My Journey into Global Public Health as a Peacebuilder
As a young boy, I vividly recall the first time I visited a mosque. It was an unexpected yet enlightening experience. My babysitter, a kind Muslim woman, had to make a quick stop to deliver some food. She took my sister and me along and drove to the local mosque. Inside, we saw men and women from our community engaged in prayer. While it was different from the Hindu temples we were familiar with, there was a similar sense of peace and spirituality in the air.
As I continued to grow up, my curiosity about different faiths and beliefs only intensified. I found myself visiting more places of worship and engaging with people who held beliefs vastly different from my own. These encounters only strengthened my belief that religions, originating from various corners of the world, generally promoted peaceful practices and a sense of harmony.
However, as I matured and began to comprehend the news stories on television, I was confronted with a harsh reality. Some individuals, unfortunately, chose to manipulate these systems and cultures of peace to justify acts of discrimination, hatred, and even violence toward others. This realization left me deeply troubled and compelled me to reflect on the true essence of religious and interfaith cooperation in the context of peacebuilding.
During my college years, I actively participated in the interfaith movement on campus. This initiative is dedicated to fostering understanding, cooperation, dialogue, and service among diverse groups of people. Engaging in interfaith work provided me with opportunities to listen to the stories of my fellow community members, engage in meaningful dialogues, and collaborate on service projects based on our shared values. Through these experiences, I developed a deeper appreciation for the cultural richness and diverse perspectives that emerge when people of different faiths and cultures come together.
In our increasingly globalized world, we are experiencing more and more intercultural interactions with people from diverse backgrounds. While cultural diversity is undoubtedly enriching, it can also lead to misunderstandings and prejudice. However, I refused to view the exchange of cultural ideas, thoughts, and customs as a negative phenomenon. I knew that the negative news stories we often encounter do not portray the full picture of what a society filled with diverse belief systems truly looks like.
When diverse communities take the time to understand one another, they have the potential to form meaningful relationships, foster a sense of global citizenship, and build societies that promote civic pluralism. Civic pluralism refers to the state where multiple, diverse groups with differing ideologies can peacefully coexist within a society. I believed that a world characterized by understanding, compassion, and collaboration should be the norm. In light of this vision, I felt compelled to contribute to building a peaceful society, which led me to explore the concept of peacebuilding.
Peacebuilding, as I discovered, is a process that extends beyond the cessation of conflict and violence. It encompasses efforts to prevent, manage, and resolve conflicts by addressing the root causes. At its core, peacebuilding promotes dialogue, trust, social justice, inclusion, and community empowerment. Similar to the construction of a house, peacebuilding serves as a foundation for a stable and harmonious community. Just as a well-built foundation ensures the strength and durability of a house, peacebuilding provides communities with the necessary tools to resolve conflicts peacefully and bounce back from challenges.
As I delved into my studies and explored potential career paths, I realized that peacebuilding and global public health were fundamentally interconnected. Global public health is the comprehensive study and practice of improving health and well-being for all people around the world. This field addresses not only individual health but also the social, economic, environmental, and political conditions and circumstances that shape the health and well-being of entire populations and systems on a global scale.
To create healthy and equitable societies, we must integrate both peacebuilding and global public health efforts. Peacebuilding efforts foster stable and secure environments for economic growth, education, and public health infrastructure like hospitals and clinics. In contrast, the absence of peacebuilding efforts can give rise to conflict and violence, leading to fatalities and injuries as well as the destruction of essential public health facilities. These circumstances severely limit access to medical care and can even create fertile grounds for infectious disease outbreaks.
Additionally, sustainable development can only be truly achieved within an environment that is free from conflict and violence. By investing in peacebuilding efforts, we reduce the number of communities that are displaced due to conflict and violence. The unity between peacebuilding and global public health fosters diplomatic relations between diverse communities and nations. When communities and nations come together, coordinated emergency responses to global health challenges such as pandemics, climate change, and natural disasters can be facilitated effectively.
I felt inspired by the impact I could make in global public health as a peacebuilder. Throughout my career, I have worked on global health projects related to health education and literacy, sexual and reproductive health, infectious disease, and more. Currently, I serve as the Managing Editor for the CDC Yellow Book, a key publication from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on international travel medicine.
I believe that global public health efforts create stable and secure environments for all communities to thrive. By dedicating my career to global public health, I knew I could actively contribute to fostering peace and well-being worldwide. I am working toward the vision of a future where peace and health stand tall as pillars of our global society, and I hope you will join me.