The Heart of Public Health: Lessons in Partnership and Trust from Grenada
Elinor Artsy Navon
1st Year MPH Environmental Health Student
Since starting my studies in public health, I have often learned about and discussed the concept (and importance) of partnership and trust, but sometimes it felt quite abstract - that is, until I got on the ground. My time in Grenada with the Grenada Red Cross Society (GRCS) was a transformative experience. Due to the partnership and trust we had with GRCS, I was able to sit across from people I never would have met otherwise, from officials in the Ministry to local volunteers who knew every corner of the communities we traveled through, and I realized how much more impactful our work could be because they were willing to let us in. That level of trust is a privilege, and not something to be taken for granted.
The work we had done in Michigan and then in Grenada was the result of a true, ongoing partnership with PHAST and GRCS. Even before arrival we worked with the GRCS staff to develop a survey we would use within the communities we surveyed, building together a set of questions that would provide essential information we could use to create and develop our idea(s) together. We spent our days interviewing community members and local stakeholders and, eventually, refining our recommendations to the GRCS based on what we had learned. Some of our most meaningful moments were those that directly related to this ongoing partnership and trust, such as arriving after a long drive across the island and being trusted to effectively engage with and gain the perspectives of a new community, or working in partnership with Miss Yvonne to create the informational flyer we would distribute as we conducted our surveys. Those moments were where an incredible amount of learning and impact happened.
By the end of the week, the data we gathered through those interviews, which we were able to obtain because of the trust the GRCS had placed in us, gave us a clearer path forward. We can now offer stronger recommendations on how they can best direct their efforts toward long-term sustainability. The School of Public Health has been building this relationship for nearly a decade, and I felt the weight and the benefit of that history while I was there. It was an intense and incredibly fulfilling experience, and from my time in Grenada, I learned far more about connection than I ever could have in a classroom.
