This is the sixth in a series of spotlights on our summer 2018 student interns. Learning Life’s students this summer are assisting with planning, fundraising, curriculum development, and international family-to-family projects focused on community photography and food culture as part of our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). Zainab Mahdi, interviewed below, is, among other things, helping with fundraising, curriculum development, research, and live dialogues with families in El Salvador working on our food culture project.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and my family moved to the United States when I was 8 years old. I have lived in Northern Virginia ever since, along with my parents and younger brother and sister.
What school do you attend, and what is your year and major there?
I am a rising sophomore at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Currently, I plan to major in Global Business with a minor in Spanish.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy reading books (especially historical fiction), drawing, and listening to true crime podcasts. I also love spending time outside biking and hiking at Algonkian Regional Park in northern Virginia, as well as hanging out with my family and exploring Washington D.C. with my friends.
Is there a life experience you have had that has particularly shaped you thus far? If so, what is it, and how has it shaped you?
I spent a summer working with a local environmental non-profit that used grassroots campaigning to promote legislative reform. Being a part of such a dedicated and passionate team was very inspiring for me, and I was able to push myself out of my comfort zone and learn a lot about environmental advocacy by engaging daily with people from all walks of life on the pressing issues of climate change, pollution, and politics.
What are your career plans?
Someday, I hope to have a career in international development. I would love to have a job that involves a lot of traveling and working directly with communities across the globe to improve living conditions and help solve major world issues like poverty, education, and scarcity.
Why did you choose to intern with Learning Life?
I am very interested in international affairs and studying the effects of intercultural connection and globalization. For me, Learning Life’s goal of fostering global citizenship through international family-to-family dialogue demonstrates that it is an organization committed to making a unique positive change in the world. Interning with Learning Life is a great opportunity for me to gain hands-on experience and practice my Spanish skills by contributing to the organization’s latest cultural project connecting families in D.C. and El Salvador.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
A few years ago, I visited Yala National Park in Sri Lanka with my family. It was an incredibly stunning and beautiful experience that I will never forget. In just a few days, I saw leopards, bears, crocodiles, monkeys, peacocks, and hundreds of elephants in the wild. We stayed in an open-air treehouse in the jungle, falling asleep below starry skies and waking up to the brilliant sunrise and sounds of animals gathering at a nearby watering hole. I have many wonderful memories of Sri Lanka, but this was one of the best experiences of my life and I hope to travel there again in the future.
Intern Spotlight: Thalia Navia
This is the fifth spotlight on our summer 2018 student interns. Learning Life’s students this summer are assisting with planning, fundraising, curriculum development, and international family-to-family projects focused on community photography and food culture as part of our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). Thalia Navia, interviewed below, is, among other things, helping with research and writing and co-leading food culture project meetings with families in Washington DC and San Salvador, El Salvador.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Bogota, Colombia, but I was raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
What school do you attend, and what is your year and major there?
I am a senior at Georgetown University majoring in International Politics.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time I like to explore Washington, D.C. That includes going to different neighborhoods of the city, trying new restaurants, touring different museums, walking around the monuments, and walking my dogs through Rock Creek Park. I really enjoy learning about new cultures, so one of my favorite things to do is go to areas where I will be able to exchange with people of different cultures (restaurants, embassy visits, conversation tables, etc.)
Is there a life experience you have had that has particularly shaped you thus far? If so, what is it, and how has it shaped you?
Being an immigrant in a time where there is a lot of negative rhetoric about immigrants has shaped my perspective. I lived in Tallahassee, Florida from 2015- 2017. During those years, there were a lot of empowered voices that spewed hatred and generally made me feel unsafe. Having grown up in South Florida, I had never experienced that before. It made me change the way that I perceive my place and relationship to those around me.
What are your career plans?
There are a lot of things that I would like to do in the future. The main drive for me is to be able to travel the world. With that in mind, I either want to go into diplomacy or intelligence. I have also toyed with the idea of going back to Colombia at some point in my life and getting into politics there.
Why did you choose to intern with Learning Life?
I am very passionate about the importance of being knowledgeable about other cultures and international affairs. I believe in the importance of exchanging ideas and information to start a conversation and create cooperation among groups of people. Learning Life’s initiative and goal of creating global citizens embodies that passion and provides a perfect opportunity to work toward creating this cultural exchange.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
Not long ago, I went to see the monuments on Washington D.C.’s National Mall around 1am. I walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument and back. There was no one else there, so it was completely peaceful. Even the ducks were asleep! The weather was perfect, and the monuments were lit up beautifully. The days in D.C. can get so hectic that I did not believe such complete peace and quiet was possible in the city. It was the most beautiful experience that I have had thus far in my life.
Racial Inequality in Black and White Americans’ Health
Racial inequality in the United States is not just about money, it’s also about health. The following five facts highlight some of the health differences between black and white Americans. Clearly, there is much individuals can do to improve their health, including diet, exercise and active, healthy relationships with family, friends and community. However, health inequality is strongly related to socio-economic inequality. Specifically, poorer health outcomes among African Americans are strongly related to segregation in communities with higher unemployment and underemployment, and lower income, education and homeownership levels. This should not spur despair let alone racism, but rather alarm and action.
Thanks to Learning Life intern Julia Baines for her research assistance with this fact sheet.
Twice the diabetes and more diabetes complications
Type 2 diabetes is nearly twice as common in African American adults age 20 and higher (13% have diabetes) as it is in non-Hispanic White adults (7%). African Americans with diabetes are also more prone to the complications that come with this disease than the general diabetes population. These complications include kidney and heart disease, stroke, amputation, and blindness.
Up to 3.7 times more likely to die from stroke
Black Americans have a higher risk of stroke, and as much as 3.7 times the death rate from strokes as white Americans. The younger black and white Americans are, the wider the difference.
Higher risk of hypertension
The risk for hypertension and death from it is 24% for white men versus 45% for black men, and 18% for white women versus 40% for black women.
1.5 times more likely to be obese
African Americans are 1.5 times more likely to be obese than white Americans. Forty-eight percent of blacks are obese compared with 33% of whites.
3.5 years less life
Black life expectancy at birth is about 3½ years lower than that of whites. The good news: the life expectancy gap between blacks and whites has been cut in half since 1999. The bad news: blacks under age 65 still have significantly higher death rates than whites. For instance, African Americans 18-49 years old are nearly twice as likely to die from heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
Geronimus, A. T., Bound, J., Waidmann, T. A., Hillemeier, M. M., & Burns, P. B. (1996). Excess mortality among blacks and whites in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 335(21), 1552-1558.
Howard, V.J. 2013. Reasons underlying racial differences in stroke incidence and mortality. Stroke 44(6), S126-S128.
Lackland, D.T. 2014. Racial differences in hypertension: implications for high blood pressure management. American Journal of the Medical Sciences 348(2), 135-138.
Spanakis, E.K., Golden, S.H. 2013. Race/Ethnic difference in diabetes and diabetic complications. Current Diabetes Reports, 13(6), 814-823.
Thorpe, R. J., Jr., Kelley, E., Bowie, J. V., Griffith, D. M., Bruce, M., & LaVeist, T. (2015). Explaining racial disparities in obesity among men: Does place matter? American Journal of Men’s Health, 9(6), 464-472.
Intern Spotlight: Minke Xie
This is the fourth in a series of spotlights on our summer 2018 student interns. Learning Life’s students this summer are assisting with planning, fundraising, curriculum development, and international family-to-family projects focused on community photography and food culture as part of our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). Minke Xie, interviewed below, is, among other things, helping with financial reporting and fundraising planning, translation of CDI documents into Chinese, and outreach to potential partners in Beijing, China.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in Beijing, the capital of China. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Beijing and completed my bachelor’s degree in Wuhan, a city in the middle of China. I then came to the United States in 2014. China has a long history, but immersing one’s self in ancient Chinese history is not ideal in a world where international interaction is increasingly frequent and important. So, I came to the United States to get my Master’s degree and to learn about another culture.
What school do you attend, and what is your year and major there?
I am a graduate student at George Mason University pursuing a Master’s degree in public policy. My concentration is in social policy. When I finished my bachelor’s degree in journalism in China, I felt that I wanted to not just observe society change, but engage in the change. This pushed me to choose my current direction of study.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I have a lot of interests, but what I enjoy the most is making art journals. Since I casually learned about art journaling around 2012, I have accumulated six journals. Art journaling keeps me looking for the beauty of life.
Is there a life experience you have had that has particularly shaped you thus far? If so, what is it, and how has it shaped you?
A life experience that has shaped me is traveling with my classmates to Europe when I was 13. We visited Britain, France, Germany among other countries. This was my first time traveling without my parents and out of my home country. It was rewarding because it was the first time I became aware that places in the world vary from each other, and some people live in ways very different from us Chinese people.
Why did you choose to intern with Learning Life?
I chose to intern with Learning Life because my program requires me to take a course in nonprofit organizational development, including an internship with a nonprofit, so this is a good chance to practice what I learned from books. Also, Learning Life plans to expand its Citizen Diplomacy Initiative to China, so it is a good fit for me because I can help Learning Life make connections as a fluent Chinese speaker.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
The place I most love on Earth currently is the Dotonbori River in Osaka, Japan. I traveled there with my friend last summer. We spent an entire evening on a sightseeing boat to enjoy Osaka’s night scene and jazz music. It was so beautiful, just like some Japanese movie scenes.
Where were you born and raised?
