Written by CFK Africa Peacock Fellow, Yared Tadesse. Reposted from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health: https://tarheels.live/globalhealth/2025/08/18/reflections-on-my-practicum-with-cfk-africa/.
I’ve spent the past few months working for CFK Africa in work that has been both professionally nurturing and personally meaningful. As I conclude this chapter, I’m incredibly grateful for all that I’ve learned and even more grateful for the people I’ve learned from.
One of the most valuable lessons during this practicum was learning how to work independently while staying closely connected to the remote Kenya team. As someone who values collaboration, it was both a challenge and a growth opportunity to take ownership of a project, manage timelines, and navigate difficulties with confidence. At the same time, I was fortunate to collaborate with multiple team members across CFK Africa, each of whom made significant contributions to my requests and tasks.
A particular highlight of my practicum was having the opportunity to lead the development of a proposal for the Kenneth C. Frazier Award for Maternal Health Equity.
This award recognizes organizations working to advance equitable maternal health outcomes, an issue that’s both urgent and deeply aligned with CFK Africa’s mission. Leading the proposal process meant diving into the organization’s history, maternal health efforts, identifying key areas of strength, and articulating a compelling case for winning it. It also meant working with my supervisors and the Kenya team to ensure that our proposed solutions were grounded in the lived realities of the communities we serve. Being entrusted with this responsibility was a true honor, and I’m proud of the collective effort that went into creating a strong and thoughtful submission. I am quite optimistic about the announcement of the winner soon.
Another moment of personal and professional pride came with the release of the Preliminary Report on CFK Africa’s Clinical Services Survey. Early in my practicum, I was tasked with designing the patient satisfaction assessment tools that would be used in this study. This involved crafting culturally sensitive, ethically sound, and concise surveys to capture patient experiences across CFK Africa’s clinical sites. Seeing the final report and knowing that the tools I designed helped gather real, actionable insights was a powerful reminder of why Monitoring & Evaluation matters. It also reinforced my belief in the importance of integrating patient voices into health systems strengthening efforts.
Beyond specific projects, this practicum has also given me the chance to reflect more broadly on what it means to do global health work in a neighboring and similar setting to my home, Ethiopia. Being part of the CFK Africa team and witnessing inspiring and impactful work has been a privilege.
To the entire CFK Africa team: thank you for your guidance, your partnership, and your trust in my abilities to deliver. It’s been an honor to learn from you and to contribute to the vital work you do every day.
Yared