PSU students travel to Panama this summer to provide humanitarian aid

Global Brigades Medical group gives students and community members opportunity to make social change

While many students might spend their summer soaking up the sun and relaxing, a group of Portland State students will spend part of their summer in humanitarian efforts. The Global Brigades, a nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States, focuses on helping to create viable and sustainable community services, including basic infrastructure. The Brigades will be sending PSU students and community members to Panama this July in order to provide essential services to those in need.

Global Brigades Medical group gives students and community members opportunity to make social change

While many students might spend their summer soaking up the sun and relaxing, a group of Portland State students will spend part of their summer in humanitarian efforts. The Global Brigades, a nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States, focuses on helping to create viable and sustainable community services, including basic infrastructure. The Brigades will be sending PSU students and community members to Panama this July in order to provide essential services to those in need.

A chapter of the Medical Brigades, a sub-group within the Global Brigades umbrella, has been on campus for about four years, according to PSU Chapter President Ben Hadlock. Additionally, it is expanding to include a chapter of the Environmental Global Brigades, another sugroup. Students within the combined group will go to one of two destinations in Panama: Torti Abajo or Piriati Embera. According to reports released by Global Brigades, both locations have expressed need for education and health infrastructure.

Torti Abajo “does not have any type of health center; however, the nearby town of Torti has a Centro de Salud that is staffed by two doctors, three nurses and two dentists,” the report states. Additionally, the report indicates Piriati Embera “has the basic medication needed for common sickness in the community, but does not have any medical equipment.”

Hadlock said there is great need for assistance in Panama, as almost half of the population lacks access to proper sanitation. Many citizens have limited education opportunities because of underdeveloped or non-existent educational programs. Currently, there are only 15 doctors for every 100,000 citizens in Panama, and many of those doctors are located in metropolitan cities, away from those who live in rural areas.

Twenty-five students and Portland community members are scheduled to go on the Panama trip, along with several trained medical professionals. Students who joined the program were accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Members are expected to pay for their travel and program expenses, but the group does have some fundraising programs. Hadlock said that finding medical professionals “is the hardest part of our duties; unless you know someone in the medical field it’s almost impossible to grab their attention.”

The recent Kony 2012 campaign by Invisible Children has left some questioning the effectiveness of many nonprofits. Hadlock said Global Brigades invests as much as they can in the communities they assist. “The communities that we’ll be assisting don’t have local hospitals; in fact, they receive no medical care outside of what GMB provides,” he said.

“As far as nonprofits go, you’d be surprised how many of them are damaging to the communities or wasteful with their donations. Global Brigades’ overhead is only 12 percent, considerably low for nonprofits,” Hadlock added.

“Global Brigades also works towards providing sustainability though its secular holistic model; this is a huge selling point,” Hadlock said. “Giving a village pharmaceuticals and medical supplies once, and leaving, is considered medical tourism and is frowned upon in the nonprofit community because it essentially accomplishes nothing,” he said.

There are currently 22 members of the PSU Brigades chapter and students can keep in touch with the group via their Facebook page. While the deadline for the Panama trip has passed, students are encouraged to join after the group returns. “As soon as we return in July, people are able to sign up to join,” said Public Relations Officer Paige Talbot. “There is no selection process or requirements to join other than getting vaccines needed to travel to the countries of choice.”

The group has an upcoming fundraising event, their Third Annual Salsa Night, which will be held on March 23 from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Grand Cafe-Andrea’s ChaCha Club. Talbot said, “For $10 a person, guests receive dinner and Latin dance lessons. There will also be a raffle and an auction as well.”

Global Brigades is the largest student-run nonprofit in the world. According to Hadlock, the “Global Medical Brigades is only one of the nine different skill-based programs of Global Brigades. Aside from medical there is also dental, architecture, law, public health, business, microfinance, water and environmental. The different programs work collaboratively to aid in a more self-sustaining infrastructure within the communities.”

Students who would like to make a donation to the group can do so at empowered.org, or they can get in contact with the group themselves and make a direct donation. All donations over $250 are tax deductible.