Although our flight was scheduled for Saturday, Friday marked the official beginning of our trip. We dedicated this entire day to organizing and packing all the medication and medical supplies we had been fundraising for since October. It took several car trips to transport everything from one of our member’s house to the large empty classroom we had chosen. It soon became absolutely packed with boxes, suitcases, and medicine bottles lying everywhere.
It was awesome being able to see how much we had fundraised this year. It surprised a lot of people, who had never seen the entire inventory and who had only gone to their weekly Rite Aid Donation shifts but never organized each week’s worth of collected medicines with me and my Co-Chair, Ash. We sorted all the medication and medical supplies by drug and dosage before counting every single pill or oral dose that was in the room. To transport everything to Nicaragua, we had each of our members bring a large, check-in suitcase. We loaded the medicines into the suitcases, carefully making sure to widely distribute the medicine in case one suitcase became lost on the trip. We originally booked the room for six hours, believing that we could easily finish within that timeframe. In the end, it took a whopping twelve hours to fully finish organizing, counting and packing all the medicine and medical supplies. Anna Zhang Brigader
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CMU's Office of Alumni and Annual Giving launched its first crowdfunding site dedicated to supporting student projects and initiatives. Global Medical Brigades is excited to be one of the first five student groups featured on the site. This spring break, we're traveling to Nicaragua to provide comprehensive and sustainable medical care to rural communities.
Last year, the group brought nearly $90,000 worth of medication to serve over 1,000 patients. Our medication and supplies are primarily funded by donation. We hold numerous fundraising events, collect medication from local pharmacies, and contact organizations for medical donations. Still, we find ourselves struggling to raise enough funds to provide full and proper care to all of those that come to the clinic. Our goal is to raise $5000 through CMU's crowdfunding by December 17th. These donations will be used to purchase hard to find medications for our 2015 spring trip to Nicaragua. Through your generosity and support, you can help provide medical care to thousands that need it most and give meaningful, lasting experiences to our student body. To learn more about our project and to make a donation, please visit: https://crowdfunding.cmu.edu/project/5459115414bdf71a2872c071/wall
GMB 2014-2015 Application --------> NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Applications are due Wednesday, September 17 by 11:59 PM. Please email it to [email protected]. Interview invitations/sign-ups will be sent out on September 18th to anyone who has sent in their application. Interviews will be held on the 20th and 21st of September. Drop by our table at the Annual Volunteer Fair on Thursday, August 28! We will be on the CFA Lawn from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.
You can also stop by during the Activities Fair on Wednesday, September 3 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Information Sessions: Sunday, September 7 8:30-9:30pm in Wean 5302 Tuesday, September 9 8:30-9:30pm in Wean 5302 We will release applications the following week and signups for interviews the week after that. This will all be covered in the Information Sessions. Check out our interview at Pittsburgh NPR News Station!
On March 5, 2014, our president, Nicolas Zuniga, and vice-president, Nicole Huang, interviewed with NPR's WESA as a part of their Essential Pittsburgh segment. Click above to listen to our segment! Our flights leave Sunday. It's Saturday. How was I supposed to react? Wasn't it Monday, like, two days ago? What if I don't want to go home? I'm scared to go back! Should I be thinking about my last day here? Or should I be thinking about how to manage my first days back at CMU? What if I go back and am unhappy compared to how I feel now? I decided to think about my time left in Honduras. There will be time later for the worries and emotions of school. Korey and I decided this would be a perfect day to throw a frisbee off the side of a mountain. Part of the trench we were building was on the side of a hill, or what I would call a small mountain compared to my Midwestern hometown. Korey and I had bonded during the trip, especially during many of the bus rides. We agreed that there are some aspects of Central American life that we would like to see translate into our lives back in the states. Myself, I love the relaxed attitude throughout the region. I like that time is more often improvised in Honduras than in the US, where everything is scheduled. I know Korey loved the hammocks, as did most of our brigade group. People always talk about the importance of balance in life, and our time in Honduras illustrated for me that sought-after balance. The trick would be to bring that balance into my life at CMU. But, like I said, right now we were still in Honduras, and Honduras is where I wanted my mind to be for that last day. Rather than digging the trench, my job on the last day was to lay down the piping. I was glad, because digging trenches is not my forte. The water system withdrew water from a pozo, a well, which was by the church. The water would be purified and pumped into the reservoir at the top of the 'mountain' where Korey and I had been throwing the frisbee. From there, water was distributed to the community, driven by gravity. This means the reservoir had to be higher than any of the houses it would be connected to. The community members would only have access to the water a couple of times a week, and they would have to pay a low monthly fee to run and maintain the system. Despite these limitations, the community was very happy to have this pozo and system put in place. Laying the piping was not as physically demanding as digging a trench, but it had to be done correctly and quickly the first time, or else the PVC glue would dry with the pipes in the wrong position. We were a few brigaders, girls, working with a few brigade staff members. Joel was one of the staff members. I was excited to be working with him in part because he seemed cool, if quieter, and in part because he didn't speak much English. I was excited that I could only speak Spanish with him. We also worked with Mario. He told us about his recent wedding and it was adorable. We were able to finish what had been started of the piping that ran down the 'mountain,' and get a good start on the piping on the side of the road, running towards the community. The rest of the group had been covering the piping we were laying down, and our final task in the community was to finish covering all the piping we had laid. With the piping laid and covered, we met with members of the community at the pozo. A water well drilling rig, essentially a giant drill, had been set up and was drilling for water. Joel explained how it worked to me at one point, and this is what I remember: The drill could dig about 300ft deep (or it might have been meters…) by adding 30ft (or meter) cylinders to the desired depth. It drilled through the earth, using mud to extract the chipped rock and earth. The drill would push air into the hole, to avoid creating a vacuum. Finally, clean water started to come up from the drill, and it was exactly like all the inspirational videos you see about access to water in underdeveloped areas. People put their hands and heads under the stream. We were told the water was about 70-80% purified, which was better than the water the community had access to. We said our goodbyes and thank yous at the pozo. A community leader talked about how much this meant to him. I spoke about how much this meant to me as well as to the group, and thanked the community for welcoming us whole-heartedly. I also thanked the brigades staff for working so well with us, and the other CMU students for the fun we had and the support they provided. Back at the compound, Vilma gave each of us a bowl or cup made from jícara, a fruit that makes a delicious juice, with a hard carcass that can be dried and used for things like bowls and cups. We had an excellent reflection that night. We talked about the implications of our work and the impact we were making. People questioned how much of an impact we were making, and in what ways. We talked about how this experience will influence our careers and our contribution to the world. We all agreed that this had been a wonderful trip. We were leaving in the morning. We would take with us a rich, new memories. In particular, I was happy that I would still have these eye-opening friends with me back at CMU. - Holly Stein, Brigader In the spirit of 'work hard, play hard,' our brigade group spent the first half of the day on Friday digging the trench, and the second half swimming. Tintin and I had been working well together for the past couple days. By this point, we knew what we were doing. So to spice things up a bit, we decided to sing to each other. I started out with the piocha, the pick-axe, while she softly sang in Chinese. We switched. She lifted out the dirt I had loosened while I sang her a Spanish children's song about a small mammoth who learns to fly. The morning drifted by. We hit a patch of rocks, and the community members who were working alongside us stepped in with a barra, a pry bar. The friendliest of the community members was Martín who had spent nine years in the US and was eager to practice his English. Seeing as Tintin did not speak Spanish, this was not a problem. I enjoyed talking to him. However, this common story, going to the US to work and then finding yourself back in the Honduras, takes on a new perspective when it is told in Honduras, rather than in the US. In this context, we had the foreign habits, language, and lifestyle. We left the community after lunch. Soon we were on boats heading for Isla el Tigre, Tiger Island. One of the Brigades staff members showed us that there was a picture of Isla el Tigre on the back of the 2 Lempira bill. On the island, we found ourselves in the back of trucks, driving on roads that twisted up and down, past houses, through towns. The ride was pleasant, the breeze was soothing, the company couldn't have been better. We enjoyed our bonding time at the beach. We might have spent that time working on the trench, and that is something many of the brigaders brought up at our nightly reflection. It brings into question our role as brigaders. Another afternoon of difficult manual labor would have left us physically and mentally exhausted. Instead we took the time to relax and reenergize. In my opinion, this afternoon off was much needed and a productive use of our time. Happy, healthy brigaders makes for a sustainable program. The day ended with our second and final noche romantica. This was a small party put on by the hotel where we were staying. Friday was probably the day that most resembled a steretypical college spring break trip, with an afternoon at the beach and a carefree evening spent enjoying each other's company. - Holly Stein, Brigader Yesterday was more of a relaxing day because we only visited the community and discussed how we were going to implement this new water system. Today was a work day. Our main task was to dig trenches for the pipes along the side of the road. We all grabbed shovels, pickaxes, and gloves, and went to work straightaway. We paired up so that we could take turns pickaxing and shoveling. The trenches had to be about 2 feet deep and 1 feet wide, which was much easier said than done, especially in rocky areas. It was extremely interesting how the community members who worked with us reacted to us being there. Of course, it took us a while to learn how to dig the trenches in the most efficient way possible. They would complete the same amount of work we would in half the time. They made it look so easy! At one point, eight of the community members came over and watched one of us attempt to pickaxe, chuckling to themselves. It must have also been different for them to see all the girls participate as well, since none of the women in the community was there to dig. We dug in the morning, took a break for lunch, and then resumed digging in the afternoon. All in all, it was just hard work. Fact: temperatures were actually hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit while we were working! Despite the physical strain and hot temperatures, we all managed to pull through and finish our own trenches, which covered quite a long stretch of the road. We also played soccer with the rest of the community after we were done. Junquillo had a women's soccer team that played against us and another brigade (who were also working in the community at the same time). The guys had their game too. It was great to finally be able to interact with the kids from the community and cheer together from the sidelines of the field. The girls ended up tying 1-1 and our boys lost 1-2. Either way, it was a great and relaxing way to end our day. - Anna Zhang, Brigader Day 5 marks the start of the second half of our hybrid brigade. The past three days of running clinics was very rewarding but now it’s time for the water brigade. We all knew what we were getting into when we started the water brigade. It was going to be touch manual labor digging trenches. But that wouldn’t be until the next day. Today was all about becoming familiar with the water project and get a grasp of the big picture of the project. After breakfast, we set off to the community of El Junquillo, where Global Brigades was building this water system. The design plan for the system was something like this. A well would be drilled and mated to a pump system. The water from the well would be pumped through a network of pipes laid about 2 feet underground to a water reservoir tank at one of the highest elevations of the community. After the water is treated and tested, gravity would distribute the water from the tank to the houses. The idea was that the pump would only have to be turned on several hours a week. To kick off our tour of El Junquillo, we were brought to the top of the mountain where the reservoir was going to be placed. They showed us the line where the trenches for the pipe would be dug and a stake where the tank would be built. When we got back to the bottom, they showed us where the well would be built and the tool they’d be using to dig, a large red truck with a towering shaft and drill. After lunch we split into two groups to do house tours. This gives us an opportunity to observe the way the local community members do their day to day tasks. We were very grateful that two community members volunteered to show their homes to us. The homes several rooms ranging from a living area with hammocks, bedroom, and kitchen. One thing that confused us was that there were two ovens in the kitchen. Our host explained to us that a previous volunteer group came to their community and installed newer eco ovens. The problem with the old ovens was that it filled the entire house with smoke which can lead to numerous health issues. The newer ovens had a vent that brought all the smoke outside and heats the oven more efficiently. - Allen Kim, Brigadier Today was the third and final day of the medical portion of our brigade. We went to a new community called Apacilagua that had a breathtaking view of the nearby mountains. Again, we had the same stations as before: Triage, Dental, Gynecology, Pharmacy, etc. I think one of the biggest differences between Apacilagua and Pueblo Nuevo was the organization. It was a bit hectic at Pueblo Nuevo because both we and the community were new at this. At Apacilagua, we had a much bigger space to work with and community members who have gone to previous Global Medical Brigades clinics. It was much more organized here. In the end, we learned from the DI system that in one day at Apacilagua, we served approximately four hundred people, almost twice as much as the people who came to Pueblo Nuevo over the course of two days. It was an amazing accomplishment and brought the total of how many people we served on the brigade to roughy 950! - Anna Zhang, Brigadier |