Doctoral student aims to improve health of women, children in Cambodia through improved sanitation in health-care facilities
May 10, 2016
Hai-Ryung Sung, MPH, doctoral student in environmental sciences and engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, pursues water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) initiatives in Cambodia with the help of the Rotary International network that first brought her to Chapel Hill from Seoul, South Korea.
Sung, who earned her Master of Public Health at the UNC Gillings School in 2015, was profiled recently on the UNC Global website. Her story, as written by Shannon Harvey, is reprinted here, in part.
Hai-Ryung Sung (Photo by Shannon Harvey)
Hai-Ryung Sung (MA, 2015) hails from Jecheon City, South Korea, in the North Chungcheong Province, an area known for its beautiful mountains and lakes. Jecheon is called the “healing city.” That’s a fitting hometown for Sung, who, despite having earned an undergraduate degree in computer science, has devoted her career to advancing public health.
“During my senior year at Semyung University, I made a decision that had an impact on everything that I have done since then,” Sung says. “While my classmates were making definite decisions about their career paths, I chose to take some time to do community work.”
Sung worked for several nongovernmental organizations after she graduated, including MediPeace as a program officer. She assisted Koruyin (ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states) with basic health care, promoted sanitation measures and health-care access for children left behind by families in rural China and raised funds for an AIDS center in South Africa.
Sung’s interest in health affairs began earlier, during her first year of college, when she joined Rotaract, a youth branch of Rotary International for young adults ages 18 to 30. As a Rotaract member, Sung made weekly visits to SaeHa’s House, a home for children with mental and physical disabilities.
“I became the hands and feet of the precious people I met, listening to their concerns and just being their friend,” she recalled.
The experience was formative, and her relationship with Rotary International would eventually bring her to Chapel Hill, where she continues to work to improve children’s health outcomes.
Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu
