Ellen Taetzsch

Health Programs Associate

Global Health Corps Fellow at Nyaka Aids Orphans Project

"“Life is a journey, not a destination.”"

I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, USA. I got my undergraduate degree at Assumption College and majored in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology. However, while I was studying at Assumption College I was given the chance to study abroad for the year at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. It was there that I discovered my love for public health and community work and decided that I no longer wanted to work in a lab. So I decided to go ahead and get my Masters degree in public health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. After completing that I joined the Peace Corps and served as a Community Health Advisor in a very remote village in Zambia. There I worked with the community on food security, nutrition, early childhood development and women's empowerment. However, I think that the community had a greater change on me then I did on them. After finishing my Peace Corps service I moved home and began working at a local pre-school teaching the children and enjoying the simple pleasures of childhood. I also assisted the teachers in incorporating world culture into the curriculum to begin to show the children how connected people are to each other. Currently, I am a Global Health Corps Fellow working at Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project in rural south western Uganda. Here I am assisting in the strengthening of the health programs to ensure that the best services are delivered.