Eeeeeeek today was our last major day of filming!! Honestly, I’m not sure how we are in our final weeks of the program, but as I said in our very first week here, it has been surreal. Both groups are knee deep in pulling together our final film projects, tasked with such a great responsibility to tell the stories of those who have and continue to make a significant impact on public health in South Africa. I’m getting more and more excited to see the final product, but I know we have a mountain of editing before then. As of today, we have filmed Phumeza Tisile – a TB patient and activist who has lost her hearing to her injectable treatment medication, Phumlani Ximiya – a passionate team leader at the National Department of Health in charge of TB communications and social mobilization, and of course the star of our show Dr. Norbert Ndjeka, the resilient TB director who spearheaded the change in the drug treatment regimen for people with drug-resistant TB. Tackling these three interviews was such a feat, and I’m honestly just so incredibly proud of our team. In the past 4 days we have seen all the fruit of our labor blossom beautifully. Many hours of planning, checklists, and Google docs later we have the ingredients to what will hopefully be a stunning product.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Phumlani, and it was absolutely thrilling to witness him passionately speak to TB advocacy, a cause he’s chosen to dedicate his life to. In conversation with Phumlani he brought the historical and sociological aspects of health to life, not only with his invigorating personality but also with the work he does to holistically identify and combat TB not only as a health issue but also intimately intertwined with poverty, education, and economic issues. Not gonna lie, I was really nervous going into this interview. If you have met me for any amount of time you would know I am a very outgoing person and usually have no issue talking to people, but this interview had me nervous. Despite all of our prep work and previous interactions with Phumlani, I really psyched myself out about mastering the “art of interviewing,” I had forgotten that at its core the interview was me talking to a man about something he really cares about. And if you really know me, these kinds of conversations are right up my alley. So, putting my imposter syndrome, fear of professionals, and overall nervous jitters aside I was able to have a conversation, just like any other – of course one that we had prepared for many hours but a beautiful conversation, nonetheless.
In this class, I’ve been exposed to not only to such intelligent, kind-hearted, inspiring classmates but also a world full of professionals, from lawyers to doctors to our very own professors, an epidemiologist and an English/writing extraordinaire. To be honest, it was initially incredibly intimidating because it’s not an environment I’m used to. I recognize this is extremely oxymoronic as I go to Yale, and it’s hard to really articulate but it’s just not my normal. But as time has gone on, I have gotten to see past the intimidating intellect of these people. I’ve gotten to see them goofing around, having fun, cracking jokes, and showcasing true joy in doing their work. It’s been a great lesson for me to witness the humanity of those who I tend to place on a pedestal, typically seeing them from afar in a place that seems beyond reach for someone like me. In the past week I’ve gotten the privilege to be in the room with national South African public health officials who have dedicated their life to fighting for everyday people. The most inspiring part of it all is that even as they advance to higher positions, they genuinely care about the work they do and never forget the people they serve.
