that are engaging and sustainable. This

training is so important, because when it works correctly it ensures quality data. With the quality

data comes prevention against child abuse which is the main goal.

On Tuesday, I had my meeting with Stephane, the Health Educator Specialist, and we

nailed down my topics. I am excited to dig in and get started, but first we have to create goals, a

timeline, and a plan. We decided on meeting once a week to go over these details and to continue
to meet after those details are planned in order to check my progress. I am excited she is taking

me on, because I am learning so much from her. I look forward to these meetings and her

guidance.

On Thursday, I worked on the head of household survey for Mozambique and the

Question by Question review. The head of house hold survey focuses on who they live with,

where the get their water, where their waste goes etc. I also revised the Q by Q, which is for the

interviewer to look at if he doesn’t know how to respond to the child or if he needs to further

explain something from the survey. Without these two pieces of information, we would not be

able to obtain quality data.

Anyways, I just love it here. I love what I do and the purpose of this work. I really hope

to work in a job like this one day, because the impact they are making is huge. I am going to be

very said when my internship comes to an end, but I am grateful for this journey.
Kari Brown

Journal 6

2/18/19 (h) 7:00am-3:30pm; 2/19/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

2/20/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 2/21/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

2/22/18 (h) 8:00-1:00pm

182 hours total

36 hours for the week

Journal 6

This week was very eye opening and exciting. Most of the team is still in Namibia this

week, so I spent every day working alongside, Stephane, the Health Educator Specialist. So, I

was able to really get my hands dirty with the end of the semester project and help with the

trainings for Mozambique. I collaborated with her about ideas for the new trainings we are

doing, and she was very impressed with my ideas. She explained that not many people “get it”

when it comes to health education, because it can be very hard to separate the analytical thinking

and then trying to think of “fun” activities for educating. I was really encouraged when she said

this, because I finally feel like I have found what I am good at in Public Health.

This week we also worked on the time line for Moldova and Mozambique. These

countries have been so hard to nail down, because there is so much back and forth and funding

issues. It has taught me to be flexible and always have a backup plan. Being in these situations

has made me grateful for my personality. I usually tend to think I am very laid-back and go with

the flow, but also a little “let’s get down to business”. This has helped because whenever a plan

did not work out, I would just let it go and move on to the next without getting defeated or
frustrated. I have enjoyed these experiences, because I think it will help me in the future and

prepare me for other unplanned circumstances.

The highlight of my week though, was having the conversation about potentially hiring

me after graduation! Stephane sat me down and asked me my goals, what I wanted to do after

graduation, and what I was wanting out of a job. I was able to share that I loved what I was doing

here and that this was my dream job. She was so surprised, because no one had known that I

wanted to stay on with the VACS team. This conversation led to us thinking of potential ways I

could be hired on without a masters. You see, I do not want to get my masters right away,

because I wanted experience first. However, I can work at CDC and they can pay for me to get

my masters and that is what I hope to do. So, we have looked into either me becoming a

contractor and then an FTE (Federal Employee) or coming in as an ORISE fellow through CDC.

I was not expecting them to want to hire me, so I was extremely humbled and encouraged.

However, so far me having a job with VACS after graduation is not looking as good as we

hoped. Unfortunately, VACS is not technically a “branch” yet, therefore they don’t have much

funding right now. But, in June they will find out if they can be established and then they would

get the funding for a position for me. This gets me excited, because now I have options with the

PHAP program, VACS, and two other jobs I applied for at CDC. Fingers crossed something

works out!!!
Kari Brown

Journal 7

2/25/19 (h) 7:00am-3:30pm; 2/26/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

2/27/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 2/28/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

3/1/18 (h) 8:00-1:00pm

218 hours total

36 hours for the week

Journal 7

This week was extremely busy. I have not felt overwhelmed by anything yet, but this

week we nailed a time line down for the completion of the training we are completing, and I was

slightly overwhelmed. The timeline for the trainings ends on my second to last day here. I did

not realize how close the semester is to being over. This is exciting, yet also really scary. With

this time crunch, I am scrambling trying to get everything done, but I am also telling myself slow

down and take it all in. It is definitely a balance.

Through these trainings, I have found what truly sets me on fire and I am so grateful to

have found my passion. I love Health Education. These trainings have allowed me to explore

different ways to educate based on different audiences and cultures. I believe this lesson is so

important in public health, because the purpose of public health is to educate the public. If we do

not convey the information the correct way, then the public will not know what to do about an

issue or even know about a certain issue. Health education is all about making sure the public is

informed correctly and concisely and I love having the opportunity to make sure that happens.

This week, I also started the process of working with Lesotho. Since this is my third

country I have worked with so far, I finally feel like I know what is going on. I can finally
memorize the order in which the process happens, so now I can do things without having to ask

questions and instead just have them review. I can now sit in on calls with my countries and

contribute and ask questions, whereas before on these certain calls I would observe and take

everything in.

I also have been given more responsibility in the area of working with the director of

VACS now too. My highlight moment of the week was sitting in our branch meeting and

contributing an idea that she sent to the director of the Injury and Prevention Center, which is so

cool! In our meeting, we were talking about ways to shine a light on how important our mission

is. We discussed about how showing pictures of abused children do not really compel people

about wanting to stop violence against children. In circumstances such as tobacco and cigarettes,

prevention pictures do compel people to stop, so we had to brain storm different ideas that would

help our cause. I came up with the idea of using a story that child protective services wrote about

called “Lisa’s Story”. Lisa’s Story is a 911 operated phone call where Lisa was 6 years old

calling 911 because of domestic violence and child abuse within her family. During this phone

call you hear a scared child calling for help because of abuse happening in her family. I felt that

hearing a violent situation was very different from seeing a picture of an abused child, I felt that

it might grab people’s attention without them being repulsed. Along with this 911 clip, her story

of resilience is posted with it. In her story she writes about her childhood and the abuse, but she

writes about how if people did not step up and help, she would not be where she is today. I

thought this idea was a good way to draw people’s attention to see a glimpse of how bad it can

be, but also bring in a lighter note with the resilience story. Apparently, they liked it, so we will

see what the other director says! Either way, I’m glad she thought it was a creative idea and it

definitely boosted my confidence.

Kari Brown

Journal 8

3/4/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 3/5/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

3/6/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 3/7/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

3/8/18 (h) 8:00-1:00pm

254 hours total

36 hours for the week

Journal 8

This week was a pretty slow week. Most of the team that went to Namibia, came back to

the US this week and we were able to do a debrief on the training that went on in Namibia. They

took a few of the trainings Stephane and I had been working on and they said it was a HUGE

success. This was so encouraging, because when I was given this project, I had no idea what I

was doing. Thankfully, I now have a handle on things, but at first it was way over my head.

Hopefully with these new trainings there will be a better response rate from the participants.

This week was also very focused on the Mozambique trainings. I had to realign, check,

and edit the male and female survey. This is my least favorite part of my internship, because it is

so tedious. However, it is also so vital to the work that we do. After we finished the Mozambique

tasks, we went on to working on the trainings. This week we reviewed the trainings that the

Emory grad students worked on. They were really good, but also lacked some of the health

education parts. Stephane was really great about giving feedback. Instead of calling them out on

what they did not have, she encouraged them about what they did have and suggested to add

some more things. I think it’s important to work with people like this. Stephane is a great leader
and I love how encouraging she is. She makes coming to this internship something to look

forward to.

I also have a few updates on me personally. It is very ironic since our discussion post was

about if we were planning to get a masters or not and what our life looked like after graduation.

After many conversations with my supervisor and Stephane, it came down to the conclusion that

it would be very hard for CDC to hire me without a masters. So, I did some digging to find an

MPH program that worked for me. I found an amazing accelerated hybrid/online MPH program

at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. This program allows me to continue interning with VACS

and do PHAP (if I’m accepted) while getting my masters. It is an 18-month accelerated program

that only requires me to come to the campus 2 weekends the entire time. The purpose of their

program is to allow students to still gain experience while getting their MPH. How cool is that?!

This plan would allow me to do everything I wanted! Another cool part about this, is that the

concentration is community health which is based on health education and global public health

(which is my jam). Anyways, I am submitting my application Monday and I am praying that it

works out. This semester has been so exciting and filled with so many ups and downs, but I

wouldn’t change it for anything!

Kari Brown

Journal 9

3/11/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 3/12/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

3/13/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 3/14/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

3/15/18 (h) 8:00-1:00pm

290 hours total

36 hours for the week

Journal 9

This week was very crazy. There were a ton of deadlines that needed to be met and not

very much time to complete them. Mozambique was trying to push back the date for the data to

action plan, but because of funding that could not happen. This week was the first week I was

able to be a part of a data to action plan. Data to action is where the implementation team

analyzes the data and helps implement programs in that country to help with what the data is

showing. This is where our partners Together for Girls and Boys to Men come in and help us

reach our data to action goals.

The team is planning to go to Mozambique in a few weeks and they are taking some of

the slides we did for the training. I am excited to see how they go for this training, since it is a

different country and different group of people. I spent the week helping Soletchi get everything

together for the Mozambique training. There were a ton of meetings with USAID and PEPFAR

that had to be done this week and it was crazy seeing the “negotiating dance” that had to be done

if plans did not work out. I believe it was a good lesson to learn and to see how “on your toes”

you have to be. I think a huge quality a person needs for VACS is flexibility and being a quick

thinker.
 We also had a meeting this week with another injury CDC survey group. They were

talking about how their respondent rates were extremely low and not improving. Their survey is

phone call based and I was thinking to myself “well, people don’t really ever answer their

phones to numbers they don’t recognize”. Our team spent an hour coming up with different ways

to get respondents and I finally got the courage to pitch my idea. I asked them who their target

population was, and they said people 18+. I went on and explained that a good way to get

responses from 18-24 year old’s is through DMs (direct messages) on apps such as Instagram,

Snapchat, and Twitter. I explained that if they made their social media page “verified” then more

people would be more likely to answer a DM survey with an incentive rather than having to take

the time to call and respond. They really liked the idea and are looking into it.

I feel I might have a niche for health communications, just like my mom at CDC. It has

been interesting to see traits my mom has in public health kind of come out in me as well. I have

really enjoyed all the opportunities I have been given here and I like being able to be a part of

diverse meetings and projects.

Kari Brown

Journal 10

3/18/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 3/19/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

3/20/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 3/21/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

3/22/18 (h) 8:00-1:00pm

290 hours total

36 hours for the week

Journal 10

This week I decided to work through spring break. They gave me the option to skip this

week, because I will definitely meet my hours, but I love what I do, and I wanted to still go. I

also wanted to still go in, because this week I was able to present my trainings to more reviewers.

I received really great feedback. Mostly to change some wording, but also that my activities I

came up with were very beneficial and engaging. This was encouraging, because I was

presenting these in front of people with master’s degrees and PHD’s (talk about intimidating!).

Anyways, I still have two more training modules to present this coming week and I am excited to

present them for more people!

After I present these next two trainings, I will continue to go up the chain for clearance

and then soon they will be used for all VACS training in so many countries! CRAZY! I am

excited to share these trainings I have created with you during our site visit. I know it will be

good to get feedback from you as well and the VACS team is excited to have fresh eyes. I cannot

believe my presentation is right around the corner. I am also excited for you to be able to meet

this incredible team.

 We have decided on doing the presentation April 29th. Unfortunately, my main supervisor

will be in Mozambique for data collection. However, the health educator specialist I have been

working with will be there as well as the team chief, Greta. I think this will also be a great

opportunity to create a partnership with the VACS team to have more GCSU students intern

there, because I have learned so much.

Kari Brown

Journal 11

3/25/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 3/26/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

3/27/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 3/28/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

3/29/18 7-3:30pm

330 hours total

40 hours for the week

Journal 11

This week was a very busy week. I am starting to realize that the VACS team is always

going and there is never really any down time. I actually like that it is this way because it makes

time go by so much faster and I just like being busy in general. This week we focused on the

second review of certification trainings and Mozambique trainings. The Mozambique plans have

been crazy. We learned this week that the trainings have to be done in 16 different languages,

(WHAT?!). When I heard that, my mind could not even fathom 16 languages, but somehow it is

being done. After seeing this, I really wish I would have taken a language in college. I don’t

know why I wasn’t thinking that if I ended up doing global work that it would be helpful to

know a different language. That is probably a big regret I have now that I am graduating.

This week we had our second review of the certificate trainings. The two modules I

presented on were HIV/AIDS Consent and referral and Response plan. I enjoyed presenting on

these, because these topics were very interesting to me. The HIV presentation was about how

VACS will perform the HIV test and how a person would tell the child if they were HIV positive

or negative. I found this super important, because this is a hard topic to talk about with someone

if they are positive. I found it to be a privilege to create activities and content for this module to
train others on how to approach these situations. The other module was response plan. This

module is educating VACS trainers if they come in contact with a child in an acute case. An

acute case is when the child is in immediate danger and needs help immediately. I was able to

redesign the flow chart that stated the steps of the plan, which is very important. The chart before

the one I created was very hard to read, so I am glad I got the opportunity to create something

easy and clear to read.

I received great feedback on these two modules. However, there is still more I can

improve on. As much as I like the positive feedback, I really enjoy the constructive criticism,

because I want to do better and be better. I feel their criticism is extremely helpful and really

gives me the chance to push past my own boundaries I have set for myself. They challenge me a

lot, which sometimes I feel lost, but in the end, I create something greater than either of us could

imagine. I am very lucky to work with such great people that not only encourage me daily but

challenge my abilities.
Kari Brown

Journal 12

4/1/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 4/2/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

4/3/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 4/4/19 7:00am-4:00pm;

4/5/18 7-3:30pm

406.5 hours total

40 hours for the week

Journal 12

This week was focused on revising our edits we needed to make for our certificate

training. I spent most of the time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday adding pictures to my

slides, fixing grammatical errors, and revising some of my content. I was happy to go through

and think about different ways I could change some of my wording or ways I could present

content in different, innovative ways. We have the next review, next week and I am excited to

show the next group of people and hear their feedback.

This week we also spent time getting some documentation done for Mozambique. We

were able to talk the country down from 16 languages to only 3 languages. This is great news

because we did not have the funds for 16 different interpreters. I also spent time helping Soletchi

get some slides done for the training. These slides were made to specifically fit the Mozambique

country. I always enjoy doing these slides, because I am able to see how each country works and

how their cultural etiquette is implemented in their community. I think it is really interesting to

see a continent have such different traditions and behaviors in each country inside of that

continent. It just goes to show people are so different regardless of their location.
 On Thursday, we had a branch meeting and we were able to go over different

publications that were in progress. There were over 20 papers happening and it was interesting to

hear the different topics. Most of the topics were based off of VACS data that was found in

certain countries. I loved hearing about the different data found and then the reason behind

why/how it was happening, then that information was followed with a plan on how to stop it.

I love being a part of a team that is making so many needed changes all around the world.

It is such a privilege getting to see them take action in the field and then work to make a

difference. I am honored that I have gotten to spend my semester getting to help make these

differences and making it possible for VACS workers to implement their training to gather their

data. I will definitely miss it!

Kari Brown

Journal 13

4/8/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 4/9/19 7:00am-3:30pm;

4/10/18 (h) 8:00am-1:00pm; 4/11/19 8:00am-1:00pm;

4/12/18 8:00am-1pm

438.5 hours total

32 hours for the week

Journal 13

This week was pretty slow. Most of the team is out of the country. This week was mainly

focused on revising the certificate trainings and ironing out small, but major details. The details

we worked on were things such as creating a picture that we could use brand our trainings. We

also worked out picking out the pictures that best fit our slides, which is a lot harder than it

sounds. We finished the big part of this project and now we are focusing on small details and it is

taking a very long time. I didn’t realize how thoughtful we had to be when picking these things

out, but I guess it makes sense since these are eventually going to be CDC branded. Ironing out

the small details has been my least favorite part, because it’s so much time for something so

small.

Last week our presentations for management got rescheduled to this coming Tuesday.

The team had more pressing issues to deal with for Mozambique. I am excited but also nervous

to share our trainings. So instead of doing our presentations, we helped with beta testing for

Mozambique. This is also a tedious job. We had to clean up tablets from when they were used in

Colombia. Let me tell you, it is very hard to work android tablets when you are an Apple person.
Haha. I felt so incompetent because Androids and Apple are SO different! After a few tries, I

was able to get the hang of it.

This week I also heard back from the PHAP program. I got selected for the second round

and this time I had to submit a personal statement episode and locations where I would be okay

with relocating. This was kind of scary, because it is starting to get more real that I could be

moving out of state. The places I selected were Hawaii, Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, Montana,

Utah, Texas, NC, SC, GA, Tennessee, Florida, and the Virgin Islands! I basically told myself if I

relocate it better be somewhere cool, haha. The next round is in person interviews, so I hope I

will make it to that round!

Kari Brown

Journal 14

4/16/19 7:00am-3:30pm; 4/17/18 (h) 8:00am-3:30pm; 4/19/18 8:00am-3pm (h)

461.5 hours total

23 hours for the week

Journal 14

This week was a very short week for me. There were two days I could not go in this week

due to other obligations in Milledgeville for graduation. On Monday, I had to skip, because of

the graduation fair. I could not have done the drive from Milledgeville to Atlanta, since the fair

was in the middle of the day. Thankfully they were fine with it especially since I have almost

met my hours.

Tuesday was the big day for me. That day was finally the day I presented my modules to

management. They loved what we created and were very encouraging about it. Of course, there

was some constructive feedback about adding some things here and there, but they weren’t like

this is awful, so that was nice. After that presentation was over, I felt like there was just a huge

weight lifted off my shoulders. Everything I had been working towards this semester was finally

done! However, it was also bittersweet because now that I am done with my project all that’s left

is my presentation with you. I cannot believe it is almost over!

On Wednesday, Stephane and I worked on how I would present my project to you and

how I could also incorporate what exactly the VACS team does. I feel like it is important to

educate you on the VACS process before I present my project, otherwise it would be very

confusing, and you might be lost. The VACS process can be very confusing if not presented the

right way either, so we are carefully picking and choosing which content we use. I am so excited
to finally explain in person what my team does. It is so hard to explain over writing so I think

being able to go over it in person will be very exciting and interesting. I almost wish all the

public health professors could come, haha. On Thursday, I could not go in that day either,

because of graduation pictures in Milledgeville. Again, they were fine with me missing that day,

since I let them know months ago. Lastly, on Friday, I worked on Mozambique paperwork and

help Soletchi with different slides for training. Anyways, I am looking forward to the end of the

semester and my final project! See you soon!

P.S.- I was also written about in the CDC newsletter for my award! Someone on my team

submitted the write up! I attached some screen shots! 

Kari Brown

Journal 15

4/22/19 8:00am-1:00pm (h); 4/23/18 (h) 8:00am-3:30pm; 4/25/18 8:00am-3:30pm; 4/26/19 8am-

1pm (h)

486.5 hours total

25 hours for the week

Journal 15

This last week was very bittersweet. I didn’t work on any projects except my own for

next week. We spent our team weekly meeting talking about my work over the semester, what I

am doing after, and just overall goodbyes. Most of the team will be traveling next week so we

had to do our goodbyes now, which was kind of sad. This team has made the biggest impact on

me by encouraging, challenging, and mentoring me. However, although it is coming to an end, I

cannot express how nice it is to be done with my CDC project. I’ve worked so long and so hard

on this project, so to finally see it being complete is such a proud feeling. Now, all I have to do is

present it to you!

Next week, most of the team will be in Mozambique, so only a few can attend my

presentation. It will be you, Howard (Supervisor/ Team Lead), Stephane (Health Educator

Specialist), Greta (Chief of Branch), and Leah (Implementation Team Member). I have planned

to present a little back ground on VACS, then talk about my work, and lastly, present one of my

training modules to you. We will be partaking in the activity that I created, and I am very excited

for that. You will be able to see real questions from the questionnaire and partake in the

interviewing process.
 I also found out some very exciting news this week. I found out I was accepted into

Baylor University for their MPH program. This is so exciting, because not only will I be getting

a masters, but I will also most likely continue my internship with VACS later this year. My

concentration for my masters will be community health/ health education and I am hoping I will

be able to take part in the traveling and teaching my modules to various countries. I am also still

holding out for the PHAP program as well. One of the main reasons I picked Baylor University

was because their program is hybrid, meaning I only go to Waco, Texas twice a semester. This

would allow me to do all three options: get an MPH (starts in July), intern with VACS July-

October, then start PHAP afterwards, if accepted. I know this is a crazy plan, but it also gives me

options if something doesn’t work out. GCSU’s program and my internship has made me so

passionate about communicating and educating different communities, so now I just want to do

all that I possibly can to make a difference. I love this field!