PIH Engage: 'We Are Part of Something Bigger'

Every summer, Partners In Health (PIH) Engage's Training Institute (TI) brings together hundreds of leaders from across the country for a weekend of education and community building. The weekend culminates with a day spent bringing the fight for health as a human right to our congresspeople on the Hill.

Engage is a network of high schoolers, college students, and professionals across the U.S. that recruit, train, and equip dedicated teams of volunteer community organizers who mobilize their communities in the fight for health equity. This year, there are over 700 Engagers across 33 states-almost 200 of whom were at TI.

Attending TI as a new Engager in the summer of 2024 truly changed my life. This event was my introduction to organizing and the first time in my life that I found myself in community with people who were so adamant in their belief that our collective actions could truly shape a fairer and more just world.

Kavita Doobay addressing the crowd during Engage's Training Institute this year. Photo by Kathrine Kuhlmann / PIH

I'll admit that I was nervous going into the weekend this year. As an intern who spent my summer helping to organize TI, I was scared that it might feel different or less magical than it had when I attended last year. But the energy, passion, and excitement that radiated from every single Engager in attendance filled me with so much hope, and reminded me exactly why this movement matters.

This year, our network leadership team kicked off TI by sharing reflections on the 'north star' that we identify as a driving force in our organizing work. For me, that activity made my north star very clear: the voices and experiences of patients and providers at PIH sites. Their stories remind us why we organize - not as advocates working in isolation, but as a network of accompagnateurs, walking alongside them in solidarity as we bear the moral responsibility to advocate for a world in which where you live doesn't determine if you live.

Throughout the weekend, I was brought back to that north star constantly. We were so lucky to hear about PIH's history and theory of change from Dr. Joia Mukherjee, PIH's senior advisor to the CEO, clinical & academic strategy. We also had the incredible opportunity to hear from seasoned advocates, including David Bryden, PIH's senior policy officer, Mackenzie Zendt, a former USAID staffer, and Dr. Melino Ndayizigye, the executive director of PIH Lesotho. These speakers helped us contextualize our work as organizers within the broader work that PIH does at every care delivery site across the world. They helped us understand that the broader goal is not for PIH to spearhead systemic change in every single country, but for the success of its revolutionary care models to inspire broader policy shifts and a deeper collective understanding of the role that each of us plays in repairing, and sustaining, the broken systems that exist today.

From left, Engagers Deepika Muthuswamy, Olchey Tchavyntchak, Akeva Koulla and Sanjana Gade participate in a group activity on the first day of TI. Photo by Kathrine Kuhlmann / PIH

One of my favorite moments from that weekend was a panel on PIH's work to combat tuberculosis in Sierra Leone, with Cate Oswald, PIH's chief policy and program officer, and Dr. Marta Lado, PIH Sierra Leone's medical director. Lado shared the story of the very first multidrug-resistant tuberculosis case tested for and treated in the country. At every step of that story, she seemed to be describing PIH providers resisting the typical narratives of "sustainability" and "cost-effectiveness" in order to ensure the absolute highest standard of care for that patient. Hearing that story gave me a new understanding of what it means to treat every patient as a member of your own family, something you can't do halfway.

We also had so many incredibly goofy moments, which I hold so close to my heart. From Fynn Crooks, our advocacy senior community organizer, staging a lightsaber battle to symbolize our fight for equitable global health legislation to a very inspired dance break to Pitbull's Timber (best song ever), these moments reminded me that joy and hope play such a crucial role in building our movement.

By the end of TI, it felt as if I had watched the unveiling of something extraordinary. The weekend wove political education, hands-on skill-building, and strategy into a shared experience that left the whole room buzzing with energy. More than anything, I felt the collective momentum of our network of hundreds of Engagers leaving TI centered in their own north stars and ready to step into the campaign year ahead.

From left, Engager Verena Welch, Kavita Doobay, PIH Engage intern, and Lindsay Palazuelos, PIH senior director of policy and program replication, meet with Representative Amo's office during Hill Day. Photo by Kathrine Kuhlmann / PIH

That energy carried us into our Hill Day, where Engagers held over 170 meetings with their congressional offices. Engagers who were learning the basics of our campaign just days before spoke with clarity and confidence about protecting PEPFAR and the Global Fund, and advancing the Paul Farmer Memorial Resolution. In every meeting I attended, I felt the energy of the weekend fueling everyone's voices.

As I said in some of my closing remarks to Engagers, I really think that the people holding the cards right now want us to believe that we don't have the power, that we can't change the system. So, the way we resist will have to be through hope and believing in one another, even if it may seem silly or feel a little delusional at times. But through the community that we have built together, I really feel that it's the only logical conclusion.

That's the role that TI and Engage play for us: they're reminders that we are not alone. That we are part of something bigger: a movement that listens, stays, and fights together.

So as we left the weekend, I hope that our network carries that forward. I hope we remember the stories we've heard, the people we've met, and the promises we've made. And I hope we keep showing up together, refusing to turn away.

Nearly 300 members of PIH Engage gathered at this year's TI. Photo by Kathrine Kuhlmann / PIH

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