'COVID-19 Project' a student-led initiative
Three Worcester high school teens part of an international contingent studying, researching disease
Three Central Massachusetts students are among 12 high school students in the state participating in an American-Iraqi virtual international exchange program and public health initiative to address COVID-19.
Garima Prabhakar, 17, of Shrewsbury, Himasri Shappaly, 16, of South Grafton, and Ishita Goluguri, 16, of Westborough, are all part of “American-Iraqi Public Health Teams Addressing COVID-19 Project.”
All three students attend the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science in Worcester. They are working virtually alongside 96 other student volunteers from high schools across the United States and Iraq, through video conference.
The nonprofit United Planet organized this program, which is supported by a grant from Stevens Initiative and the U.S. Department of State. The program runs through Aug. 31.
“It’s basically a collaborative initiative between students in Iraq and over here, in the U.S.,” Prabhakar said. “It’s a capstone project where we research global health issues, focusing on COVID-19.”
During the six-week program, which started last week, the students are going to do in-depth research on how the coronavirus has affected global health and culture.
“When I hear coronavirus, the first thing I think is how it affects the individual or how it affects everyone in terms of treatment and care,” Prabhakar said. “It’s really interesting to find out that global health is concerned with from economic disparity to all sorts of issues that can affect your health in the long term.”
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With guidance from college students and faculty from Boston University and Salahaddin University in Iraq, the student volunteers use project-based learning to research, develop, and implement initiatives to address COVID-19 in communities.
At the same time, they are enhancing their 21st century leadership skills and deepen their understanding of public health through an intercultural lens.
“Last week, we focused on an overview of global health, what global health is and how it compares to public health and initiatives that have been taken in Iraq versus the ones that have been taking place in America,” Shappaly added. “When you address the medical disparities and access to health care, it’s important to know the lens that the people are looking at it threw and a lot of that has to do with culture and language.”
Prabhakar said she is really excited about completing the research and final capstone project, and she loves working alongside students across the country and in Iraq.
“The Iraqi students are thinking about the same exact things as we are (in the U.S.) but putting a different perspective, spin, on it, which is why I think this capstone project has been especially helpful for me, to be able to start looking at those interesting new perspectives which I see across borders, across States,” she said.
Each team is working on a capstone project that addresses an issue related to the coronavirus.
For her project, Shappaly is going to examine the affect that the coronavirus has on popular art, music and literature and how certain artists (such as Luke Combs, who recorded “Six Feet Apart”) are addressing the pandemic.
“The program has been really interesting,” Shappaly said. “I love being able to meet new people, not just in Iraq but across the United States. It just has been a really great experience.”
And, despite being only in their second week, the program has already changed the Prabhakar and Shappaly’s perspective.
“Something I already see in myself,” Prabhakar said, “is having a new perspective, not only on the coronavirus but in working with teens, in general, and talking to people, and developing those soft skills that I think are going to be really helpful for me.”
Added Shappaly: “Everyone is going through pretty much the same situation. I just think everyone’s perspective is just a little bit different on what ideas we want to do, which is based on what people value in their daily lives. So bringing that to discussion is really interesting.”
Goluguri said it has been "cool" to compare and contrast the cultural differences between the U.S. and Iraq.
"We try to learn more about each other's culture. For example, this week, for week two, our project was to watch a video on Iraqi culture while they (the Iraqi students) watched a video on American culture and we talk about," Goluguri said. "The food, then the clothing, and things like that in Iraqi were different. Also, they (the Iraqi people) seem to emphasize a lot more about community and celebrations."
Despite our differences, U.S. and Iraqi teenagers have the same concerns and likes, Goluguri said.
"I remember one (Iraqi) girl specifically said she woke up every morning and made herself strawberry milk. And my first thought was, 'Oh, my God, I totally love strawberries'," Goluguri said. "We have a lot in common. Even though we're basically from across the globe, we're just teenagers, so we connect a lot."
For her capstone project, Goluguri said they will be examining how social-economic factors, lack of public awareness and disparities in public health treatment has hampered the fight against COVID-19 and what can be done to remedy that.
"I hope to build a community of people across the U.S. and in Iraq where I feel like we built something together," Goluguri said. "Also, I hope to give back to my community and try to do what I can to make this pandemic better."