School of Public Health Marci Andersen received her master’s degree in global health from Loma Linda University School of Public Health. After graduation, she went to Chad to serve as part of the global scholarship awardee program. In Chad, Marci began to see what needs had to be met. Along with other public health workers she began a community health worker program. Through that program, they worked to appoint local representatives who could help be responsible for the health needs of the community. One of the community needs that they recognized was for functional, safe wells. The village they were in had 21 different neighborhoods, with 21 separate administrative areas and 21 different neighborhood representatives. Because of this, they chose to name their project to facilitate these wells “Project 21.” In response to the issue of malfunctioning wells, Marci and her fellow public health workers trained a number of the community health workers to fix the broken wells. As a result, the broken wells in the village have all been repaired.
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Their next focus has been to create charcoal filters the community can make themselves. They are testing different designs that would enable a family to construct a filter for about $1. The filter should last 3-6 months, after which they would only need to change out the charcoal and none of the filter’s parts. Marci’s incredible work in Chad has been supported by the Loma Linda University School of Public Health and the Vision 2020 campaign. School of Public Health Accomplishments • Renovated a classroom in Nichol Hall, strengthening resources for innovative learning. • Grew the pipeline for future students by establishing the Careers in Public Health program for prospective students, ranging from high school students to university graduates. • Established the first endowed professorship to support the Adventist Health Study research, with the largest private donation the school has received.
