Help me go to Honduras to volunteer on a Child Health Initiative Brigade.

This year nearly 11 million children will die before they reach 5 years of age. 6 million will die of diseases that could have easily been prevented or treated. For this reason, a group of second year medical students plan to travel to Intibuca, Honduras during the spring of 2011, along with Dr. Christy O'Dea. The focus of this brigade is to go into poor communities that have no access to health care and do well-child check-ups. By doing these check-ups consistently, we have the ability to eliminate preventable deaths and help these Honduran children reach their social, economic, and educational potential.

I recently finished my first year of medical school. However, my desire to work with underserved populations started long before. I still remember my first trip to Mexico as a freshman in college. The village that I worked in, Colonia Omega, reminded me of an infomercial with young children dressed in rags, alongside their small, disheveled homes made of scraps, cardboard and tarp. We traveled to this small town to build 3 houses. During that trip, I learned that we were doing much more than bringing three homes to three families. We were instilling hope in an entire community. It was this trip that served as a catalyst to my involvement in several mission trips to various parts of Mexico/Alabama. It even inspired me to take a year off to volunteer in both Peru and India.

These experiences have motivated me to continue serving the Hispanic population, the largest growing population in the U.S. I plan to use my degree in Spanish language to reach a group of people truly in need. Along with the ability to effectively communicate, it is also important to have a strong understanding of the services currently provided in their countries of origin as well as the most prevalent diseases. Even more importantly, it is essential to possess a firm grasp on the culture and customs. A chance to serve on this medical trip to Honduras will allow me to gain the tools I need to provide quality healthcare to the Hispanic people of the U.S., once I become a doctor.

We often live in a bubble here in the U.S., a place where loans exist and options such as Medicaid are possible. In Honduras, nearly 70% of the population live with $2 or less per day and there are no safety nets for poor families in crisis. Traveling to Honduras is just one more step to reaching my goals as a future physician. Please help me make it happen!