SCOPE

SCOPE identifies and links medical and religious communities to improve the delivery of HIV/AIDS care and to prevent new infections. The Strengthening Care Opportunities through Partnership in Ethiopia (SCOPE) project is a partnership between the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health, University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington, the University of Gondar, Ethiopia, and the North Gondar Diocese of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Kristen Savage

Kristen Savage is a graduate student at the University of Washington in the Community Oriented Public Health Practice (COPHP) Program. She has an anticipated graduation date of June 2014. She received the SCOPE Fellowship in June 2013 and will work in this capacity from June 2013 to September 2013.

After receiving her bachelor's degree in International Development Studies from UCLA, Kristen interned with Educare India, a rural development organization based in Punjab. She founded and managed a Girl's Club for adolescent girls in the village of Sotla, which provided nutrition, sanitation, and sexual health education through creative means. She also developed an HIV/AIDS education module for secondary schools in Punjab.

Prior to joining the COPHP program, Kristen worked as a Program Manager for CFY, a nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District to place computers in the homes of disadvantaged youth. As a Program Manager she implemented CFY's Digital Learning Program in nine partner schools.

Zerai Asgedom

I was born and raised in Southern Part of Ethiopia in a small town called Yavello, about 120 kilometers north of the southern border between Ethiopia and Kenya. When I was a freshman at Addis Ababa University, I got an opportunity to come to United States of America through a diversity visa lottery program. I moved to Seattle on October 19, 2002 .

Eight months after moving to Seattle in the fall of 2003, I started going to school at Shoreline Community College to get my Associate degree in Science. I graduated from Shoreline in June of 2005 and was accepted into the Seattle Pacific University’s School of Nursing. I graduated from Seattle Pacific University on June 9, 2007 with a Bachelor of Nursing Degree.

After my graduation from nursing school, I have been working on the Organ Transplant Unit of Swedish Medical Center. I’ve been there for 6 years.

In order to achieve my long dream of being a change agent in the community that raised and nurtured me, I started my Masters in Public Health at the University of Washington School of Public Health in Fall of 2011. I plan to graduate in June of 2013 with an MPH Degree.