USVI Part 2: The Reckoning

Emily Dejka, Epidemiology Student

February 27, 2020, Community Partnership, Disaster Relief, Practice, Research

I cannot believe it’s March already. Even though it feels like the first trip was last month, it’s been over four months. So, in six days and some change, I’ll be heading back to the Virgin Islands to do a second follow-up CASPER. This will allow the CDC to assess how residents have been responding since Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

Before the first trip, I didn’t have many expectations. I had nothing to compare it against and had too much to do to prepare to give it much thought. Even though I know what to expect this time, I feel more anxious than I did previously. This could be due to a number of factors. The first that comes to mind is that we’re now 66 days to graduation, which is a fun fact I like to dole out when I’m feeling especially optimistic. Another is that I feel proud of the work that was accomplished during the last trip. We had an 88% completion rate for our surveys and it was nice to know that all that data was going to help the residents that gave it. I can only hope that what we do this time is as meaningful.

I also hope that we are able to bond and work together as a group. The first trip, I knew the rest of the students better because we were all second years. So even though things weren’t easy all the time, we had a certain level of comfort/familiarity that helped with those difficult times. I hope that we will all be able to lean on each other when needed and have honest conversations about the work that we’re doing.

Cutting through all of this noise, is a sense of excitement. The first trip has become a part of my journey in public health and I hope to build upon what I did there the first time. It will also give me an opportunity to do some needed reflection going into my final two months of this program. The short of it is that the Virgin Islands are a beautiful space to be and I’m looking forward to engaging with the residents again.