HST Interns

HST hosts interns from around the world to gain experience working in public health in southern Africa.  Below are our current interns:

My name is Michael Cadegan and I’m from the small ocean-side town of Glace Bay, located in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada. I was recently accepted for an internship with Health Systems Trust (Cape Town Office) through a Canadian-based organization called Human Rights Internet. The internship is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency’s Youth Internship Program.  During the month of May, I obtained my undergraduate degree at St. Francis Xavier University, completing a Joint Advanced Major in Biology and Human Kinetics. My future aspirations upon my return to Canada are numerous and tentative; however, they include applying to medical school or a master’s program in public health or health promotion. I am extremely excited to be given the opportunity to intern with such a knowledgeable, trusted and accomplished organization whose work is so geared toward my field of interest. Furthermore, as a lover of the outdoors, food, good music and wine I am thrilled to be living in the beautiful city of Cape Town.
Cordelia lives in Detroit and joins us at HST as an intern until September this year. She will be based at the Midrand office. Cordelia graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies-Law and Society and also with a minor in Women and Gender studies. During her last semester of undergrad, she successfully completed an internship in Washington D.C. with the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) - a historical non-profit organization that has provided both the Black American population as well as the greater community with vital social services via the implementation of community-based programs for over 75 years.  There she assisted with organizing their National Health Care Reform Tour, which aimed to educate both the Black community and other marginalized populations about President Obama’s Patient Protection Affordable Care Act.  She has plans to further her studies towards a Masters of Public Health at Michigan State University upon her return to the US.

Stephanie Ortynsky joins us at HST (Cape Town Office) from Yorkton, Saskatchewan. She recently convocated with her Master in Public Health (MPH) ’12 and Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) ’09, both at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.

Her former work experience in the field includes consulting on the dissemination of CommunityView Collaboration, an online database tool for the Public Health Observatory within the Saskatoon Health Region (SHR). Furthermore, she interned for her MPH practicum with the Department of Immunization, Vaccines & Biologicals on global immunization policy at WHO.  She was recently the Social Chair of the organizing committee for the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CSEB) National Student Conference and also was an International Affairs student member for the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW). 

She looks forward to working in varying capacities with everyone at HST for a dynamic six-month internship until February of 2013, in stunning Cape Town, South Africa.  The internship is organized through the Canadian-based Human Rights Internet (HRI) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Carlos Requena Farinos

My name is Carlos Requena Farinos. I am from Valencia, located on the East coast of Spain. I am joining HST as an intern in the Cape Town Office.

Before arriving in South Africa, I was studying in the United States where I graduated in Business and Management from Oklahoma State University. Previous to that, I studied abroad in Stockholm, Sweden at the Royal Institute of Technology for one year, on the ERAMUS program, while obtaining my bachelor degree from the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia.

I am very motivated to work with HST and to share my skills. My main goal is to learn as much as I can and contibute to the projects currently under way in HST. After few days here, I have already felt in love with the Rainbow Nation.