Today was, unsurprisingly, another awesome day at FHI 360! When the first hour of our day was dedicated to working on our main project and going to get waffles, I knew that we would have a rigorous yet fun day. We did quite a bit of brainstorming during this period, and finalized our idea to utilize Instagram. Even though we had agreed yesterday to use the poll feature of the Instagram story, use posts to educate, and use live videos to answer questions, we focused in on the details, such as what questions to ask and what the format of our posts would be. We even created a real Instagram account to show the samples of account stories, posts, and live videos. We also solved another important part of our project, which was deciding how to gain publicity for our account. We had the idea to collaborate with big name accounts to gain interest and support underdeveloped countries. Our example of this is pairing up with Swell, the water bottle company, to create a collection of water bottles created by artists in an underdeveloped country. A portion of the profits from this collection would go directly to the country where the art came from. Additionally, we would start a giveaway, where Instagram users can do a few simple things, such as tagging friends and answering the poll questions, to get the chance to win one (or many) of these Swell bottles.
from waffles –> the grind
Throughout the day, we worked on this idea and developed the presentation, in between the speakers that came and joined us. First, Merywen Wigley, Project Director of Integrated Development, and her intern Kara came to join us. They discussed the humanitarian crises that were occurring and showed us some videos. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t crying by the end of it. However, while I was watching, in between my anger at the injustice and my sadness, I decided that helping these refugees was absolutely something that I would love to explore doing for the rest of my life. With my love for service, language, and science, it could be perfect for me.
After lunch, we talked to Sara Tenorio, the Director of Research Ethics. She discussed all the processes that they have to go through in order to ensure that all people involved in research are there by choice and are aware of the possible harms and benefits. This was really interesting and really taught me more about the legal side of healthcare.
Lastly, we talked to Kyle Healy, the son of an FHI 360 employee and a current student at App State. He talked to us about the gap year that he took, including what he did there and what he learned. It sounded like an incredible experience for him, and it definitely made me consider taking a gap year!