By Justice Agbadu
My name is Justice Agbadu, a student of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in South Africa. As part of the Industry Immersion Program in my school, I joined eHealth Africa as an intern with the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Analytics department. Any student aspiring to begin a career knows that an internship is invaluable for gaining on-the-job skills, experience and for establishing necessary contacts. Internships help to integrate theoretical knowledge gained in school with day to day practical field application. An employer is more likely to hire a candidate with internship experience than someone who has no experience, especially at the entry level.
I have been with eHA for a little over five months and it has been a wonderful experience
Here are my top 5 reasons why you should intern with eHealth Africa.
1. Working with some of the most genius minds across the world
eHealth Africa’s young, dynamic workforce is made up of smart people from countries all over the world. I have had the opportunity to work with people with varying skill sets and levels of experience in different fields and I am shocked by how much I have already learned. I am also gaining knowledge outside my field and learning about different cultures.
2. Conducive Working Environment
eHealth Africa is located on serene, beautiful grounds that relax you and make you glad to be at work. All staff members are provided with all the tools that they need to deliver the desired results. I love the fact that every department has its own feel and vibe. In my department, GIS, we are pretty laid back and you can often find us seated on bean bags analyzing geographic data collection tools. My favorite part of my work environment is the people—they are friendly and always ready to answer my numerous questions. This helped me to settle in quickly despite the fact that I had never visited Kano.
3. Personal and professional development
One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain—”The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” I can definitely say that this internship at eHA has helped me discover my professional direction and career goals. This is really important because a lot of people are moving through the motions without having clearly defined goals and objectives. I have also discovered personal skills and competencies that I never knew I possessed. eHA easily has the largest GIS team in Africa and there is always something new and challenging to work on; so I am gaining knowledge that most people don’t have access to, which positions me as a valuable asset in this field.
4. Opportunities for Career Growth
eHealth Africa’s team is spread across several countries in Africa as well as in Berlin and the US. We implement data-driven projects in five focus areas: Disease Surveillance Systems, Health Delivery Systems, Laboratory & Diagnostics Systems, Nutrition & Food Security systems, and Public Health Emergency Management Systems. This wide scope of work means that staff have various opportunities to grow and migrate within the organization. In the course of my internship, I have seen staff move to Nigeria from other country offices and vice versa. Some staff in the organization started out as interns just like me and have now become project managers. eHA is an established thought leader in the field of technology and data for health systems strengthening so I know that having this internship experience on my CV already highlights me as a valuable talent to other organization.
5. Solving Real-world Problems
eHA works to address real problems such as access to quality health care and services and nutrition. One of my favorite projects is the Vaccinator Tracking Systems, a project that captures passive tracks of vaccination teams during the Immunization Plus Days using a mobile application installed on Android phones. Using GIS technology, eHA is able to provide governments with near real-time data on the vaccination coverage during IPDs to aid planning and decision making. I am very glad that I am contributing in some way to the eradication of Polio in Nigeria. This internship experience has made me more passionate to do more to help underserved populations in Africa and to improve their quality of life.
The experience so far has been very rewarding and I look forward to more opportunities to contribute to the work at eHA.
Looking for or interested in an internship spot, visit our careers page for more information.