Health-Clinic Director
Jessie Stone
37, New York, NY, & Kyabirwa, Uganda

Job Description: Professional rodeo kayaker and M.D. who directs Soft Power Health, a two-person nonprofit organization she founded in 2004, which operates a kayaking camp for inner-city kids in NYC and a malaria clinic—located on the White Nile in rural Uganda—that provides education, prevention, and treatment.
Why This Work Rules: It sure ain't the money. But when Stone first arrived in Kyabirwa, few of the thousand or so villagers knew how malaria was transmitted, let alone prevented. Now mosquito nets cover at least 1,000 beds in villages around the region, and infant mortality is expected to decline. "People are so grateful," says Stone. "The outpouring of emotion is so intense, it's almost more than I can handle, and it has forever changed my perspective on things. I feel incredibly lucky." Plus, after work she gets to kayak the Class V White Nile.
Turning Point: After graduating from New York Medical College in 1999, Stone decided to forgo residency and pursue a whitewater-kayaking career. On a 2003 trip to Uganda, she treated two fellow kayakers for malaria. "That made me look around and think, My God, does anyone here sleep under a mosquito net?" Stone says. A year later, she started the education program and laid plans for the clinic.
The Balanced Life: The slow pace of life in Africa offsets the stress of the U.S. "When I go to Uganda," says Stone, who has spent five months there this year already, "I take in the scenery, chat up the villagers, and write letters—the things you'd never have time for in New York." In the U.S., Stone prioritizes playing tennis with her dad and going to the theater when she's not orchestrating fundraisers or off paddling.
Reality Check: Stone has no permanent address. Stateside, she usually stays with her parents in Westchester County, New York; in Uganda, home is a banda, a hut at the Nile River Explorer's Camp.
The Bottom Line: Health-care salaries overseas vary wildly, depending on your situation. Because Stone's overhead costs eat up donations, her income is just $18,000 a year. Want to take her path? Go to a med school like the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (www.cdrewu.edu), in Los Angeles, which focuses on helping the underserved. Get a health-care job with groups like Doctors Without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org), the Peace Corps (www.peacecorps.gov), Health Volunteers Overseas (www.hvousa.org), or Action Without Borders (www.idealist.com). Soft Power Health (www.softpowerhealth.org) provides housing, airfare, and a stipend for clinic volunteers—no medical experience required.