NATALIE GRATTAN’S TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND

Natalie is a native of Amboy, Washington.  She graduated from Lawrence University in 2010 majoring in biochemistry and music.  While at Lawrence, she became interested in SWAHP (Students Working Against Hunger and Poverty). The more active she became in SWAHP the more she realized she wanted to have a career that gave her the ability to work in the community such as public health.   She saw a flyer asking for students to attend an informational meeting about Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships. It was exactly what she was looking for.  The purpose of the Ambassadorial Scholarship are to:  send ambassadors of goodwill to improve international understanding; instill a high degree of international understanding in all scholarships within the context of the high ideals which Rotary embodies; impart needed skills to scholarships, specially those from developing countries; and educate scholars from developed countries in a unique problems and challenges faced by developing countries.  Our club sponsored Natalie to go to the District 6220 and compete in the District competition.  Natalie was selected to attend the University of Otago in New Zealand.  Natalie learned about New Zealand, Rotary, public heath and the United States and herself.  New Zealand is a small country (267,000 square kilometers) with a population of about 4.5 million people.  The have a lot of sheep (about 30 million) and dairy cows (10 million).  The symbol of New Zealand is the silver fern.  The unfolding of the fern means new life and new beginnings.  There are many birds but no mammals except for bats.  They have a diverse geography:  white sand beaches, rocky mountains, geothermal activity and rain forests (bush).  They eat much of the same foods but spaghetti is served on toast.  Natalie’s host club was the Rotary Club of Dunedin East.  They were a fun and active club.  She attended Rotaract meetings, the District Conference, service projects and fundraising activities.  The U. S. is a market model of health care system, it is a mix of private-public system and the cost is $7,290 per capita.  New Zealand has a national health care system, a mixed public-private system, PHARMAC, ACC and costs $2,454 per capita.  Major health concerns such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, smoking and alcohol abuse are the same in both countries.  So why the difference in cost?  Life expectancy, infant mortality, preventable hospital admission rates, AIDS incidence and MRI/CT exams are higher in the U.S.  The U. S. is also last in terms of efficiency, equity, safety, cost related problems and long healthy productive lives.   The more Natalie thought about this she decided to take a year off from going to medical school and work for AmeriCorps and the HealthCorps.  When she goes to medical school, Natalie will focus on preventative health.