Featured Student
Anwaar Baobeid
When and where did you complete your practicum?
I completed my practicum during the winter of 2021 with the Research and Advocacy Team at Daily Bread Food Bank (DBFB). DBFB is a non-profit, rights-based organization that works towards long-term solutions to end hunger and poverty in Toronto.
What are your academic/research interests?
My academic and research interests span various topics such as food security in low-resource settings, health equity, gender equity in global health, and complex health emergencies. As an international student from Yemen and growing up in several other Sub-Saharan African countries, I became interested in health and food systems across the world.
What are your career goals, and did you experience change them in any way?
Through research, my goals are to advance health and gender equity for women and people living in low-resource or conflict-affected settings. Although my focus has been primarily research in global health, this practicum has expanded my career goals to working in health policy, both locally and globally.
What were your responsibilities at your agency?
My responsibilities were to collect, analyze and interpret data for DBFB’s Who’s Hungry report which provides quantitative and qualitative data about the experiences of hunger and poverty in Toronto. I coordinated and trained research volunteers, conducted phone surveys with food bank clients, and consolidated 10 years of these surveys for a trend analysis on deep poverty in Toronto. Other objectives included using research to inform strategic policy advice and advocacy strategies at the organizational and provincial level.
What was the most rewarding about your practicum experience?
The most rewarding part of the practicum experience was conducting interviews and surveys with food bank clients. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about various challenges in research methodologies as we were unable to do in-person surveys. However, supporting the development of new methods to conduct their annual research was very rewarding. I was able to interview clients not only in English, but also in Arabic, my mother tongue, and recruited volunteers that speak other languages. Working to make the research more accessible to various communities was essential, especially with the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on marginalized communities.
What advice would you offer a prospective student who is considering an opportunity with your practicum site?
What is unique about this practicum is the way in which research, policy and advocacy are brought together to advance solutions in food insecurity and poverty. If you have a passion for translating research to actionable policy recommendations and are interested in community-based advocacy, then this practicum would be ideal!
What was the most valuable lesson you learned during your practicum experience?
While my academic interests have primarily focused on global health systems, this practicum really pushed me to pay attention to the finer details of local, community needs. By doing so, it reinforced how important it is to center the needs and experiences of communities most impacted by health inequities when working towards systems change.