What Flying Worms Taught Me About Health Equity
In Gulu, the town in northern Uganda where I currently live and work as a Global Health Corps (GHC) fellow with Spark Microgrants, bugs called white ants abound. They have the squirmy body of a worm and long, white wings. I, being an extremely creative person, call them flying worms.
The flying worms descend on Gulu when rainy season arrives, and they often come in swarms. They get into my room when I leave the window open for too long, flailing around on the floor and flapping their wings so loudly that it sounds like you’re holding your finger against the blades of a fan. Sometimes when they’re especially large, I run out of my room and scream for my co-fellow’s help to extract them. Other times, I crawl under my mosquito net, put my headphones in, turn my back, and pretend they’re not there at all.
One morning in February, I decided to take a different route on my morning run. I turned down a long, winding road and looked up to see a swarm of white ants taking over the sky. I slowed a step and debated turning around. On any other day, I probably would have sprinted in the opposite direction but just as my steps slowed, the sky lit up with one of the most spectacular sunrises I’ve ever seen. The silhouette of the ants’ squirming bodies and flapping wings looked like a hundred little animated stars painted onto cotton candy skies. For a second, I forgot how much I usually wanted to run away from the bugs and ran right towards them.
My fellowship experience has been a lot like my relationship with the white ants. At some points, it’s been ugly and uncomfortable. Sometimes, I don’t think I can handle it on my own. Sometimes, I want to run and yell for someone to come help me or look the other way and pretend the challenges I face are not really there. Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed or frustrated and for a second, I forget why I joined this fellowship in the first place.
But sometimes this experience is so beautiful, I stop in my tracks and look around and I can’t believe how lucky I am to be a part of these moments and this movement. Sometimes, I leave community visits with a chicken in tow, after hours of listening to and recording stories from community members who share how Spark’s programs have impacted their lives in rural northern Uganda. In these moments, I know that I get to play a small role in the very big fight for a more equitable world.
In the nine months I have spent living and working in Uganda, I have learned that all of this is what this fellowship, this job, and this career path is really about. It’s balancing the good and the bad, the highs and lows, and keeping perspective. It’s celebrating the smallest successes amongst a million setbacks and challenges. It’s asking for help and relying on your people (shout-out to my U-crew!) when you feel like you can’t do it alone, and knowing that you never have to. It’s messy, it’s hard, and it’s rewarding…it’s a journey I’m grateful to be on.
Marley Catlett is a 2018–2019 Global Health Corps fellow in Uganda.
Global Health Corps (GHC) is a leadership development organization building the next generation of health equity leaders around the world. All GHC fellows, partners, and supporters are united in a common belief: health is a human right. There is a role for everyone in the movement for health equity. To learn more, visit our website and connect with us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook.
