The Colors of Health and Hope
Courtenay Fields, a member of our sales team from North Carolina, served as a Connecting Hearts Abroad ambassador in Tanzania in 2011—the first year of our global volunteer program that deploys Lilly employees from around the world to serve in impoverished communities for two weeks. Can 14 days really make a difference? We think so. But you decide after reading her story.
What does fire-engine red have to do with cholera? Kelly green with HIV? Or bright blue with tuberculosis? For Courtenay Fields, a senior executive sales representative for Lilly oncology, the answer is simple: When it comes to improving health in some of the world’s most impoverished communities, crayons matter.
Fields, a 2011 ambassador for Connecting Hearts Abroad, observed during her two-week assignment in Ghana—and later in Tanzania on a personal trip with her husband—not only the absence of electricity and clean water in some communities, but the scarcity of school supplies such as paper and crayons.
As Fields worked with other volunteers and instructors to teach school children in Africa the basics of health education, she searched for scraps of paper on which the kids could color and draw—and hopefully ignite their imaginations and aspirations for a brighter future.
“Creative art can inspire them to think about all of the possibilities for their lives. If we can first inspire, then we can make the connection to good health and hygiene,” Fields explained. “These children are the future leaders of their communities and countries. Through creative thought, they can aspire to become teachers, nurses, and doctors—and give back to their communities.”
Read more about Courtney’s experience and how it inspired her to start her own nonprofit.
