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by Alicia Nemiccolo '97 Jake Conklin '00 originally envisioned it as an "innocent project"—to build a hospital in the Ancash mountain region of Peru. That might sound like well-meaning naivete, but Conklin already has signed corporation papers to create The One Organization, named the five trustees and obtained advice from sources that include the deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization. Conklin, a chemistry major from Marion, Ohio, spent the summer of 1998 as a volunteer in the Ancash mountains. He visited homes to study the potentially fatal bacterium bartonellosis as part of a public health research program run by the Pan American Health Organization, the U.S. Navy and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. The previous summer Conklin was a night-shift emergency room intern at the Chicago Children's Memorial Hospital and a volunteer in the hospital's outreach program to housing projects. Conklin said that "a need to shed the comfort zone around me" draws him to working in difficult conditions. Conklin discovered the project in Peru by searching on-line for public health opportunities in underdeveloped countries. He sent inquiries to researchers he found interesting. Capt. Larry Laughlin, an epidemiologist in the Navy and head of Project Bartonellosis, responded but said if Conklin wanted to work in Peru with him, he'd have to cover his own expenses. A year and a half later Conklin still is in debt from his work in Peru, but he says the experience was worth the cost. He realized "more people would volunteer if financial obstacles were lessened," so, as the Student Government Association cultural chair, he has created "Colby Abroad" to fund learning experiences for students during the summer or Jan Plan. Conklin said he wants to offer other students chances to "make a lasting impression and form their own answers." Seeing the limited medical care in Peru deepened Conklin's commitment to public service. He created The One Organization, which is dedicated to eliminating divisions between third- and first-world nations, and through the organization he intends to build the hospital. Retaining the local Peruvian culture and identity is important, he says. "It's hard to draw the line in helping but not changing a community," Conklin said. Alex Chin '96, assistant director of student activities, is one of the organization's five trustees. Chin said he got involved in Conklin's mission "because Jake is a visionary, and unlike most visionaries he combines that with passion and a strong sense of motivation. People like that are rare." Ultimately Conklin wants to work on nationwide approaches to health care, involving secondary education as well as medical services. He is spending spring break in Paraguay to evaluate possibilities for such a strategy there. Eventually Conklin wants The One Organization to be more than an avocation, but he is headed for medical school after graduation. He reasons that the "sooner I'm done, the sooner I can focus on these things." Last fall, he already had been accepted into the Navy's medical school but was waiting to hear from other schools. Conklin is also busy working on his chemistry honors research with Associate Professor Julie Millard, with whom he has worked since his freshman year. Their research involves isolating a drug from an edible mushroom and cross-linking for cancer studies. "Jake is loaded with enthusiasm, initiative and humor," said Millard. "He will be a fantastic tropical health practitioner, is sure to discover loads of nasty new diseases and will have a great time doing it." One might think Conklin would have little time for other pursuits, but he recently completed what he said "can be considered a novel," about a student who finishes medical school and works in a third-world country to pay off his debts. "It's a very political and a very hopeful novel," said Conklin. He hasn't contacted a publisher yet. "I'm prepared to work on it for three to five years, until I'm satisfied," he said. Though he loves to write, Conklin says he has no desire to be a writer. "My true passion is to perform visible change and help people live in healthier conditions," he said. "I like just about everything and I think that's my biggest problem. I get pulled in so many different directions." |
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