“A woman who refuses to work together is one who loses everything.” Members of the Mama wa Mtoto women’s group joined the chorus, voices harmonizing while they waited for the fabric to absorb the dye. The message of female friendship and community resonated with Nina Bhattacharya, a student fellow at the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator, who participated in the community workshop.
Bhattacharya, a Master of Science (MS) student in global health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, collaborated with the Human Outreach Project in Tanzania to explore visual methodologies for public health communication, as well as community engagement and empowerment. As part of a new partnership with the Mama wa Mtoto women’s group, the Human Outreach Project provided resources to kickstart the group’s project to dye traditional batik cloth.
“It was peer-to-peer learning in action. The women who understood the process trained those of us who didn’t,” said Ms. Bhattacharya. “We were able to foster meaningful exchange because of it, even without a common language with which to communicate.”
Ms. Bhattacharya received funding from the Incubator, as well as the Harvard Chan School’s von Clemm Traveling Fellowship and Department of Global Health & Population, to support her summer internship in Tanzania.