Jennifer O’Brien is a current student in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program with epidemiology concentration at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health (CPH) and is on track to graduate in Spring 2023.
With an undergraduate degree in biology from Centre College and a master’s in secondary education from the University of Kentucky, Jennifer naturally wanted to become a teacher and did. For the past two years, she has taught biomedical science (BMS) as part of Frederick Douglass High School’s (FDHS) pathway program called Project Lead the Way (PLTW) in Lexington, Kentucky.
PLTW is one of the nation’s leading providers of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. Students interested in careers in healthcare, science, and epidemiology, for instance, would be interested in taking some of Jennifer’s courses.
Mixing education and healthcare
Jennifer invited Dr. Kathleen Winter, the current state epidemiologist for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and assistant professor at CPH, to speak to her students on a variety of epidemiology topics.
Afterwards, Jennifer spoke with Dr. Winter. From this conversation, Jennifer made the decision to pursue the MPH program at the University of Kentucky.
“The MPH has given me a new perspective on how education and healthcare can come together,” says Jennifer. “Teachers, like myself, have a rigid schedule, but the professors have been very flexible with me.”
Practicum experience in Kenya
As part of the academic requirements in the MPH program, students must pursue and complete a practicum experience. Jennifer had visited Kenya previously in 2020 and met a teacher who teaches public health in Nairobi–the country’s capital–and mentioned a non-profit organization called WaterStep to Jennifer.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, WaterStep is a non-profit whose mission is to provide safe water to communities in developing countries around the world.
WaterStep trains people in these developing countries how to use safe water solutions like water chlorination, bleach making, health education, and well repair, to empower communities to take care of their own water needs.
Jennifer returned to Kenya in the summer of 2022 to teach and fulfill her MPH practicum experience with WaterStep.
Meeting Rafael
Rafael Wanjala has been an international water ambassador of WaterStep Kenya since 2015. Rafael is a trained teacher at the University of Nairobi, the largest university in Kenya.
While teaching courses in culture and social transformation, Rafael recognized something needed to be done in the community that would bring change. He learned about WaterStep and its mission of bringing change by placing it in the hands of the people.
Through a mutual friend, Rafael and Jennifer were introduced in the summer of 2020–Jennifer's first visit to Kenya.
On the way to visiting the rural town of Bungoma, Rafael and Jennifer talked about their passion for public health and the role that education played.
“During that conversation, I remember thinking that it would be great to come back to Kenya and work at WaterStep with Raphael,” says Jennifer. "Two years later, that is exactly what happened through the MPH practicum."
WaterStep
When Jennifer arrived in Kenya, Rafael picked her up at the airport and started introducing her to local, rural communities that needed clean water.
Jennifer, Raphael, and other volunteers started the journey of educating the people on WaterStep’s portable bleach machine, which makes a chlorine solution that can purify drinking water by eliminating all pathogens.
In locations where WaterStep installed the safe water equipment, one of the goals was to collect data on how the population has been impacted by having safe water and improved sanitation. In locations that did not have this technology, finding a clean water source is challenging.
“If you do not have a secure source of water, you are spending major parts of your day finding water, which falls on women and children in most cases,” says Jennifer. “Water collection for women and children could mean they are having to get up early or sacrifice being in school.”
When visiting local clinics and the community, they witnessed WaterStep’s technology having a positive effect.
“You can clearly see they can better take care of their families and live healthier lives,” says Jennifer.
Raphael believes WaterStep is training, empowering, and transforming people with this technology so they impact other communities nearby with making their water safe and clean.
“We are saving people's lives by giving them clean water,” says Raphael. “I hope one day the entire world will have safe water to drink.”
Raphael shared that the bleach making machines have reached 5 million people to date and this year they are trending toward 7 million.
Workforce Development
The College of Public Health and the MPH program seeks practicum experiences to further develop our students into public health champions and prepare them for actionable careers in public health service.
Practicum experiences are tailored to our students' needs and professional interest. As a result, our students take a primary role in researching potential sites and identifying potential mentors for approval.
Contact Janie Cambron, Associate Dean for Practice and Workforce Development at CPH, at cph.uky.edu/careers/workforce-development to learn more about our practicum opportunities.
