Chapter Founder Spotlight: Mohsin Mukhtar
Posted on Jun 16, 2010 by Ankur Asthana
By Renee Kreidl
One day in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, a young boy was walking near the entrance to a mosque where a woman was sitting, a child in her lap. She pleaded in Urdu, her native language, “please help in the name of God! My daughter has malaria.” The boy placed a few rupees in the yellow handkerchief spread out on the steps, his head filled with anger and confusion—why did it have to be this way? The young boy walked away from this one woman, but he continued to see the same desperation wherever he went. A few years later, this boy’s family moved to the United States, where he witnessed a vast difference in healthcare than what he had known in Pakistan. And again he asked—why?
Fast forward another few years and here he is: Mohsin Mukhtar, sophomore student at Indiana University, Bloomington, and one of GlobeMed’s new chapter founders. Compelled by a desire to join his interests in foreign languages and cultures, social activism, and health equity, Mohsin searched online for organizations that focus on these issues. He discovered GlobeMed. His story is only one of the many callings that have brought the fourteen new chapter founders to GlobeMed. Alongside these other founders Mohsin, an international healthcare and development policy major, will be a leader of his generation to build a more socially just world, where access to healthcare is not a commodity but an inalienable human right. This network expansion will engage thousands of new college students in the movement for global health equity.
The process of becoming a new chapter founder is incredibly challenging, as is the task of choosing from this pool of highly qualified individuals; only fourteen of forty capable students were selected to start a GlobeMed chapter at their school. Not only do the applicants have to fill out a detailed written application, but they are also interviewed. The National Office chooses only applicants who demonstrate—among other qualities—perseverance, leadership, humility, and an understanding of solidarity and partnership. Once accepted, founders will receive training through five webinars throughout the summer to prepare them to lead a GlobeMed chapter at their university. In addition, founders will complete a comprehensive four-day training session at this fall’s Leadership Institute. The GlobeMed team has also adapted a new Accompagnateur Program in which experienced chapter leaders provide guidance to the new founders.
With the support of the rest of the network, the new chapter founders will have a better sense of how to incorporate their unique ideas into the chapter. One exciting goal that Mohsin has for Indiana University’s new chapter is to work alongside other health, justice and globally-minded organizations already at Indiana. As, according to one of Mohsin’s favorite quotes by Avicenna, “there are no incurable diseases—only a lack of will…[and] no worthless herbs—only the lack of knowledge” a growing effort among like-minded students, both within and outside of GlobeMed, will be a key factor in working towards global health equity. And as GlobeMed continues to grow, we will have even more leaders who can inspire others to ignite this movement.
Image: Mohsin Mukhtar is one of 14 chapter founders who will lead new GlobeMed chapters at universities across the U.S.
By Renee Kreidl
One day in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, a young boy was walking near the entrance to a mosque where a woman was sitting, a child in her lap. She pleaded in Urdu, her native language, “please help in the name of God! My daughter has malaria.” The boy placed a few rupees in the yellow handkerchief spread out on the steps, his head filled with anger and confusion—why did it have to be this way? The young boy walked away from this one woman, but he continued to see the same desperation wherever he went. A few years later, this boy’s family moved to the United States, where he witnessed a vast difference in healthcare than what he had known in Pakistan. And again he asked—why?
Fast forward another few years and here he is: Mohsin Mukhtar, sophomore student at Indiana University, Bloomington, and one of GlobeMed’s new chapter founders. Compelled by a desire to join his interests in foreign languages and cultures, social activism, and health equity, Mohsin searched online for organizations that focus on these issues. He discovered GlobeMed. His story is only one of the many callings that have brought the fourteen new chapter founders to GlobeMed. Alongside these other founders Mohsin, an international healthcare and development policy major, will be a leader of his generation to build a more socially just world, where access to healthcare is not a commodity but an inalienable human right. This network expansion will engage thousands of new college students in the movement for global health equity.
The process of becoming a new chapter founder is incredibly challenging, as is the task of choosing from this pool of highly qualified individuals; only fourteen of forty capable students were selected to start a GlobeMed chapter at their school. Not only do the applicants have to fill out a detailed written application, but they are also interviewed. The National Office chooses only applicants who demonstrate—among other qualities—perseverance, leadership, humility, and an understanding of solidarity and partnership. Once accepted, founders will receive training through five webinars throughout the summer to prepare them to lead a GlobeMed chapter at their university. In addition, founders will complete a comprehensive four-day training session at this fall’s Leadership Institute. The GlobeMed team has also adapted a new Accompagnateur Program in which experienced chapter leaders provide guidance to the new founders.
With the support of the rest of the network, the new chapter founders will have a better sense of how to incorporate their unique ideas into the chapter. One exciting goal that Mohsin has for Indiana University’s new chapter is to work alongside other health, justice and globally-minded organizations already at Indiana. As, according to one of Mohsin’s favorite quotes by Avicenna, “there are no incurable diseases—only a lack of will…[and] no worthless herbs—only the lack of knowledge” a growing effort among like-minded students, both within and outside of GlobeMed, will be a key factor in working towards global health equity. And as GlobeMed continues to grow, we will have even more leaders who can inspire others to ignite this movement.
Image: Mohsin Mukhtar is one of 14 chapter founders who will lead new GlobeMed chapters at universities across the U.S.
