During the month of May, groups from UC Riverside and UC Davis conducted a medical brigade in the community of Jalaca, Talanga in Honduras. During the brigade, students were approached by a young woman who asked them to please visit her grandmother at home since the grandmother could not walk and visit the clinic herself. A Global Brigades doctor and a group of four students went to the young woman’s house to meet Dona Dominga Maria Carcamo, a bedridden 79 year-old who lost her ability to walk after suffering from an accident over three years ago. With tears in her eyes, Dona described the accident that robbed her of her ability to walk: Dona had no light in her home, and one evening, while trying to find wood for a fire, she tripped and fell in the courtyard and broke her hip. Dona’s granddaughter tried to take her to the hospital, but given her age, surgery was considered a risk and the trip to the hospital would have been too expensive and difficult to coordinate for the family given her immobility.
After hearing this heartbreaking story, students from UC Riverside decided to organize personal capacity to raise money to purchase a wheelchair for Dona. Today, Global Brigades was thrilled to deliver the wheelchair, along with other much needed medical supplies to the community, including prenatal vitamins, loratadine, gauze, alcohol, gloves, and more. Click below to see moving photos of the donations to the health center, as well as the house of this humble woman and the moment when Dona received her new wheelchair. Dona was overjoyed to receive this gift and could not thank the UC Riverside students and their generosity enough!
Curious to find out what really happens on a Brigade? This new video from Northwestern University Global Water Brigades has tons of images to give you an insider look at the communities we partner with and the type of projects you can work on. Check out more videos from Northwestern University from this past March on their Youtube Channel:
Solar technology in the communities where we work is not a foreign concept. In fact, this past week, Public Health Brigades had the incredible opportunity to partner with Developing World Solar, an NGO from Hawaii that has specifically designed projects in the effort of combating the common environmental issues specific to rural areas in developing countries. Specializing in water pasteurizers and water purification, Developing World Solar utilized similar concepts to design a solar stove, eliminating the need for wood and the hazard of smoke produced by traditional stoves. Still in the pilot phase, our programs are testing the functionality of a solar stove against cultural traditions, difficult weather patterns, and general acceptance of this unique and advanced technology.
In the installation and initial cooking days, the stove was very well received by the community members. John Grandinetti, the founder of Grand Solar and Developing World Solar, fielded questions from community members regarding its over 200 degree Celsius temperature capacity, simple cooking method, and low maintenance care. Able to heat up in an hour and hold high temperatures for hours, a community member stated that “this solar stove would be the only stove of this cooking capacity in the whole municipality of Francisco Morazan.” To prove the stove’s abilities, community members saw 4 pounds of meat and vegetables, rice, and fried tortillas cooked within 2 hours.
The stove was donated to a school in Los Pajarillos, a target community of Global Brigades which has already received a full water project (Water Brigades) and various home infrastructure improvements (Public Health Brigades). The stove will be used to serve food to the school children, and community leader Rigoberto says he will be holding a workshop soon to train the mothers of the children how to cook on the new solar technology.
Global Brigades will be providing updates regarding the functionality of the stove, and in the future we hope to implement a stove in each of the communities where we work. A special thank you to John Grandinetti and his family (Jody, Jocelyn and Tina) for the donation to Global Brigades, and we look forward to a continued partnership in the future!
Over the past two years, the Global Brigades leadership team has been working on a new web-based initiative to take our social movement to the next level. Today, we are pleased to introduce to you brigades.org, a dynamic online platform that will enable our volunteers, and volunteers from other global service organizations, to connect and effect social change from one centralized website. Brigades.org allows individuals and groups to plan their trips, coordinate events, recruit, fundraise, and upload a variety of social media content to highlight their experiences and inspire others to join the cause.
The site was originally intended for just Global Brigades, but then we thought, “this is simply not empowering enough.” There were just too many other organizations that could benefit and we could indirectly impact so many more lives. So, let the online social movement begin! We invite all of our volunteers and supporters to sign up now to take part–visit brigades.org today and click on “join”.
Based on YOUR feedback, brigades.org has developed a variety of features that will allow you to connect like never before. The platform not only allows for groups and individuals to organize and fundraise for service learning trips abroad, but also allows users to create interactive profiles with the ability to upload photos and videos, manage events, connect via social media sites, and create blogs. These interactive tools give you full content control in sharing your stories with a wider audience to attract supporters and inspire others to take action.
Brigades.org is a hub for volunteers from across the world to connect and organize their efforts for social change. While the site is currently in Beta version, brigades.org leadership will be collecting feedback directly from you to continuously improve the site and we will be rolling out new versions that will include a variety of social media tools to document brigade successes and to highlight general issues in the field of international development–all with interactive features that will allow supporters to comment on, share, and participate in dialogue and debate about important global service topics. New content is being uploaded daily, and brigades.org will soon feature ongoing blogs, photo-journalism projects, video series, and podcasts that will bring these issues to life in a rich and dynamic format.
Whether you’re leading a brigade, joining a service learning trip, supporting a cause, or simply interested in learning about development issues and connecting with others interested in creating social change, we invite you to check out brigades.org today. This website was designed to meet the needs of volunteers mobilizing for social change–we are excited to hear your feedback and to continuing to improve the tools that will support you in your efforts.
*Brigades.org is a registered Limited Liability Company, privately funded for the use of Global Brigades and other nonprofit organizations. Any proceeds are distributed into a social investment fund to be circulated into other social businesses or donated back to participating nonprofits. For more information, please contact Oisin@brigades.org.
Mac Nichols is a third year ER resident at Midwestern/Cook County Hospital and two-time Global Medical Brigader. Mac has been instrumental during the organization and medical supply collecting for our brigades in ’09/’10, and he is currently applying for a two year fellowship in International Emergency Medicine and Global Health.
Mac’s passion for helping others started early in his medical schooling: he’s actively involved in providing inner city students with physical exams and wellness checks, and he has provided clinical care in rural Mississippi. Mac believes in sharing knowledge and educating those in need, and he actively seeks out any opportunity to make a difference.
During our trips to Honduras, Mac has proven to be an invaluable part of the team. His obvious care for the Honduran community and his ability to be a great medical resource for all of our trip participants is impressive. Mac’s wife, Joli (a fellow two-time Brigader) notes that ”he has an incredible schedule and always makes time for me and others. His energy is inspiring as is his ‘it can be done’ attitude. He is one of the most caring, modest people I know”.
Mac Nichols is a special person that has a passion for helping others. We’re lucky to have him as an active participant on our brigades. I’m sure Mac would tell you that he’s lucky to work with the great team at Global Medical Brigades and the people of Honduras.
Read about the work of three young women who are making a difference by spreading the Global Brigades message across Canada: http://www.opportunitynb.ca/en/innovators/global_brigades/
Global Brigades has been keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Agatha, which made landfall in Guatemala on May 29th and is responsible for severe flooding and over 140 fatalities. Most damage and loss of life has been centered on Guatemala City, with El Salvador and Honduras also experiencing the storm’s residual impact. Agatha was [...]
Hi GB! I am Daniel Truong, president of UC Santa Cruz GB, and our organization was awarded the 2010 Chancellor’s Achievement for Diversity Awards. We were nominated for being able to bring a diverse set of students from all backgrounds, majors, and culture to partake in a variety of programs to make one huge international [...]
By David Swanson, May 7th, 2010 On April 23rd at 6:00 PM, the doors were opened on the First Annual Global Law Brigades Auction for the Seattle University and University of Washington Chapters. As people showed up to the event, they were greeted by several members of both universities, all of them eager to speak [...]
Successful Alliance with Microfinance Brigades By Lauryn Linsell, 05/10/2010) With over 120 students coming to Honduras and more than 65 projects built this past brigade season, the Public Health program commemorated one of the most impactful months seen in the program’s history. It is important to note however, that as each of the programs within [...]
