Residents of the predominately Catholic village felt conflicted because standard medical advice was contrary to their religious beliefs, she said. But Downey did find ways to make a difference, most notably when a group of local teachers, nurses and other volunteers contacted her about starting a nongovernmental organization offering counseling for families struggling with health, economic and relationship issues. Downey acted as a consultant, helping them found the Better Family Foundation, and in that group she discovered a platform to do public health education in a secular setting. “It was a backdoor approach of meeting the community’s needs,” she said.
Shannon Downey earned credits toward her graduate degree in international public health and development from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine while serving in Cameroon
Peace Corps a natural option for many UW graduates in search of life lessons
Friday, March 28, 2008
By MARY ANN ALBRIGHT, Columbian staff writer
The University of Washington has more alumni serving in the Peace Corps than any other college or university in the country, and it seems the two are natural allies.
[Excerpt]
Downey, 34, worked for several years after completing her undergraduate degree and was able to later integrate her Peace Corps experience with graduate school.
Through the Peace Corps Master’s International Program, Downey earned credits toward her graduate degree in international public health and development from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine while serving in Cameroon.
Downey worked in HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care in Njinikom from fall 2005 to spring 2007. She was sent to work with a Catholic mission hospital, but quickly realized that religious and cultural differences would make her job extremely challenging.
Part of Downey’s health education program included helping the community understand the importance of condoms in preventing the spread of HIV. However, the nuns running the hospital supported only abstinence and fidelity and would not broach the topic of prophylactics and other forms of birth control with patients.
Residents of the predominately Catholic village felt conflicted because standard medical advice was contrary to their religious beliefs, she said.
But Downey did find ways to make a difference, most notably when a group of local teachers, nurses and other volunteers contacted her about starting a nongovernmental organization offering counseling for families struggling with health, economic and relationship issues. Downey acted as a consultant, helping them found the Better Family Foundation, and in that group she discovered a platform to do public health education in a secular setting.
“It was a backdoor approach of meeting the community’s needs,” she said.
The experience was beneficial to Downey as well.
“I learned things I never could have learned from a textbook,” she said.
Downey is back in Vancouver, but the Better Family Foundation she helped launch continues to grow, and that makes all the struggles she faced worthwhile.
“(The Better Family Foundation) was an organic experience. It came from them. I was able to plant a seed,” she said. “Peace Corps is about what you facilitate and put in motion that will continue after you’re gone.”
