By: Manuel Claros

Because of my own experience growing up in a rural Colombian community with the constant threat of contracting a parasitic infection, I knew that as an adult, I would do as much as I could to help improve the lives of children growing up in communities similar to mine. I recently joined a one-week public health humanitarian mission with Global Brigades, a nonprofit global health organization, where we worked to better the living conditions of a rural community in Honduras named Joyas del Carballo.

The Global Bridge Group!

My objectives during this trip were to identify any deworming activities and the impact of NTD control within this area, and to provide at least one family with the basic tools they need to live healthier lives in order to avoid the threat of parasitic infections.

After a week of hard work, our brigade had built a latrine, a basin for clean water, a heat efficient stove, and poured concrete over dirt floors in Don Gregorio’s home. With these new additions, his grandchildren, Hector and Catherin, will grow up free of soil-transmitted parasites. They will be able to use a clean latrine, bathe on a daily basis, and wash their hands before eating. They will be able to thrive and excel in school and to come that much closer to escaping poverty.

Their lives have changed forever.

We also visited Jose Rivera Paz Rural School, a grade school comprising of students aged 6-13 years. There, we watched a play that the students had prepared for our group. The play was an opportunity for the students to demonstrate what they have learned from community health educators and other Brigade groups, such as the benefits of the medical and public health brigades in the community. The play also included a re-enactment of a deworming activity. I spoke with one of the school’s teachers, Dora, who was funnily enough standing by a large poster of “Dora the Explorer.” She thanked us for the work we were doing in her community and then introduced us to all of her students.

Student holding up a bottle of Albendazole, used to treat intestinal worm infections

Dora also has an instrumental role in protecting her students from NTDs. She ensures that her students are treated every six months with deworming medicines supplied by the groups sent by Global Brigades.  She documents the names of children who receive treatment along with the type of drug they are receiving, then reports the numbers to the local health center.

Most of the students at this school are a part of families that have gotten new floors, stoves, water basins, and latrines through the efforts of Global Brigades. These changes within their homes and regular deworming campaigns at the school will sustain a strong new generation, one free of parasites.

Hector, Catherin, and the students at Jose Rivera Paz Rural School are all living proof of sustainable public health interventions that have been carried out by Global Brigade groups.

I plan to return to Honduras on the next Brigade to visit Hector and Catherin at their new improved home to see the impact of our project.

Manuel Claros, winner of the individual Campus Challenge, is a graduate student at GW School of Public Health MPH Global Health policy.  He is a foreign medical graduate from Colombia  with 10 years of experience in HIV prevention and education. He enjoys photography, going to the movies, traveling and cooking.

P.S.  More pictures from Manuel’s trip to come!