News
May 28, 2009
This morning at 3:20am there was a 7.2 earthquake in northern Honduras and Belize. We have received confirmation from our Honduran team members that all of our volunteers, staff and communities are unharmed and relatively unaffected by this occurrence. The volunteers were asked this morning to contact their families to insure their safety and our directors will be sending out another notice to all emergency contacts confirming this as well. We will provide updates as necessary. Thanks for your continued support.
Posted by Office of CEO at 8:44 a.m.May 5, 2009
Global Brigades Official Statement Regarding Swine Flu
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that there is no rationale for delaying or canceling travel abroad. In fact they assert that interruption of travel plans will do little to affect the progress of Swine Flu. Their greater fear is that lack of travel may disrupt the stability of our friends in the developing world.
It is useful to remember that seasonal flu kills 36,000 people in the US yearly. Swine Flu, though sad for the individual and his family, has been responsible for the death of one person in the US.
Important guidelines to note are:
1) Wash your hands in potable water
2) Use hand sanitizer
3) Follow CDC guidelines re the consumption of food and beverages
4) Postpone your trip if you ARE ill
5) Seek medical attention when you return home should you BECOME ill
Certainly all of us on the Advisory Board welcome your questions or concerns.
Dr. Carolyn Moneymaker, Advisory Board Member
For the most current information, please consult the official CDC and WHO organization websites whose links are listed below:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/general_info.htm
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
April 28, 2009
CEO of Health Brigades, Dr. Shital Chauhan named Marquette Young Alumnus of the Year.
On April 25, Dr. Chauhan, was awarded the Young Alumnus of the Year at her alma mater Marquette University, College of Health Sciences. A very moved Dr. Chauhan spoke at the Health Sciences' awards brunch and highlighted her experiences at Marquette and how it translated to the eventual expansion of Global Brigades. Members of the GB leadership team (Steven Atamian, Ryan Leary and Dan Mahoney) joined Dr. Chauhan and had the opportunity to spend significant time to share best practices with Dr. William Cullinan, Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Dr. Toby Peters, Associate Senior Vice President and a member of GMB's advisory board since its inception. The GB team also had the pleasure of meeting President Rev. Robert Wild as well. Global Brigades started from one medical brigade club at Marquette University in 2003 and since has grown into one of the largest student-led international health and development organizations in the world.
Posted by Office of CEO at 1:36 p.m.April 27, 2009
Regarding Swine Flu: Global Brigades is taking this issue very seriously and have turned this issue over to the doctors on our advisory board for comment. We will be sending out a message later this week to let all of our volunteers know the actions we are taking to ensure everyone's safety. We are monitoring the travel warnings and CDC updates very closely, and as of yet, there have been no reported outbreaks in Honduras or Panama. We are expecting more developments on the Swine Flu to be released in real time. As pertinent information develops, we will be sure to keep everyone well informed if there are any changes prior to volunteer travel.
Posted by Office of CEO at 3:54 p.m.April 16, 2009
Over this year’s spring break we were happy to host 8 Business Brigades in Panama!
The March brigades were spearheaded by GBB Carnegie Mellon University and a delegation of GBB University of Washington St. Louis. Together they successfully took on the business lead for the agritourism project of El Rancho Trapichito in Penonomé. Following-up on the January brigade of GAB University of Illinois, Carnegie and Washington intensively worked on the business plan and marketing to help Trapichito to become an agritourism destination.
During the second week of March brigades, GBB USC and GBB University of Texas Austin dedicated their spring breaks to micro-enterprise development in Panama. GBB USC headed deep inland to the community of El Bale in Veraguas, where they conducted a SWOT analysis and consulted the farmers on marketing and sales. Meanwhile, highly dedicated GBB Texas went public with the Artes Natura Gallery in Casa Arias. On their remarkable fourth trip to the ornamental plants project in El Valle and Panama City, GBB Texas presented Artes Natura to a selected audience of prospective clients, artists and networkers - together with Earthtrain, the Peace Corps and a delegation of the women who produce the plants.
The third week of Panama brigades featured GBB Northwestern University; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Illinois; and, UCLA taking on projects all over the country. While Northwestern University travelled to Boca Lara in the Darién region, UCLA set up camp in Embera Puru in the Panama Canal Watershed. Together with the Peace Corps, both clubs intensively worked on consulting these two Embera indigenous communities in ecotourism and investing in their site. At the same time, GBB University of Washington, Seattle spent their brigade with Coffee Farmers in San Pedro, Penonomé. Until now, these farmers have been sellers of unprocessed coffee beans. University of Washington, Seattle identified and started implementing the necessary steps for the farmers to become sellers of a fully processed coffee product. GBB University of Illinois took on their project in the indigenous Koskuna community in the outskirts of Panama City. Helping three groups of artesanian women they held a workshop on financial literacy and identified key investments to be made for their micro-enterprises to grow beyond current capacity.
In total the March groups donated USD 13,000 into these microenterprises. They mainly invested into productive assets, store inventory, and marketing material.