M. Therese Seibert, Keene State College, co-founded and works with the Health Development Initiative Inc. (HDI-NH) in Swanzey, NH, to assess healthcare needs. ASA asked Seibert about that work:
What is the mission of Health Development Initiative Inc? Its official mission is to provide the marginalized and vulnerable people with greater access to healthcare. We are currently focusing on Rwanda.
Can you describe the project and your involvement? Since 2013, Keene State College faculty and students have partnered with HDI-Rwanda to assess the healthcare needs of key local populations and envision building a program and concept design for a non-discriminatory health and wellness center. With my sociology colleague Carolyn Keller, I co-founded the New Hampshire-based 501(c)3 non-profit HDI-NH. We are currently working with the Rwanda-based organization to build and operate a non-discriminatory private hospital/clinic, which reaches out to those most impoverished and vulnerable including the Twa (an historically, disadvantaged minority), the LGBT, and female sex workers. Despite a constitutional law proscribing discrimination, these communities still confront discrimination by medical professionals, among other obstacles. In addition to providing stigma-free healthcare, this Center will provide training to medical personnel on the importance and methods for delivering non-discriminatory healthcare.
What sociological knowledge and/or skills do you use with this project? 1) I have used my research skills in training HDI-Rwandan staff and with conducting a needs assessment for the Center. A sociology student assisted me with conducting interviews for the needs assessment. 2) Trained as positivist and social scientist, I have recently branched out into participatory action research. 2) As a professor who teaches courses on genocide, in particular the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, I have definitely applied my knowledge of Rwandan society, culture, and the genocide to this project. 3) I have infused this project as a service-learning component of my sociology courses. 4) I have drawn from work in the area of public sociology and international sociology to advance this project. 5) The project allows me to bring to life such theories as Wallerstein’s World System’s Theory, Alexander’s Theory of Cultural Trauma, Campbell’s Social Distance Theory, etc…
Duration of the project? Our goal is to break ground in 2020.
Is there anything else you would like to share about this work? Infusing this work into my teaching has often gotten students excited about research and challenged students to exceed my own expectations in their research. It also introduces them to a sociological world outside of New England. A KSC alumnus who has just completed Peace Corps service in Rwanda was instrumental in getting this project off the ground after participating in a study abroad trip in Rwanda, sponsored by KSC.
