Personal Narrative: My Brigade Trip To Nicaragua

As I entered the sky bridge, walking towards the plane, it finally occurred to me what I was about to embark on. In all honesty, I had no idea what to expect. Sure, I had seen the itinerary and talked to veteran brigaders, but schedules and words do not compare to the actual experience. My brigade trip to Nicaragua was incredible from beginning to end and I am very fortunate to have been able to contribute to the Global Brigades cause. Our schedule consisted of 3 medical clinic days, 2 public health days, and one water day with the first and last days as travel days. The medical days were the most rewarding ones by far; we were able to see and treat 654 patients from villages around La Garnacha. Men, women, and children traveled tens to hundreds of

Most houses in these remote villages do not have a formal bathroom; villagers would use outhouses will a hole in the ground as toilets and bathe with collected rainwater outside. The purpose of the sanitary station is to provide a private area with running water for these needs. The station consisted of a shower, toilet, sink, and a septic tank. As volunteers, we laid the cinder blocks and cement that would form the outside structure and septic tank. Concrete flooring is also a vital aspect of public health; most houses in these villages have dirt floors. Dirt floors are not sanitary because bugs that can carry disease and harmful bacteria can crawl into the homes where the adults and children do not wear shoes to protect their feet. With concrete floors, the villagers are safer in their own homes. To build the floors, we would mix the cement with rocks, dirt, cement mix, and water; then the cement was shoveled into buckets and carried uphill to the house where it was leveled onto floor. Over a span of two days, we were able to finish two sanitary stations and one concrete