Throughout our time in Johannesburg, we visited multiple NGOs focusing on a range of issues. From women’s health to circumcision, we discussed many different issues which are at the forefront in South Africa. On the first day, we visited an NGO, called ANOVA, where we learned about various efforts to help gay men and women. The stigma around homosexuality affects gay men and women’s access to healthcare. ANOVA’s projects focus on creating gay friendly clinics and support groups.
We also visited MSF where we learned about the other side of the organization that many people don’t really know about. Although MSF is known for doctors travelling around the world to help people in other countries, we learned about their permanent location in Johannesburg that focuses on vaccines, research and development, and intellectual property laws. We learned about the issues with patent laws and their effect on access to drugs. South Africa honors old patents that have expired which creates a monopoly and increases prices making drugs inaccessible for the majority of the population.
One of my favorite NGO visits was at the Positive Women’s Network. I was really interested in their focus on girls’ menstrual health issues and how it affects their access to education. I was also interested in a point the presenter made about global consciousness. She described how global issues need to be on everyone’s mind and it shouldn’t take massive outbreaks like Ebola and the Zika virus to spike everyone’s attention. I found this point very relevant in my life as it can be easy to be absorbed in the Northwestern bubble. Even in America, the general population is not concerned about various health concerns until it poses a threat to them. Therefore, her point resonated with me and it made me want to strive to be a global citizen and look at the world outside of our university bubble.