Jasmine Carver - Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Global Health Concentration at YSPH
Downs Fellow
Career goal: I hope to research health problems that disproportionately burden vulnerable populations and to contribute to the development of effective interventions.
Internship outline: I studied the associations between perceived social support and sexual risk behavior among Haitian teens and worked at GHESKIO, the first research center dedicated to HIV/AIDS prevention. To study the variables that were of interest to us, we interviewed male and female adolescents ranging from 13 to 18 years old in private settings around the city. The interview included measures of eight domains of social support and sexual risk factors such as consistency of condom use and number of sexual partners. Thanks mostly to an incredible research team, I boarded the plane home having met a lofty goal of 200 interviews.
Value of experience: Working on my project helped me apply the skills I gained from YSPH and refined my interests within the field of public health. I used concepts from my epidemiology courses throughout the design and implementation stages of my study. With the responsibility of leading the study, the experience both reinforced my proficiency and prepared me for a future as a public health professional. I now know that I want to continue to work on health research among impoverished populations. I hope to be a part of allocating attention to communities with limited resources, whether marginalized populations in developing countries or low-income populations in the United States. My summer in Port-au-Prince was invaluable in helping to direct my future.
Best moment: Concluding the first full day of data collection. Even with only two interviewers, logistic complications and no electricity, we completed sixteen interviews. At the end of the day, we were laughing about my basic Creole while mopping up melted ice.
Jasmine Carver - Port-au-Prince, Haiti
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A weekday street market outside the city of Okay bustles with vendors and customers. Agricultural products, clothes and other goods are an important component of Haiti’s economy.
The current condition of the National Palace illustrates the lingering devastation of the January 2010 earthquake.
The most common mode of public transportation in Port-au-Prince is a small truck with a covered bed called a tap-tap.
Jasmine and one of her interviewers, Mikelyn, have fun speaking to each other in Spanish. Although Jasmine’s Creole improved throughout the internship, she would occasionally have to translate through their common language of Spanish.
Teenage participants happily wait for their interviews at the GHESKIO research center.
In the waiting time before and after interviews, participants were given paper and art supplies to use.
Interviewers Frena and Ralph pose with Jasmine to mark their second long Saturday of data collection.
Two of Jasmine’s male interviewers, Giovanni (right) and Ralph, are in high spirits even after a long workday.
Cassidy Rush, a friend working for the Haitian microfinance institution Fonkoze, had just bought a motorcycle, a quick and practical way to navigate the city.
Women performed a choreographed dance to music at the 2012 Carnaval de Fleurs. Photo by Tate Watkins.
One day before she leaves Haiti, Ralph and Jasmine display part of their stack of 200 completed interviews.
Four women head to market outside Jasmine’s apartment on the morning she left Port-au-Prince.
