Giving Society and other generous members of the Notre Dame Family create a very real and powerful impact in the lives of Notre Dame students and all those whose lives they touch. This story is one example of many of how talented and dedicated students work to bring about change with help from the Notre Dame Family.
“The kindness and generosity of donors allows students to thrive. I haven't had to worry about getting a summer job. Instead, I've been able to focus on international service work that has helped me grow and helped entire countries expand their health resources.”
For Grace Clinton ’24, working in health care has always been the goal.
Through her classroom and experiential learning opportunities, Grace has devoted her work to women’s health, specifically in Africa.
As a student, she’s already written surgical plans for developing countries, started a non-profit, helped open a clinic, and so much more.
Improving maternal health care in Ghana
One of her professors, Dr. Yenupini Joyce Adams, asked Grace to help her research maternal health in northern Ghana.
Her sophomore year, under Dr. Adams, Grace helped publish a research paper. Then, she created a 100-page postpartum care guide.
Most women they worked with were illiterate, so Grace’s team had to translate it into local dialects and visual aids. They also instated support groups and began a year-long study where they met with the women monthly.
Grace held Zoom conferences to teach midwives and nurses how to put the guide into practice.
“Within a year, I was able to see tangible change. Things are actually improving for these women.”
Her research made such a difference that the government of Ghana took it on as a project, expanding the impact Grace made across the country.
Transforming surgical health care for Ecuadorians
Although she was already making a global difference, Grace didn’t stop there.
Through Notre Dame, she partnered with the Harvard School of Global Surgery and Social Change and was hired by Ecuador's government to rewrite the country’s surgical plans.
In her sophomore year, she interviewed women across Ecuador, found which parts of the country were underserved, and helped create a new national plan for surgery.
In many developing countries like Ecuador, even the most basic surgeries can be deadly.
Grace was determined to change this and helped develop comprehensive plans that could realistically be administered throughout the country. Her work proposes life-saving solutions, allowing Ecuadorians to receive critical surgical care that was otherwise impossible.
Her new national plan is currently up for vote in Ecuadoran legislation and was presented to the UN General Assembly in hopes that other countries will follow suit.
Helping women in Botswana through business
Now a senior, Grace set out to complete her capstone project. Determined to make it something that benefited others, she traveled to Botswana, a developing country in southern Africa.
For 10 weeks, she lived in Botswana, interviewing women and working with an organization that helps teen mothers. As roughly 1 in 4 women give birth as teenagers in this area, she specifically focused her research on young mothers and victims of gender-based violence.
But after her capstone research, “Postpartum Care Practices and Education of Young Mothers in Kgalagadi District, Botswana,” was complete, Grace found more work to be done.
Through her time and research in the area, she discovered the issue of “period poverty.”
“When you don't have clean water or secure food or housing, you aren't making sure you have pads. That's your last concern. But because of that, there's a lot of societal stigma and shame. Girls feel embarrassed to go to school. They're embarrassed to go to work. They're shunned during that time. Women are automatically put at a disadvantage one week out of every month, and that really adds up. I wanted to create a solution that is reusable and sustainable, plus affordable and realistic for the women there.”
To combat the issue, Grace ventured to the IDEA Center. With $1,000 and help from the center, she bought materials, created a prototype, and began producing reusable pads.
Since the town had almost no electricity or running water, she had to figure out what a supply chain might look like.
Now, her business is running well, kept alive by local women who keep the profit. Her business not only helps distribute needed supplies to women, but also ensures that the women there have a means of income.
“Notre Dame has funded all of my research and travels. You can't measure the impact on this village I lived in in Botswana, and it's thanks to the people like you who fund passionate students.”
After graduation, Grace intends to return to Africa to continue helping women, especially those who have experienced gender-based violence.
Because of the generosity of the Notre Dame Family, especially through the Sorin Society and Notre Dame Fund, students and alumni like Grace continue to shape Notre Dame and the world for good—thank you.