My name is Mirabelle Adamu-Zeh. I am a pharmacist from the USA and a public health enthusiast. After working in the United States for a couple of years, I relocated and have mostly lived and worked in Kenya. It was here that I first heard about Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and I researched more about the organization. As a pharmacy student at Long Island University, I remember looking for an organization that I would love to work with in a resource-limited setting, but that hope went out the door after graduation. So, after discovering MSF and learning more about the humanitarian services that it provides, my passion for humanitarian work was reawakened, and I was very glad to find out that pharmacists can also work for MSF.

Actually, my very first mission was with Epicentre, MSF’s epidemiological research center, as an epidemiologist covering a cholera outbreak in Homa Bay, Kenya. This will be my first mission as a pharmacist and I’ll be based in Yida, South Sudan. Yida is located in the northernmost part of Unity State, which is about 15 kilometers from the border of South Kordofan, Republic of Sudan. This location serves as a safe area for refugees fleeing ongoing conflict in the Nuba Mountains since 2011.

My passion is quality health standards and accessibility of quality drugs and other medical items for the most vulnerable populations, regardless of where they are located. I am excited, nervous, and grateful for this opportunity to learn, grow, and be of service to the people of Yida, my team, and MSF in general.