Susan (Suzie) Akok holds a Master degree in Public Health at Westminster College and a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of Utah located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Suzie hopes to p...voir plusSusan (Suzie) Akok holds a Master degree in Public Health at Westminster College and a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of Utah located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Suzie hopes to pursue her Ph.D. in Global Health one day.
Suzie is originally a refugee from South Sudan and had lived in a number of countries in East Africa, including Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya. A U.S citizen, she currently lives in Salt Lake City. As a sojourner and community organizer, Suzie has several experiences in community services. She is currently working at the Utah Public Health Association – Community Health Worker Section as an Outreach and Partnership Coordinator for underserved and underrepresented population in the state of Utah. She has also worked abroad, Nairobi, Kenya and nearby rural areas as a Public Health Outreach Volunteer strengthening Maternal and Child Health Program.
Broadly, Suzie is compassionate about making difference in people lives. In this connection, she founded a non-profit organization in 2018 called Refugee Action for Family Health (RAFH). The mission of RAFH is to improve and promote refugees’ community health and well-being through resource mobilization, personnel connection, health education, and cultural preservation and exchange in Salt Lake City, Utah and nearby areas. At the RAFH, Suzie and colleagues envision a family health that improves community health, provides knowledge, provides tools and mobilizes resources, imparts health education, and reduces social isolation that causes depression.
During the Novel Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, Suzie has initiated two projects to help refugees’ youth and families fight COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, she has made more than 100 reusable masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among refugees’ youth and families. Second, she provided 5 new tables to support youths’ remotely learning so they can successfully complete their homework online without missing any assignments and finally, she reached out to vulnerable households to share information about the virus and where to get help from local resource persons and state agencies.voir moins