Sarah Louineus

This summer I am interning at The African Family Health Organization (AFAHO). AFAHO is a nonprofit organization serving the African and Caribbean immigrant/refugee population within the southwest area of Philadelphia. AFAHO has many wonderful programs that target all age ranges and offer services including many health screenings and workshops, immigration legal help, food distribution, adult education programs, youth education programs, mental health education, and after-school programs. For my storytelling project, I had the pleasure of interviewing a member of the Haitian immigrant community who is now an employee at AFAHO. After interviewing the AFAHO members and hearing their stories I decided to create a poem based on their journey to the United States as a refugee. The poem is based on information the interviewee has shared, the information has been modified to protect their identity, and any remarks that may divulge identity have been edited.

During my time at AFAHO, I have helped create a breast health/cancer workshop that aims to inform women in the African diaspora community about accessing breast health care and ways to treat early signs of breast cancer. AFAHO plans to create a cardiovascular workshop that aims to similarly spread awareness through health education. This will most likely take place after the internship as it is still a work in progress. However, I was able to give my ideas about how to spread awareness to the community and the AFAHO health team has decided to implement an infographic that lists information regarding healthy eating, different exercises, and stress management to help promote healthy hearts.