For the next 12 months I will be living and working in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo as an Allan Rosenfield Global Health Fellow in Program Management (or at least that's what my business cards say). My focus is on PEPFAR programs, but I will be learning precisely what my job responsibilities will be as I go along. As a child, I had an elementary school obsession with ebola, so finally getting to go to the DRC (or Zaire as it used to be called) is like a Shark Week fanatic getting to tag a Great White. I'm looking forward to learning new languages and being on the same continent as the World Cup in 2010, but most importantly, to beginning my path to a life lived overseas! Hopefully this blog will give those of you interested in international or global public health insight into what it's like to live and work abroad in a post (or not quite so post) conflict country for the US government.

This student blog is unedited and does not necessarily reflect the views of the College of Public Health or the University of Iowa.