The Class of 2012 accomplished many remarkable things in India in collaboration with their partners. Their Class worked with pre-existing projects and enhanced their partner’s efforts. This week I caught up with Jack Dodson, a member of the Class of 2012 and learned about his role in their class efforts and how Periclean has influenced his life after graduation.
The Class of 2012 managed to raise enough money to refurbish one of their partner’s programs that ran out of money. They helped to reinstate The Adolescent Girls Program (AGP). This program helped adolescent girls in 54 villages. The program addressed gender inequality in Indian society. Through the organization, Village Health Workers and women’s group members organized meetings for various groups of adolescent girls. The groups met weekly or biweekly and had meetings in which the girls participated in health education classes and were given the opportunity to socialize with other girls their own age. Along with the opportunity to learn and socialize, the girls were provided with a nutritious meal and nutrition guidelines. The organization also offered workshops focused on other health topics, self-defense, social issues and creative arts.
Their class also addressed the government healthcare program that is available for citizens in India. The class recognized that it was an underfunded program and left several people without effective health options. Healthcare alternatives, such as NGOs, public-community partnerships, and social businesses existed, but they were also limited. A documentary film was created to address and bring attention to the issue.
Jack Dodson headed the documentary that addressed the healthcare issue. The documentary ultimately caught the eye of the Turkish government. This resulted in the Turkish government contributing funds to The Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP). The CRHP was able to create a training facility that expanded the organization’s reach to impact a larger population in India. The documentary, “Health for All,” is a 20-minute documentary that explores three different healthcare systems and brought attention to issues within the healthcare system . This Elon article explains the impact of the documentary in more detail!
Jack has continued working on documentaries in New York. His experiences in Periclean introduced him to creating documentaries, he even considered Periclean his major at Elon because the impact of the program was so extensive and important to him. Periclean gave him the opportunity to explore many different areas and learn as he went. He thinks about the ideals of the Periclean program and has continued working with nonprofits. He helped to create a short film for a nonprofit in Portland, Maine and is excited to establish a basis in his career and further involve himself in things similar to what he was doing in Periclean.
More information about the Class of 2012 can be found here.
Jack Dodson 12’ and Director Tom Arcaro in Paris, France to help Izmir, Turkey get the bid to host the Expo 2020.
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