GMB chapters travel to developing countries to perform health care in communities without access to medicine otherwise. The current emphasis is in Central America, where sustainable health care is provided to more than 40 villages. The NYU chapter will be serving the community near Nuevo Paraiso, Honduras. Honduras is a small country in Central America, approximately the size of Tennessee, with a population upwards of 6.7 million people. It’s the second poorest country in Latin America, an estimated 80% of the population lives in poverty. The unemployment rate soars at 35% and the average annual per capita income is just under $1000 per year. Education, health care and clean water are luxuries for the majority of the people there, and in the rural communities where GMB works, they are even scarcer. Poverty here results in preventable deaths, malnutrition and thousands of abandoned children living on the streets. -medicalbrigades.com

By providing medical brigades every 6 months in these communities, we provide a model for sustainable health care in underserved villages. We conduct preliminary needs assessment, treat patients to the highest ethical standards, sponsor referrals to those with needs beyond our capability, record data for the production of quantitative reports, and work to improve the water, sanitation, and economic infrastructures. On our NYU brigade, in addition to the medical clinic days we will be spending time building clean stoves and chimneys to reduce indoor pollution that has been causing respiratory problems in many of the people living in the community.

The NYU chapter of Global Medical Brigades is part of a network of university clubs, all under one organization. Opening the NYU chapter requires finding student volunteers, doctor volunteers, and creating a council with committees and committee chairs. Our responsibilities for starting up included maintenance of communication with our partner organizations that we work with in Honduras, planning the trip details, and fund raising/getting donations for medical and nutrition supplies. We have created a strong group of about 50 students dedicated to the cause, and are ready to embark on our first "brigade."

We need donations, medical supplies, and especially any support from doctors.