Dr. Lavanya Shankar has been a pediatrician for the past 20 years and currently works for both Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern Medicine. At HOPE’S IN, Dr. Shankar serves on the Fortaleza Committee. Dr. Shankar first got involved with the committee in the early part of 2020. Dr. Shankar says that during her service trip in 2019, she felt that a large problem in the communities we worked with was related to teen pregnancies and young mothers. This seemed to be a major factor perpetuating the cycle of poverty and led her to start a discussion with the organization about creating small solutions to target this vulnerable population. She shares: “ Hope’s In has given me an avenue to use my skill and expertise to help the needy in a very solid and tangible way. Global health has always been an interest of mine, and while I was searching for the best way to get involved, I met Courtney and her dedicated volunteer team on our service trip to Guatemala. The opportunity to work with interns and high schoolers, to show and share with them global health challenges has made me a joyous participant in Hope’s In activities and work!”
Dr. Shankar reflects on her time in Guatemala, and says: “One of my favorite memories in Guatemala was when the teen volunteers created a makeshift pharmacy behind a counter in a building where we set up our medical clinic. After a few quick lessons on dosing regimens of commonly prescribed medications, the young volunteers created a quick process of getting the prescription over to the “pharmacy” and filled the prescription and got the patient taken care of under our supervision! Lickety split!”