Category: Blog

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Working International

The work and process of working with international groups

  On my case studies page, I cover the work I have done with the group HealthCare Tends with Dr. Azeez Butali, and their project “Help My Pikin”.  I was very lucky to experience creating something for a different cultural group that had a need that traditional methods of communication were failing while I was working with Dr. Butali.   In Nigeria, about 2,300 children under the age of 5 die every day and a lot of these deaths are very preventable with vaccinations and hospital follow-ups.  In the United States these practices are very common, so the question asked is why aren’t these practices applied in Nigeria?   HealthCare Trends found not only health literacy was low, but so was language literacy, especially with the mothers. Education is not as available to youth in Nigeria, particularly for young girls.  This negatively impacts the community by not having the ability to share information with traditional forms of communication such as brochures and other printed reading material.  HealthCare Trends saw this and started working on a solution. Help My Pikin was born.

polio vaccine
Image of oral vaccination such as the polio vaccine.

The first issue was vaccines.

  Help My Pikin developed and began implementing a scheduled reminder that would notify new mothers, on their mobile phones, that their babies were due for a vaccination.  This increase the number of vaccinated babies, but there was still a need to educate.  Help My Pikin wanted to make sure mothers knew why the vaccines were important.  While in the community, many concerning practices were observed. There was little education about proper breastfeeding, the importance of hand washing, and how to clean the fresh umbilical cut.  As babies become toddlers, there was also a concern about nutrition and how to introduce new foods to baby.  Lastly, they wanted to cover some warnings signs that should send the family directly to a hospital or clinic. There were many other concerning practices observed while in the community. There was little education about proper breastfeeding, the importance of hand washing, and how to clean the umbilical cord stump.  As babies become toddlers, there was also a concern about nutrition and how to introduce new foods to baby.  Lastly, they wanted to cover some warnings signs that should send the family directly to a hospital or clinic.   Previous groups had tried to use print information and there was little success, so…

HealthCare Trends had to find a tailored solution for this community.

  Dr. Butali approached me at a Rotary meeting and asked me about my career and it’s applications.  He had an idea to use animations on preloaded tablets to visually communicate these concepts and ideas.  I was very excited about this and this was my first project on an international level! I had a lot of ideas on how to help.  When I first met with Dr. Butali, he was extremely helpful with information about what HealthCare Trends had previously done, how it was received, what their goals were, what the concerns were, and where things were at as of that moment. It was very apparent that I had to make sure the

chlorhexidine
Application of chlorhexidine to umbilical cord stump.

work I was doing was not only informative but also relatable for the people that were going to be watching my animations.  The people in the animations had to look like the people watching them and I had to make sure the content was relevant to the people watching down to food examples and warnings.  In the end, I was very proud of the work Dr. Butali and I created together.  

The outcome.

After the animations were created and had their different voiceovers, I was excited to see the final product!  Dr. Butali went to Nigeria and piloted the new communication tools.  They were well received!  After Dr. Butali’s visit, I followed up and was glad to hear that the presentation rooms were packed full and the products were starting to have a real impact!   This was one of my first international projects, but I am excited to see what the results will be after three years, five years, and ten years.  I named my company LEGACY because of this very reason, to help a plan come to fruition for the creator and help them build their legacy, but also the legacy created by the lives saved and bettered.   For additional information about Help My Pikin, click here and see how you can help.  A big thank you to Dr. Azeez Butali and HealthCare Trends for allowing me to work with them, but also for the impact you are making and the lives you are changing. Curious and want to stay informed? Follow Help My Pikin’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Kids and Entrepreneurship

The term entrepreneur was coined by Jean-Baptiste Say, a French economist and scholar.

The word originally came from the French word entreprendre, meaning: undertaking. In English, the term entrepreneur is often translated to an adventurer.  Whether you identify entrepreneurship as a necessary undertaking of some sorts, or a bout of adventure, becoming an entrepreneur takes bravery as well as skill.  As an entrepreneur, I did take a class one summer when I was in grade school at the Belin-Blank Learning Center at the University of Iowa, but most of what I learned about running my business was by running my business.  I googled and asked for help, I found mentors and support, but for the most part, my formal education was all in science and art, not business.  I already knew about supply and demand and profit and loss, but I had to learn about the characteristics of a person running a business and the grit it takes to have success.

Junior Achievment!

That being said, I stumbled upon an opportunity to teach what I have learned to potential young entrepreneurs.  Iowa has a program called Junior Achievement who’s goals are to educate school children in business literacy so they can be informed members of the workforce or even START or RUN A BUSINESS.

The first day of class was amazing!

All the kids had great ideas and goals AND some of them had parents that were either in the middle of or beginning of starting a business.  One girl with brightly colored, braided hair shared with me that her mother was trying to start a hair salon.  She was very excited to learn and she ALWAYS had her hand up and ready to participate in class discussion.  JA (Junior Achievement) had a great lesson plan put together for me the build the foundation of understanding how to run a business by way of a hotdog stand.

As expected, not all the kids were excited about the structure and rules of the lessons, but allowing the students to apply the ideas and concepts to the business they wanted to brainstorm provided an even better understanding of the things I was trying to teach, which was wonderful to witness.  Beyond the coolness of these kids learning the vocabulary and concepts I was teaching, it was amazing hearing about the business these kids brainstormed on their own. Business and careers that I was definitely not thinking about or heard about when I was that age.

I was really glad to have the opportunity to work with these kids and be someone that hopefully, they will think about some of the I said even as adults as I do with people that impacted me in my own youth.  The best part of the whole experience was all the kids telling they were going to take their handouts home to teach their families and help their parents with their businesses.

If you ever get the opportunity to work on projects like this,

be bold and go for it!

The kids are nice, the teachers are helpful and you’re doing something good and beneficial for the kids you work with.

Junior Achievement thank you letters

Are you interested in volunteering?

Contact Junior Achievement to see how you can share your entrepreneurial and business knowledge.

Contact JA Now

Looking for more on financial literacy?

Check out these link for information about how to talk to kids and teens about earning, saving, and investing money.

CreditCards.Com's Financial Literacy

Reviews.com's How To Build Credit
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A Honeymoon at The Mammoth Site®

At the end of September, my new husband and I adventured to Hot Springs, South Dakota for our honeymoon.

Hot Springs was a beautiful little town that smelled like juniper and mint, but the real treasure in Hot Springs is The Mammoth Site.  My husband, the paleontologist enthusiast, and I, also intrigued by paleontology, were excited to go to the biggest known concentration of mammoth remains in the world.  We wanted to know why they were there, how they got there, and most importantly, we just wanted to see it!  So, my husband and I packed up a camera, a sketchbook, and began our adventure.

When we first arrived at the museum, we walked past a visual geological timeline, an epilog of sorts.  The timeline was created with signs full of illustrations showing the environment and some inhabitants from each era.  Each sign had some sample rocks (boulders) that were prevalent during that period.

Mammoth Site Museum Enterance
New Mr. and Mrs. Worrell at the entrance of the Mammoth Site Museum.

Upon entrance, we were greeted by a giant replica of a mammoth and very friendly staff.  After a few selfies and purchasing of tickets, we made our way into the theater to watch a short, informative video about the formation and creation of the dig site.  The content was astonishing, but I was interested in the animations and video content.  They were not only well done but were also attention-grabbing. The intro was so cool!

After, we began the tour.

Through some double doors, we were greeted by a giant mural reimagining the site when it was still a flowing waterhole.  Bright, lush, and alive!  Around the corner was the site.

Big and breath-taking!

The sedimented pit is 100 x 150 feet, and they have dug in 20 ft on one side and 15 ft on the other side.  However, according to Dr. Jim Mead from the museum, cores have proven there is still 40+ feet of sediment and bone!

Mammoth Dig Site-Pelvis

Mammoth Dig Site tag 9

As we made our way around the perimeter of the site, going up and down different viewpoints, our tour guide shared with us information about the site.  He covered everything from the composition of the soil to the different species that have been found in the pit.  I found the content interesting in itself, but the guide was funny and made the tour even more enjoyable!  Great for children if you have any.

A great supplement to the guide was the illustrations and wall paintings that covered the walls.

There were illustration posters covering everything from teeth composition to anatomy comparison. We spent a lot of time looking at these and trying to commit as much as we could to memory.  Ben was focused on content, I was focused on layout. My favorite one was the comparison of human versus mammoth teeth.  A lot of the work is done by volunteers, but they do have two artists on staff.

After we had our formal tour, we were encouraged to keep wandering around and keep taking pictures.  There were a few volunteers digging in the site, so we asked them about their process.  The volunteers were very friendly and welcomed our questions!

They were armed with water bottles and dental tools, gently moving dirt around, uncovering more specimens.

Volunteers Digging
Volunteers digging.

We learned that to officially help excavate, one has to be part of the Excavation and Preservation Program at the museum or part of a planned Roads Scholar visit. Both of these are a pay-to-excavate program.  Of course, there are other options via contacting The Mammoth Site.

After talking to volunteers, we made our way down to the prep room.  We watched skilled workers carefully remove casts from transferred specimens and clean them up.

Working in the prep lab is very similar to applying to help dig!

We then traveled into the exhibit room where there was more anthropology focused content.  Arrow points, dwellings, chipped bone, and pots.  There were also maps showing where different mammoths roamed the world and displays showing replicas of mummified mammoths found throughout the world.

Of course, we stopped at the museum gift shop!  There was a dig cave that would be awesome for curious kids and plushies for little future paleontologist (we bought a plushie mammoth for our nephew).  There were also site books, field books, and storybooks for all ages.

Throughout this post, I have mentioned Dr. Jim Mead.

Dr. Mead is the on-site paleontologist and is a walking encyclopedia of answers regarding the topic.

He was influenced into science at a very young age with biologist parents.  Upon going to college, he discovered the joy of the study of animal remains from archaeological and paleontological periods.  He later went on to achieve his Ph D.  He has since been doing research in the Pleistocene field for the past 40 years!

Dr. Mead shared with me that he has been with the Mammoth Site on and off throughout its discovery in July of 1974.  However, after the passing of the late Dr. Larry Agenbroad, Dr. Mead was willing to take the position of Director and Chief Scientist for the Mammoth Site.

The Mammoth Dig Site was a top ten adventure for me and the perfect honeymoon spot!

I was mind-blown with entertainment and education!  I walked away with so many ideas and new concepts, my husband walked away simply in aww, and I also got the opportunity to draw a bit, always a bonus.  We live in Iowa, how did we not know this place existed!?!  My husband and I are hoping to go back again in the future and maybe even get the opportunity to be dig volunteers.

Sketch By Assata C Worrell
Dig sketch by Assata C Worrell

A big thank you to both Bethany Cook for helping me get connected to Dr. Jim Mead and thank you to Dr. Mead for taking the time to answer my many questions.

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Diversity in Health

I went to a conference focusing on how to be sensitive to diversity when working in health.  One of the big issues is health literacy.


As an illustrator, I often have the opportunity to work on health literacy projects.  On one hand, I must make sure my client is happy with how I am communicating their information.  On the other hand, I must make sure that information is speaking to and sensitive to cultural differences, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.  That’s a lot to think about.

A communication presentation made me realized there is even more of a need for customization.  There is no “one size fits all” when communicating important information to specific audiences.

While information can be considerably relevant across different groups, it is just as important to be understanding about identifiers and the things that make people unique, as it is for the information to be correct.  A big part of that is understanding that there is no “normal” there is only “different”.  In a health field, it is important to make sure everyone feels included and acknowledged.  For example: using non-binary and gender-neutral pronouns, translating language, and adding closed captioning to video media.

I learned a lot from the Diversity Conference.  I look forward to applying this knowledge to better help clients and to better communicate.

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Hello, my name is… Assata

Hello!  My name is Assata.  I am a scientific illustrator, and I am very excited to continue this adventure of business, technology, and innovation.  I began illustrating under the name Illustrations By Assata but quickly realized that it was time for my business to grow, so I founded LEGACY BioStudios, LLC.  While I have a new name, the goal of my business is the same, quality illustrations for the use of communicating science.

As the company illustrator, I will be posting blogs on current projects, what things are going on in the science world, and other bits of relevant information regarding science and/or art. Personally, I have an Instagram account that documents my work and business life: thebiostudio.  Feel free to follow me.

Sincerely,

Assata