Dear Family and Friends,

This January, I will be traveling to Nicaragua with a group of students from Albion. I am a member of Albion’s chapter of Global Medical Brigades, the organization who fundraises, plans and executes a trip to Central America each year. Global Medical Brigades is part of the world’s largest student-led health and sustainable development organization called Global Brigades. Albion will be participating in a 10-day Hybrid Brigade this time, half of which devoted to a Medical Brigade, and the other half to a Public Health Brigade.
This means that we will be spending a week and a half in rural communities in Nicaragua. For part of the trip, we will be helping to implement public health programs to provide community members with concrete floors, more environmentally and health friendly stoves, and latrines (Public Health Brigade). Each of these projects has been proven to help improve health and hygiene in the communities similar to the ones we are serving. Living a healthy lifestyle is vital to preventing illnesses, and preventing an illness is far better than treating it. The first half of our stay, which will be the Medical Brigade, we will be setting up a brigade site for nearby communities to receive free healthcare, medication, and education sessions. This experience will continue to give me hands on training for my future as I enter medical school.
Nicaragua is cited by the World Bank as the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti and has been designated as a priority country by the Pan American Health organization/WHO Strategic Plan. The basic needs of education, health care, and clean water are luxuries for the majority of the people there, and in the rural communities where we will be working, these luxuries are even harder to find. It is highly common for a family of four to live on less than $2.00 a day with less than 3 gallons of water per day available for use.
On my upcoming medical brigade, I will be working hand-in-hand with doctors, dentists, and community members. Each child will be given a toothbrush and toothpaste, and will learn how to brush their teeth and why they should do it. Each adult will sit through an education session on the importance of personal hygiene and how they can prevent the spread of germs. Each patient will be given either an article of clothing or blanket along with vitamins, anti-parasitic medication and any other prescriptions that they may need. Last year, Albion saw patients who walked as long as 3 hours to get to the brigade site, and treated over 500 individuals in a rural, underserved community that otherwise would have no access to medical care. Yet this is still barely scratching the surface of what we can do, and we are working hard to bring even more aid to those who need it most.
Please join me in supporting the work that I will be doing in the underserved communities in Nicaragua. Any support you can give will make a tremendous difference. Even if you cannot support me financially, I would love if you would keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I learn skills for my career and try to change the world one step at a time. My trip will take place from Jan. 8 to Jan. 16, 2015. The cost of the trip is about $1200 plus the plane ticket ($755), and as I said every bit helps. The deadline for this payment will be in mid-November. If you would like to make a donation, please click Donate Now to the right of this message where you can donate funds under my name.
As a donor, you are contributing to the sustainability of the Global Brigades’ work in the communities we are working with. Please let me know if you have any questions about my trip. My email address is bnm10@albion.edu. If you would like the tax ID number for GB, please let me know. I sincerely appreciate all of your positive thoughts, prayers and support!

Sincerely,

Brandon Moretti