SERVICE EXPERIENCE
Silver Level
(3 credit hours)
For my proposed service experience, I will be focusing on my Global Brigades trip. I traveled to Nicaragua in the spring of 2016 and attended weekly meetings prior to and following the trip. I traveled with the medical team to Managua between March 12th and March 19th.
MY WORK
I had the great fortune of working on some truly inspiring projects while interacting with many diverse, influential and creative individuals along the way. During the clinical experience, I participated in the triage and intake while interacting with the local community. I assisted the physicians during consultations, and I worked in the pharmacy to distribute medications and personal hygiene supplies. I also worked in “Charla”- meaning school- to teach the children of the community about germs and the importance of dental hygiene. I assisted in data entry and with other miscellaneous tasks to ensure the effectiveness of the clinic.
EXPERIENCE IT
Both the medical team and the dental team traveled together, sending 50 volunteers and 10 physicians. We set up two medical clinics and tended to over 1700 patients visit in the span of four days. The final day of the trip was dedicated to work with the water brigade.
Clinic days lasted around 12 active hours as well as commute time, followed by a volunteer’s dinner and about another four hours of data entry. The final day of the trip consisted of digging, shoveling, carrying rocks, and collecting supplies for a new water system in collaboration with the water brigade.
Prior to the brigade, weekly meetings took place and would last about an hour. A volunteer retreat and training session was held to include team building, cultural exposure, debriefing, and Spanish language lessons. A minimum of 30 hours of volunteer team work, fundraising, and exposure was completed prior to the week-long trip.
The video attached is from the year pior to my trip, but still offers the same overview of our experience. The beach day in the 2015 trip was replaced with the water brigade day for the 2016 trip. Please see the photos below for more insight into my experience.
