Meet Our 2024 Fall Interns

This semester, our interns are taking on several important projects to expand and support our community health worker (CHW) initiatives. Fatima and Monica are each conducting community assessments, one in Charlotte, NC, and the other in Entebbe, Uganda, to prepare for new CHW trainings in early 2025. They’ll be using tools like key informant interviews, focus groups, logic models, and SWOT analyses to guide their efforts. Jenny is focused on sustainability, supporting our existing CHW groups by developing monthly meeting handouts and agendas, revamping our sustainability plan, and improving our Spanish training materials. Natalie is creating a general assessment and evaluation process for our advanced nutrition certifications and updating our nutrition training materials, while Sam is revamping our assessment process for advanced maternal health certifications and implementing it in Uganda to support an upcoming training.

We are so grateful for this amazing team of interns! Meet each of them below to learn more about their backgrounds and what drives their passion for global health.

Fatima Deleon

I am a Senior Health major with a minor in biology & psychology at UTRGV and will be graduating this December. Originally, I am from Brownsville, Texas and one interesting fact about me is I love to bake and am constantly trying new recipes, for this past Thanksgiving I perfected a key lime pie recipe. I thank the Great British Bake Off for my love of baking. Hopefully, I will make a coconut pie for next Thanksgiving, but we shall see. I have a mountain of thriller books I need to read soon, I have quite the book buying addiction. My current side job is at Uber, which surprisingly does not pay well and generally relies heavily on tips. My future plans after completing my degree in health, I will continue here at UTRGV to obtain my master’s degree in mental health counseling, which is very near and dear to my heart. Some other fun facts are I have a four-year-old crazy orange cat whom I love very much and was a rescue, he is now very spoiled and on a medical diet. He is a skilled killer of all types of stuffed animals from PetSmart and or Target and has recently taken to howling at the neighborhood cats, I am not sure if they are his friends or enemies. I look forward to starting this internship and working with you!

Jenny Alvarado

I recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in Public Health and Human Ecology. During this internship, I will be in my second year at UT Health Houston, where I am pursuing a Master of Public Health in Community Health Practice. After obtaining this degree, I intend to enroll in a physician assistant program and apply my public health knowledge as a practicing provider. In my free time, I enjoy baking, reading, and spending time with my family. 

Monica Bagous

My name is Monica Bagous, and I am passionate about public health, particularly in disease prevention. I hold an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and am currently pursuing my Master of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Health Promotion. As an Egyptian, I have a deep connection to my hometown and dream of contributing to disease prevention efforts there. I believe that if we have knowledge about something, we have a responsibility to share and educate others, breaking the cycle of preventable health issues. I am committed to empowering communities and improving healthcare systems globally through education and collaboration.

Natalie Lezcano

My name is Natalie Lezcano and I am a second-year Master of Public Health student at the University of Florida. I am a proud double Gator-in-progress as I also received my bachelors in Health Education from UF. In addition to my internship, I also work full-time as a Wellness Coordinator for UF Health, helping fellow employees learn how to prioritize their health and well-being. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, playing with my dog Nasa, and building LEGOs. 

Sam Good

My name is Sam and I am an MPH student studying Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Boston University. As a researcher in both chronic and infectious disease pathology, I value International HELP’s commitment to curbing the spread of preventable disease through global health education. During my time as an MPH practicum intern, I hope to contribute useful education materials and thorough program evaluations for the development of sustainable global education programs.