Blog
Contributor Guidelines
Submitting guest blogs is open to Global Washington’s members of the Atlas level and above. We value a diversity of opinions on a broad range of subjects of interest to the global health and development community.
Blog article submissions should be 500-1500 words. Photos, graphs, videos, and other art that supports the main themes are strongly encouraged.
You may not be the best writer, and that’s okay. We can help you shape and edit your contribution. The most important thing is that it furthers an important conversation in your field, and that it is relatively jargon-free. Anyone without a background in global development should still be able to engage with your ideas.
If you include statistics or reference current research, please hyperlink your sources in the text, wherever possible.
Have an idea of what you’d like to write about? Let’s continue the conversation! Email comms@globalWA.org and put “Blog Idea” in the subject line.
Posted on April 4, 2023
By Dr. Karl Weyrauch, Founder and Medical Director, Pygmy Survival Alliance
Irerero Nursery School prepares students for success in Primary School and in larger Rwandan society. Photo: Claude Bizimana, PSA Field Manager
Traditionally, there was no use for reading among the Batwa, the indigenous people of Rwanda, also known as “Pygmies” and “Historically Marginalized People.” In the forest, which was their home for millennia, there was nothing to read: no books, no paper, no electronics. Also, no formal schools or written tests. The elders never learned to read, and many thought reading was useless for feeding hungry mouths. Continue Reading
Posted on March 27, 2023
By Adara Development
Rebecca and Joyce
When Joyce was born with birth asphyxia, it affected her vision, hearing and communication abilities. Her mother, Rebecca, was faced with an impossible choice: take Joyce for expensive further testing and medication or watch her daughter experience regular seizures.
Rebecca’s experience is not an unfamiliar one for families in Uganda, where there are often few resources for children with neurodisabilities. Across Uganda, there are stigmas that having a child with a disability is a curse or punishment for wrongdoing, and many see children with disabilities as burdens to the community. As a result, parents often feel isolated as they raise and parent a child with a disability.
“Relatives from my husband’s side say that I am cursed,” Rebecca says. “My father in-law told my husband that this baby won’t heal, and such babies end up dying”.
Despite a limited support network and few resources, Rebecca was determined to do her best to care for her child. On World Disability Day, she took Joyce to Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda for an event run by organisations that support people with disabilities. Continue Reading
Posted on March 27, 2023
By Ryan Smith, SIGN Fracture Care
SIGN Surgeon Dr. Sibiri Ballu. Photo: Chuck Bigger for SIGN Fracture Care
Traumatic injuries, including fractures, are a major cause of disability and death worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that 20-50 million people are injured every year in traffic accidents, in addition to injuries caused by falls, workplace accidents, and violent conflict. In high-income countries, people with trauma injuries are treated in a fully equipped hospital, often on the same day the injury occurs. But in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), access to fully staffed and equipped hospitals is much more difficult. Nearly 1 billion people in the world do not have access to a hospital with a reliable supply of electricity, let alone a fully equipped surgical suite. Continue Reading