By: Taylor Eisenstein
Each May, in the weeks immediately following graduation, several Emory University students embark on a week long trip abroad. The catch? They aren’t going to the beach or an exotic vacation destination. Instead, these students travel to third-world countries like Honduras and Ghana through an organization called Global Brigades.
Global Brigades is an international nonprofit whose mission is to “empower volunteers and under-resourced communities to resolve global health and economic disparities and inspire all involved to collaboratively work towards an equal world.” The organization mobilizes university volunteers and encourages them to work together with teams in local environments to improve a respective community’s health and “equality of life.”
Global Brigades is an international nonprofit whose mission is to “empower volunteers and under-resourced communities to resolve global health and economic disparities and inspire all involved to collaboratively work towards an equal world.” The organization mobilizes university volunteers and encourages them to work together with teams in local environments to improve a respective community’s health and “equality of life.”
Jacqueline Teed, Taylor Eisenstein, and Michelle Skelton arrive in Honduras for Global Dental and Medical Brigades in May 2016.
To accomplish its mission and goals, the organization utilizes a holistic model. Step one is characterized by the Research and Evaluation stage, in which Global Brigades members use “program monitoring tools to measure impact.” During step two, Community Partnership, local volunteers are encouraged to actively participate with the programs. Step three includes Program Preparation, in which local volunteers, government organizations, and Global Brigades staff come together to solidify and organize programs. Step four involves Program Implementation through Interdisciplinary Brigades. Students can participate in business, dental, engineering, environmental, human rights, medical, public health, or water brigades. Following this, step five, Staff Follow-Up, and step six, Sustainable Transition From Communities, ensue.
Since its inception in the United States in 2004, Global Brigades has grown and flourished. It has since established programs in four countries: Honduras, Panama, Ghana, and Nicaragua. The duration of the volunteer trips lasts between seven and ten days. In the United States, there are over 35,000 volunteers. However, participants from the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland are represented as well.
At Emory, students can currently participate in Medical, Dental, or Public Health Brigades, although other brigades have run in previous years. Prior to departure, students hold fundraisers to obtain money for medical, dental, and hygienic supplies to donate to communities on during trip. Students can provide necessities such as medications, toothpastes, and soaps.
At the sites of Medical and Dental Brigades, which often partner together, university volunteers are accompanied by international and local doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and translators. Together, these individuals travel into local communities, where they establish mobile clinics; they essentially bring the vital clinics to the local communities.
Mobile clinics consist of various stations, including intake, triage, pharmacy, consultation, and dental. Intake involves collecting patient information and recording it in the Data Informatics System. During triage, volunteers help take blood pressure and measure vitals. Doctors can then directly treat and diagnose patients during consultation, while volunteers can shadow the interactions. At the pharmacy, volunteers assist a pharmacist in filling out various prescriptions, while at the dental station, students can observe dental extractions and provide dental education for children and adults.
Since its inception in the United States in 2004, Global Brigades has grown and flourished. It has since established programs in four countries: Honduras, Panama, Ghana, and Nicaragua. The duration of the volunteer trips lasts between seven and ten days. In the United States, there are over 35,000 volunteers. However, participants from the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland are represented as well.
At Emory, students can currently participate in Medical, Dental, or Public Health Brigades, although other brigades have run in previous years. Prior to departure, students hold fundraisers to obtain money for medical, dental, and hygienic supplies to donate to communities on during trip. Students can provide necessities such as medications, toothpastes, and soaps.
At the sites of Medical and Dental Brigades, which often partner together, university volunteers are accompanied by international and local doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and translators. Together, these individuals travel into local communities, where they establish mobile clinics; they essentially bring the vital clinics to the local communities.
Mobile clinics consist of various stations, including intake, triage, pharmacy, consultation, and dental. Intake involves collecting patient information and recording it in the Data Informatics System. During triage, volunteers help take blood pressure and measure vitals. Doctors can then directly treat and diagnose patients during consultation, while volunteers can shadow the interactions. At the pharmacy, volunteers assist a pharmacist in filling out various prescriptions, while at the dental station, students can observe dental extractions and provide dental education for children and adults.
Michelle Skelton helps with tooth extractions at the dental station.
In addition, Public Health Brigades emphasize the importance of home infrastructure. Students can help construct eco-stoves, latrines, showers, and more. Eco-stoves are beneficial because they contain chimneys that can filter smoke to the outdoors, ridding the home of harmful pollutants. Students who attend Medical and Dental Brigades are often provided with opportunity to assist Public Health Brigades for part of their trip.
Constructing an eco-stove during Public Health Brigades.
This year, Saiganesh Ravikumar, co-president of Global Medical Brigades at Emory, will be flying to Honduras for his third service trip. He states: “Global Brigades provides students the opportunity to travel to a country and serve a community that lacks medical supplies. It is easy to take medical advances such as amoxicillin for granted for those of us who live in the U.S., but the true beauty of medicine shows its face in Honduras where lives are drastically changed with these basic supplies!”
Students can make a tremendous impact. However, the experience is just as rewarding for the students as it is for the communities they serve.
“I am truly humbled by this experience,” said Ravikumar.
Students can make a tremendous impact. However, the experience is just as rewarding for the students as it is for the communities they serve.
“I am truly humbled by this experience,” said Ravikumar.
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