Org Spotlight: Timmy Global Health

Read Time:3 Minute, 21 Second

By Christiana Corporon

With the start of a new semester comes new opportunities, new ideas, and of course, new orgs! With 400 student orgs and counting on campus, GW has something to offer for every student. In the midst of a global pandemic as well as a time of exceeding racial unrest, public health organizations are more important than ever.

Timmy Global Health is one of the many new orgs started at GW this semester. According to their chapter Instagram, the GW chapter of Timmy Global Health is a “non profit organization working to provide access to sustainable healthcare locally and internationally.”

Twin brothers and E-board members, Patrick and Sean Tajanlangit, are both working tirelessly to ensure Timmy makes a name for itself in its first year at GW.

Sean, who serves as Timmy’s Co-Director of Social Outreach and Recruitment, was particularly drawn to the organization’s mission for personal reasons. As a Public Health major, the org is particularly important to him.

“I got involved because I was passionate about helping out with public health issues, and especially because my parents are immigrants, you kind of see it from their side where healthcare isn’t as accessible in other countries such as the Philippines or like Honduras and Ecuador,” Sean said.

One of Timmy’s partner organizations is Banelino, located in the Dominican Republic. Banelino is a group of banana farm workers who invest in different programs that work to improve the general health and well being of their local medical center and community.

When we think of public health issues, perhaps our minds are conditioned to think that only pandemics or the spread of disease—such as the current COVID-19—crisis fall under this category. We must remember however, that racism is just as much of a public health issue as a global pandemic. Patrick, Co-Director of Local Service, acknowledged how critical it is to treat racism as the public health issue it really is.

“I feel like healthcare inequities are a very large issue … Healthcare inequalities happen all the time. You probably saw the thing where it talks about racism being a public health issue too and that has to do with healthcare inequities as well. There was an article recently that came out that said 40% of medical students still believe that black people have thicker skin, which is just crazy to think.” Patrick said.

Timmy is striving to raise awareness about the racial inequities that far too often go unnoticed in our healthcare systems.

With classes being fully virtual this semester, starting a new org is more challenging than usual. Given that GW’s student body is not physically on campus, forming a sense of community and recruiting new members is not easy.

“The biggest challenge for us right now is getting new members and just keeping people involved. Everyone’s stuck at home and some people feel like you can’t do too much but you can fundraise through certain events and just do your own research on how public health matters are important,” Sean said.

While starting a new org in these circumstances is uncharted territory for most, there are still plenty of ways to stay involved. Timmy is currently in the process of organizing a PB&J drive for the homeless in D.C.

“For the people who are in the club who aren’t in DC, we’re just gonna donate money and we’re gonna essentially just make food for homeless people. Even just walking down the street here, you can see how prevalent {homelessness} is. So just helping out in any way is a good thing.” Patrick said.

Be sure to follow GW’s very own Timmy Global Health chapter on Instagram (@timmygwu) to stay informed about upcoming events like the PB&J drive! Interested members can find the application in their Instagram bio. Applications can be submitted on a rolling basis until October 31st.