global brigades information session

Global BrigadesInformation SessionSeptember 16th, 2010

PUBLIC HEALTH.BUSINESS.DENTAL.ENVIRONMENT.LAW.MEDICAL.ARCHITECTURE.WATERw w w . g l o b a l b r i g a d e s . o r g

Global Brigades is the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. As a secular, international nonprofit organization, we mobilize student volunteers and professionals to empower communities in developing countries with programs that improve quality of life while respecting local culture and improving the environment.

Between 2008 and 2009, more than 4,000 volunteers from 80 GB university chapters in the U.S., Canada, and U.K. traveled to provide health and economic development solutions to more than 50,000 beneficiaries through our teams in Panama and Honduras.

Global Brigades programs began at Mount Allison University in 2008. The 2010-2011 brigade will mark

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Communities are selected by an extensive study based on need, access to medicine, and health system infrastructure.

Most communities are within only a few hours of student accommodations, so that daily travel for brigades is feasible and safe.

Global Brigades only works in communities where we have been invited and have strong relationships with community leaders.



Develops sustainable health initiatives and provides relief where this is limited access to healthcare. Each community receives a brigade every 3-4 months and between brigades our in-country team maintains relationships with the communities to provide follow-up and conducts community health worker training to empower local leaders to perpetuate a consistent level of healthcare.


Serving Immediate Needs



Provides urgent and preventive dental services in communities with limited access to healthcare. Each of our community partners receives a brigade every 3 to 4 months where hundreds of patients are treated with fillings, cleanings and extractions, and are given dental hygiene workshops. Between brigades, our in-country team maintains relationships with the communities to provide follow-up to insure any dental procedures were successful.

Serving Immediate Needs



80 % of population have no access to a dentist

90% of population have cavities

One dentist for every 45,000 people

Typical families have less than 3 gallons of water per day to use


Each brigade visits 4 communities to operate primary care clinics and provideHealth education workshops in conjunction with the dental clinics



Global Medical Brigades is incorporating the use of OpenMRS into its practices. Each medical brigade station will be equipped with a laptop and the OpenMRS software to enter patient information. The medical record is electronically transferred with the patient through the brigade stations. The records are ultimately stored for future patient visits and to monitor community health trends.



To perpetuate a system for sustainable health in our communities, Global Brigades has created a new community health worker program. Through this program, Honduran citizens are provided with basic training that allows them to have a presence in each community when brigades are not.




Empowers under resourced communities in the developing world to decrease life threatening diseases by improving home infrastructure and providing public health education. Working side-by-side with community members, PHB volunteers improve the overall infrastructure within the home through the construction of four projects: eco-stoves, latrines, water storage units and concrete floors.



70% do not have access to public sanitary services

Average family income is less than $1 per day

Typically no doctors within a 20 mile radius

Typical families have less than 3 gallons of water per day to use


Most brigades include construction of each of the following four public health projects: concrete floors, water pilas, latrines, and ecostoves.

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Often homes in rural villages do not have a clean and secure place to store water. Water “pilas” allow for a convenient and sanitary storage unit saving families hundreds of hours per year walking long distances to a water source.

Many preventive diseases are caused by unsanitary and unorganized waste disposal. Latrines provide a convenient and inexpensive solution near the home.

Eco-stoves with chimneys limit the carbon and smoke that fills the home with harmful smoke and pollutants that cause many of the family’s respiratory illnesses. The eco-stoves also burn much more efficiently, limiting deforestation.


Along with the construction of public health projects, brigades also include education workshops.

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Kid's health education is a dynamic mix of songs, games, and interactive activities designed to teach simple but highly effective health promotion and disease prevention methods, such as handwashing and dental care.

Adult and family health education first focuses on the importance, care, and maintenance of the construction projects and then secondly uses this as a jumping-off point to share other critical health concepts, such as treatment of potable drinking water.


To perpetuate the infrastructure projects, the Public Health (PH)Brigades directors in Honduras train identified community members to continue construction and maintenance between brigades. PH Brigades’ policy is to only do half of the homes in the community, with a predetermined agreement that the other community members will pay for and implement the construction of the other half.




Preventative Measures

Designs and implements water systems to prevent communicable illnesses in communities with limited access to clean water. Student volunteers and engineers travel annually to implement community-based water projects with our local partners.

HEALTH

Urban (48%) versus rural (52%)

Total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP is 7.4%

Communicable diseases account for 47% of causes of death (it is 6% in Canada)– Entirely preventable

HEALTH

Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water related disease, making it the leading cause of death of children under 5.

Washing your hands can reduce diarrheal diseases by more than 40%

Entirely preventable with access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation and health education on how infections spread

HONDURAN WATER SYSTEMS

4% groundwater, 96% surface water

Water source dam pipes central storage tank distribution network individual homes

Where will be involved?

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Building alongside water councils

Help from the community

Empowering the entire community

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Sanitation education

Water council education

Sustainable solutions

+ + + =

Holistic approach!


Although specific projects vary for each club, a brigade incorporates the following phases: introduction, community organizing, construction, and workshops.


The first day is spent with an introduction to the underlying political, economic and geographical issues that hinder the communities from obtaining clean water.

Volunteers then meet with the community to mobilize leaders and identify a water counsel.

Volunteers either begin or finish construction on a segment of an on-going water project.

The brigade also involves volunteer conducted educational workshopsfor Honduran students about conservation of water usage, consumption in the homes, and the importance of water in terms of health and sanitation.


Between brigades our in-country team ensures that the water counsels are functioning and have the necessary funding to perpetuate the longevity of the systems created.




Included in program fee: 7 days and 6 nights program Accommodations and meals In-country transportation Spanish translators and coordinators Program sustainability

$785 + AirfareFebruary 18th- February 26th

Questions?

ARCHITECTURE.BUSINESS.DENTAL.ENVIRONMENT.LAW.MEDICAL.PUBLIC HEALTH.WATERw w w . g l o b a l b r i g a d e s . o r g

global brigades information session

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