Dual dreams
Joint academic adventure brings couple to UI to pursue public health careers
By Erika Binegar
Two years ago, Emmanuel and Valentina Clottey left their home in Africa to pursue dual academic dreams in a place they had never even heard of – The University of Iowa.
“Iowa – we actually had to look where it was on the map,” Valentina said, laughing.
The pair, married since 1994, is originally from Ghana, where their three children currently reside. The Western African country, home to about 20 million people, borders the Gulf of Guinea and was a nucleus of the slave trade.
With a background in biochemistry, community and religious work, Emmanuel was searching for a good public health program. Likewise, Valentina, a physician who attended mostly to children in Africa, wanted to learn more about women and children’s public health care in the United States.
“We decided to put it together,” Valentina said, referring to their joint pursuit of further education. “It is not an opportunity that is so readily available to many people in Africa.”
Last summer, the married couple was accepted to the Master of Public Health program in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, a two-year program.
But it was hearing about a friend’s experience in Iowa that originally sparked Emmanuel’s interest in 2004, motivating him to apply for a residency in chaplaincy at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. When they eventually got their visas, it was a mere two weeks before the program was scheduled to begin and they would be living and working in a whole new environment.
Kirk Murray/University Relations.
Emmanuel and Valentina Clottey, UI graduate students originally from Ghana, enjoy shopping at New Pioneer Co-Op in Iowa City.
While the question of what to do with the mass of belongings they had accumulated after more than 10 years in their Kenya home was easily answered – give it to friends and store the rest with family – the question of where the family would live in Iowa was much tougher. Things begun to look even worse after the university explained there was no available housing, Emmanuel said.
“All I could think was, ‘What are we going to do?’” he recounted, wide-eyed.
They were lucky enough to find an expanding circle of Iowa friends before even leaving home, when news of a man looking to rent his home reached them in Africa.
Kevin Kummer, a campus minister with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA (IVCF) based in Iowa City, needed a renter for only three months, but Emmanuel jumped at the opportunity. Because the couple would be in Iowa City for at least a year, Kummer’s wife, Maria, knew the short time would not work for Emmanuel and Valentina, or Nii and Val as she called them.
After introducing herself through e-mail, Maria looked into a few properties. Eventually, she found a two-bedroom apartment for her long-distance pals. Once again, through e-mail, she sent every detail, including the apartment layout and lease, to Africa for the Clotteys to approve.
Kirk Murray/University Relations.
In addition to studying together, the husband-wife team also enjoy shopping together at one of their favorite stores in the local community to explore the local cuisine.
“I was partly just trying to be their legs on this side, because it’s really scary signing a lease without seeing it and then getting stuck,” Kummer said, adding she and her husband faced a similar housing crisis in England years ago. “We ended up moving five times in five months…so I really empathized with their situation.”
Maria’s help made it possible for the Clotteys to travel to the U.S. – without proof of a dwelling, they would not have been allowed in, Emmanuel said.
“I believe that is the Iowan way – people are so nice,” Valentina said with a smile. “We’re happy to be here and we’re really thankful to the people who have helped us along the way.”
They also received a warm welcome into the College of Public Health, where no questions were left unanswered and everybody’s door was open, Emmanuel said. They especially want to thank two people who were very helpful to them in the entire process – Mary Aquilino, director for MPH programs and assistant dean in the College of Public Health and Larry Shostrom, coordinator of spiritual services, UIHC.
Kirk Murray/University Relations.
“That’s one of the reasons we decided to stay, we saw that we had almost everything here that we needed,” he said, adding they had been considering moving to England for additional schooling.The UI Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) in International Programs, was also a great help, Valentina said. “They are really like a family to international students. They were all happy for us, when we got through and into the program,” she said, adding the OISS staff gave out a list of stores in the area that carry traditional groceries during fall orientation in 2004. “That was a really great resource that they gave to international students.”
She admitted, however, some of the meals don’t taste quite the same. Still, the food was just a minor adjustment and with the exception of pizza, which is still strange to Valentina, the pair is beginning to enjoy the local cuisine. The couple also had to understand the differences in the educational system, including a large reliance on technology and computers and informal relationships between professors and students.
“We were surprised to have lecturers ask us to call them by their first names. We are still struggling with that, because it is unacceptable in Ghana,” Emmanuel said.
A slightly more shocking change was the weather — arriving in September 2004, they began experiencing their first Mid-western winter almost immediately. And Valentina had to adjust to not working, as medical training and requirements in Africa are different from those in America.
“In Africa, I was a senior general physician, and within six months my life changed and I didn’t have a job,” she said. “I had to sit home for many months. It was quite a challenge and it was winter, so you can imagine me sitting and just looking at the snow.”
Kirk Murray/University Relations.
But the biggest challenge Emmanuel and Valentina have faced since coming to Iowa has been the separation from their children – Emmanuel, 18, Gabriel, 9, and Rachel, 3. Though Gabriel and Rachel came to Iowa with their parents, Emmanuel and Valentina wanted them to grow up in Ghana while they focused on their work at the university, giving their kids the opportunity to learn their local language and live with their grandparents. They have not seen the children since October 2004 but plan a trip to visit them in December 2006 and start the process of having them come to Iowa.
“It’s never easy to be away from your children,” Emmanuel said. “But we feel for now we’ve made the right decision.”
Valentina said they communicate with the kids every other day, mostly via the telephone – the medium of choice because it lets the family hear one another’s voices.
“They’re not alone in being internationals that have to sacrifice something,” Kummer said, noting some students and scholars leave their spouses behind. “And they also have a hope they can visit or bring their children here, but I think they miss them very much, and I think, especially with the younger child, they feel they’re missing out on being with their children while they’re growing up.”
Jackie Leung, Valentina’s fellow student mentor in the College of Public Health Student Mentor-Mentee Program, said her friend admits to heading straight for the little girl and boy clothing aisles while shopping, and thinks to herself, “This would look good on my baby.”
Kirk Murray/University Relations.
“Overall, she just loves talking about her kids, and sometimes it’s hard for her to forget that they’re not here with her,” Leung said.
Luckily, Emmanuel and Valentina have each other, working together as they adjust to American life, in and out of the university.
“I think that it’s always good when your spouse is your best friend and your best support, you can’t get any better than that,” said Barbara Brown, the College of Public Health coordinator. “They each have their own area of expertise and their own ideas, but together they can make a huge difference.”
The pair is used to taking on educational challenges together — they both attended the Kwame Nikrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, where they first met in 1989.
“We fall on each other for support,” Valentina said, noting it’s been especially challenging learning about American culture and adjusting to a new and different education system. “Even though we still have our independence to study, it’s a good team together.”
Eventually, the couple wants to return to Africa with their new skills in tow to increase public health awareness. In Ghana alone, 350,000 people were living with HIV or AIDS in 2003, according to yahoo.com, and the deadly disease is just one health issue plaguing the region. Valentina said basic healthy living is a major concern in the medical field.
“Some never learn how to take care of themselves before they get sick,” she said simply.
Emmanuel said his experience in biochemistry and theology has shown him that people should be taught how to be healthy first.
“Disease prevention and health promotion should be the focus to reduce the number of people who fall sick, and avoid using as many resources,” he said, noting that while computers and medical supplies abound in the U.S., much of Africa lacks basic health supplies. “My personal conviction is that everywhere in the world we need preventative medicine, but especially in Africa.”
Kirk Murray/University Relations.
Emmanuel, who plans to earn his doctorate in public health at the university, said a large vehicle such as a camper, usually containing all the comforts of home, could be used to take medical supplies to rural Africa, where people either walk to receive care or become too sick and die at home.
“Some hospitals in Africa try to mobilize, traveling to one village one day imparting health education. But, resources are inadequate when you look at the population,” Valentina said, adding doctors in Africa often have to improvise or recycle certain resources to save lives.
More than anything, Emmanuel and Valentina want to take what they learn at the College of Public Health and work together to teach people about basic health care, encouraging young Africans to go to school along the way.
“We couldn’t do so much before because we didn’t have the certain skills that you get in public health. It’s a lot of challenge and it’s a lot of sacrifice for us that we’ve taken to get it done,” Valentina said. “ But in our education program here, we are getting into good shape to achieve those goals.”