In the News

University of Florida pre-med student Michael Saba will never forget the smile shot his way by a little boy in Panama during his time there with Global Medical Brigades. Saba is one of the 83,000-plus students from 500-plus schools involved in Global Brigades, the largest student-funded humanitarian organization in the world, according to a recent press release.

University of Florida pre-med student Michael Saba will never forget that smile. The biology major was not on a first date, at a fraternity party or in a Gainesville bar, he was in Panama with Global Medical Brigades.

“We were in a remote area of the Darien region and hundreds of patients lined up to see the doctors and dentists we were shadowing,” Saba, a senior from Tampa, recalled. “Most days, we took vitals, helped with triage or screened patients.”

On that morning, Saba was helping dentists administer fluoride treatments to patients in the dental clinic. “There was this little boy – eight maybe nine years old,” Saba recalled. “At first, he was extremely nervous but after he received the fluoride treatment that completely changed.”

Traveling to Tecpan, Guatemala with the MSU chapter of Global Brigades, was another moment of revelation that solidified my decision to pursue a career in medicine. The purpose of the trip was to work with a local community to provide support and teachings designed to empower people in need. Giving back to others is at the heart of what bleeding green is all about.

To teach the basics of commercial banking — and to instill some idealism in the next generation of lenders — one U.S. university is making Central American microfinance a part of its curriculum.

Marquette University’s commercial banking program is partnering with a microfinance organization that works with banking cooperatives in Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Newly minted Eskala has an ambitious mission: to reimagine microfinance. A recent spin-off from nonprofit Global Brigades, the startup is focusing on what Steve Atamian, Eskala’s president and Global Brigades’ chief strategy officer, calls “micro- equity,” which, as the term suggests, is all about taking equity positions in, rather than making loans to, ventures in low-income communities.

Global Brigades, the largest student-funded humanitarian organization that was started by Marquette University students in 2003, has launched a spinoff, Eskala, a microfinance company focused on breaking the cycle of poverty through banking.

Global Brigades has over 600 university chapters in the U.S., Canada and Europe. There is no official headquarters for either Global Brigades or Eskala as team members work remotely though there are offices in countries that the nonprofit serves.

Students at Dana Hills High School Health and Medical Occupational Academy were virtually transported to rural communities in Honduras, Ghana and Greece as they participated in a virtual, experiential-learning program and provided assistance to areas in need.

Global Brigades is an international student-funded organization that is dedicated to empowering under-resourced communities through the deployment of volunteers who work to establish equal access to health care, capital and clean water. Traditionally, the humanitarian nonprofit would send groups of volunteers abroad, but as international travel came to a halt due to the COVID-19 health crisis, Global Brigades shifted its program to a virtual format.

UF Global Brigades chapter participated in Global Brigades’ new, virtual, experiential-learning program to continue helping under-resourced communities around the world during the pandemic.

As international travel came to a halt with COVID-19, the humanitarian nonprofit organization, Global Brigades created TeleBrigades to allow students to still work virtually with these communities in need through a multi-week program.

Graduate students in WIU’s Health Sciences program have been working alongside a Honduran community as public health consultants. The program, known as Public Health Telebrigades, a part of Global Brigades, utilizes programs like Zoom to allow students at Western the ability to impact others internationally. Through an entirely virtual environment, students offer their expertise on a wide variety of subjects having to do with public

Graduate students in WIU’s Health Sciences program have been working alongside a Honduran community as public health consultants. The program, known as Public Health Telebrigades, a part of Global Brigades, utilizes programs like Zoom to allow students at Western the ability to impact others internationally. Through an entirely virtual environment, students offer their expertise on a wide variety of subjects having to do with public health and sanitation in the age of an international pandemic.

Members of the Public Health Telebrigade program, who worked alongside WIU’s students, had many positive things to say about those who participated.

“This particular brigade, and the final presentation that the group made, is helping me to visualize the solutions to the problems of the communities from a cognitive, formative, attitudinal point of view, and not from the structural point of view as usually seen by BSC volunteers (Basic Sanitation Committee) in the communities,” said Luis Bonilla, one of the team members working with the students at Western. “In other words, this telebrigade group broadened our perspective of how to face situations and difficulties in the communities. I hope that groups of students and professionals of this scope will continue to join our telebrigades … To continue expanding our knowledge and experiences.”