In the News

One student who saw particular value in the training was Richard Brito, a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in public administration with intentions to earn his master’s degree in social work. In 2018, Brito, a student ambassador for FSU’s Student Resilience Project, brought Medical Brigades to FSU, a campus chapter of Global Brigades, the largest student nonprofit group dedicated to helping vulnerable communities worldwide.

“The work of Global Brigades is dynamic and important,” Brito said. “Teaching students about trauma and resilience through the Resilience Project and the professional certification helps us provide better services to the communities we serve on our trips abroad. It’s wonderful how the projects dovetail. They are like pieces of the same puzzle.”

Students in the Global Brigades program are trained throughout the academic year in preparation to travel abroad during the summer semester and help people with human necessities, such as access to water, building repairs, and health and small business education.

From traditional tacos from Mexico, to chicken and vegetables from China, to egg rolls from Vietnam, people tasted, and shared, food from all around the world at the festival.

At the Panama booth, people could try a breakfast medley of hot dogs, broccoli, rice and eggs. Students with the Global Medical Brigades said they ate that dish everyday when they were in Panama this year setting up clinics for people who needed healthcare.

“I think it’s important to talk about our differences, and coming together as a community. They say America’s a melting pot, but we don’t really know about other cultures when we’re sitting here,” said Hannah Langer, co-president of the Global Medical Brigades at Hastings College.

While other students kick back, relax, and maybe even study over reading break, 50 students involved with UVic’s Global Brigades club will be working on sustainability initiatives in Honduras.

I grew up curious about the world and the idea of poverty. In North America, we are exposed to “poverty” through pictures painted of starving children around the world. Yet these images have never felt real to me and there has always been a disconnect between them and my life here in Victoria.

I can remember clubs day in my first year of university where I took pamphlets from every organization that offered trips volunteering abroad. I never once considered the impact of these trips and naively joined UVic Global Brigades that first year. Four years later, I am still with the same organization, but with a very different understanding of ethical volunteering and sustainable development.

The New Jersey Innovation Institute is a not-for-profit “NJIT corporation focused on helping private enterprise discover what’s possible,” by sharing innovative ideas within the business’s respective sector to pursue new market opportunities, says Don Sebastian, the President of NJII. Generally, NJII’s work focuses on generating commercial success. Its Healthcare Division seeks to improve the quality and cost of health care, a task which has required much research and reflection on health care accessibility.

However, it was exactly this evaluation of the health care field that inspired and drove support for the pop-up clinic. NJII’s project manager, Inaceli Tubilleja, explained that NJII noted a “significant gap in healthcare access, access to healthcare data and a gap in health literacy.”

The Global Brigades is a student-led, initiative organization composed of dedicated individuals who share a passion for making the world a better place. They approach this by addressing global problems, such as economic and health disparities, found in many regions of the world.

Grayson Hendryx, president of Global Medical Brigades at UF, volunteered during the Monday event. He is currently coordinating a new partnership between his organization and Days for Girls Alachua in hopes of bringing at least 100 menstrual kits to Panama during a Global Medical Brigades volunteer trip in August.

He joined an entrepreneurship society and checked out other student organizations, but nothing spoke to him as much as Global Brigades @ Marshall. As a sophomore, he traveled with the student-run business consulting group to Panama to provide advice and support to small businesses in rural communities. It opened Ghabrial’s eyes to the world of microfinance — including using small loans to help lift people out of poverty.

Global Brigades establishes community banks that lend out money at very low rates. These microloans help people build their business and pay back the bank, which then lends the proceeds to another deserving community member.

For the first time, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Global Brigades traveled to Ghana over spring break to participate in public health projects.