Aynalem Yigzaw Meshesha, Senior Program Coordinator

“I’m involved in great work,” says Aynalem Yigzaw Meshesha, senior program coordinator with IntraHealth International in Ethiopia. “We’re providing intensive training to health workers and community volunteers, and we are seeing a drastic decrease in fistula and HIV/AIDS.”

Meshesha works on two projects in Ethiopia: the HIV/AIDS Care and Support Program (HCSP) and the Fistula Care Project, both funded by USAID. He manages and supervises senior personnel, and handles public relations and communication efforts with stakeholders and in-country donors. He also oversees technical advisors and field coordinators who work throughout five regions in Ethiopia.

Aynalem has been involved with health-related organizations for nearly two decades. He first heard about IntraHealth in 2003, when a friend told him about its planned prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV activities in Ethiopia. In 2008, he joined the organization.

Anyalem has seen IntraHealth impact community members’ lives, but it’s affected his thinking as well. “It has encouraged me to be more considerate of the health of mothers and children. I strongly believe that countries like Ethiopia should give priority to safe motherhood, and I want to play an important role in advocating for it.”

Through his work with IntraHealth, Aynalem has learned to think outside the box. “The organization has motivated me to see new ways of doing things to serve the communities who lack the access and resources to health services.”

He says his position with IntraHealth is also rewarding for other reasons: he appreciates contributing to a vision of improving people’s health in developing countries. He loves the team spirit among his fellow staff members. And he respects and admires the tireless effort of health workers. “The medical doctors, health officers, nurses and midwives—all those who are making services available at health centers and health posts—are always negotiating with health officials to improve and increase services and to make more people aware of fistula and how it can be prevented,” he says. “They are constantly advocating for the end of fistula and HIV/AIDS.”

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