Thirteen senior nursing students from Castleton are currently preparing to embark on a medical brigade to Honduras as volunteer nurses in March. The trip will provide valuable field experience while aiding a country in need, combining the experiential learning, civic-mindedness, and study-abroad opportunities that have come to define a Castleton education.
Partnering with Genesis Mountain View Center, the volunteers along with Nursing Professor Margaret Young, will join a group of 44 other Vermont and New York registered nurses and healthcare professionals to provide quality health initiatives to the people and families of Honduras living in extreme poverty.
“I wanted to use my license to really do some good,” said nursing student Kylah Livingston, who has always longed to participate in a goodwill mission trip. “The people there definitely need our help.”
Though the country is well known for their music and good food tasting of coconut, many tourists do not know Honduras is cited by the World Bank as the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti and Nicaragua. Vast majorities of its population live in rural communities without access to proper healthcare, drinking water, sanitation, electricity, or access to proper roadways leading to civilization, causing suffering from waterborne infectious diseases and dysentery caused by poor sanitation.
Upon arriving in Honduras, the group will spend their first day at a local orphanage working with young children. The rest of their trip will be spent at stationed clinics administering essential medicines and triage.
Each volunteer nurse will be assigned a variety of medical tasks from dressing fractures and taking vital signs to educating children on basic health and hygiene practices.
Over the span of a week the group hopes to provide various healthcare services to more than 1,000 people.
In addition to offering assistance, the group will also be required to compile their own supplies for the trip. Over the counter medications such as multivitamins, allergy products, and eye drops are needed as well as ace bandages, surgical masks and other medical supplies.
To assist with their efforts, a suitcase has been placed in Stephanie Cleveland’s office in the nursing Department, encouraging the Castleton community to show their support.
Additional fundraising efforts will be held throughout the remaining days leading up to their departure. On December 14 the group will host a bake sale at the men’s and women’s basketball games at 1 and 3 p.m., and will also sponsor a 50/50 raffle at the men’s ice hockey game at 7 p.m.
“This trip will give us real life experience,” said Livingston, “And the opportunity to make a significant difference in someone else’s life.”
A full listing of necessary supplies and medications can be found here.