Global Water Brigades at Pitt
Global Medical Brigades at Pitt is an undergraduate-led organization at the University of Pittsburgh aiming to promote sustainable global health development and awareness. We are additionally a chapter under the international nonprofit Global Brigades (GB), and thus work closely with GB faculty from around the world, year-round, to plan and successfully execute our annual brigade. Our brigade features a team of roughly 25 undergraduate volunteers, all of whom will work closely with local medical professionals to run a mobile healthcare clinic in rural Honduras across the span of seven days. The clinic offers services that are typically very inaccessible to rural communities, at significantly reduced costs, in order to encourage a sustainable healthcare model. It is our primary goal to ensure that, after our team departs at the end of the week, the community is able to independently maintain and improve the healthcare structure put into place. The clinic provides services under specialties including primary care, optometry, dental, gynecological, pharmaceutical, as well as medical education.
As undergraduate students of a top institution like the University of Pittsburgh, it is with great privilege that we are able to travel outside of our borders to work with local leaders and healthcare professionals overseas. We are granted the incredible opportunity to learn from both doctors and patients in Honduras, but this experience understandably requires great financial commitment. Our team works throughout the year to gather and prepare thousands of supplies, including prescription glasses and basic toiletries, to donate to the community we are invited to serve. On top of this, our volunteers must each self-fund approximately $1,200 in brigade expenses and $600 in travel costs in order to attend. It is thus our secondary mission to, as an executive board, fundraise as must as possible so that we can help our members reduce the financial burden via scholarships. In previous years, we have raised enough to distribute $1,000-$2,000 in scholarships. With airfare costs and our organization continuing to grow every year, we are looking to raise a total of $1,500 to apply towards offsetting volunteers' travel expenses through our Pitt Day of Giving campaign page.
Any amount you can give is greatly appreciated. If you are unable to give at this time, you can still help us directly by sharing this page with your networks!