Global Brigades Panama 2023

Hi, my name is Emma, and I am fundraising to go on the University of Birmingham medical brigade to Panama in August 2023.

The Plan

I am on the committee for the global brigades society at uni and we will be running a lot of fundraising events this year to help us reach our goal.

-November 2022 bake sale

-November 2022 world cup raffle

-February 2023 take me out

-March 2023 sponsored cycle

-March 2023 food sales in medschool

-April 2023 football/netball tournament

What is it and why do I want to go back?

In August 2022 I attended the brigade to Honduras and I am very determined to get on brigade again!

Whilst in Honduras, I was part of a team running a clinic in a primary school in the local community of Los Potrerillos. This clinic included comprehensive medical care including dental, cervical smears, pharmacy and consultations with doctors to diagnose, prescribe and refer to hospital if necessary. We also ran an educational clinic about many common health problems such as diabetes and COVID to provide knowledge to the community members for their own healthcare.

The community is visited by Global Brigades every few months for clinics, and other than this, these members of the communities have very little access to healthcare making these clinics vital for the welfare of the people who live there. We stayed at a compound run by Honduran members of GB. They were so welcoming and lovely and taught us so much about Honduran food, coffee and dancing!

Global Brigades itself is a charity whose aim is to provide sustainable aid to under-resourced communities around the globe. They work off the basis of their holistic model which includes healthcare, water, engineering and legal empowerment. Global Brigades works to provide these under-resourced communities with aid in these areas as well as the tools to be self-sustaining and no longer need the aid of the charity.

What is voluntourism?

Voluntourism ties in with the concept of white saviourism and occurs when someone goes to a less developed country (usually with a charity) for a short period to 'volunteer' without considering the long-term impact of what they are doing and the actual needs of the community.

Voluntourism is generally done for self-serving purposes without the needs of the community in mind. This results in the exploitation of a community's resources for unsustainable means, taking away jobs from the community itself and creates a dependency on volunteers.

How is GB not voluntourism?

The sustainable holistic model mentioned above is what allows GB to not fall under the dangerous umbrella of voluntourism.

The charity works with elected members of under-resourced communities to find out what the specific needs of that community are. The aim of the brigades is then to work alongside the community and provide the tools to meet these needs independently. For example, volunteers can deliver education about sexual health and contraception to reduce the rates of unwanted pregnancies and STIs within a community whilst doctors continue to work alongside the community to treat any STIs that present.

Money Breakdown

-£700 flight

-£1100 donation goal

This allows global brigades to fund equipment, staff and tools to implement the holistic model. It also covers all transport, food and accommodation for the brigade group in Panama. 

If you would like to donate and help me to get to Panama, I would be very grateful.

Thank you!

Emma