Personal Reflective Essay: Social Disparities And Health

I am Brazilian with Korean heritage, born and raised in Sao Paulo. Although I had the resources for good education and health, I was never in peace knowing that others needed help or were in disadvantage. My emphatic nature has shown early on in my life. When I was eight years old, I started rescuing cats and dogs from the streets on my walk home from school. I felt responsible to protect them from accidents and other harms. Growing up in Brazil, I have experienced a variety of contradictory situations related with social disparities, such as starved children on the streets while private helicopters flew throughout the city. These situations made me wonder for years. Later on, as a veterinarian, I decided to put these questions into actions where I could change this “injustice reality”. I embraced humanitarian activities and volunteered in Brazil and Thailand, providing health care of animals in neglected communities. However, these experiences were frustrating since I felt I could not improve the health of animals and poor communities alone.
I could not see the root cause to start with. More unjust they were, more sensitized and intrigued I was on their complexity and impact. I wanted to learn more about social injustices to make a long term effective change. Then I had my first insight on the One health concept. I realized that the suffering of animals was a reflection of the poor health and living conditions of the people around them. So, I decided to pursue a Master degree in public health to better understand and improve the Ecosystem health together – human, animal and