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A different kind of spring break

By Louisa Walker, Comm '11 | Photo courtesy of Global Brigades

Marquette students in Honduras after picking coffee with local families.

Marquette seniors Andrew Montoure, Sarah Ouimet and Justin Maly traveled south over the border for spring break, but not to soak up the sun on the beach.

The trio led a group of nearly 20 Marquette students who traveled to Honduras in March as part of the Public Health Brigade, a new component of the student organization Global Brigades. Students on medical brigades "provide medicine and checkups with doctors that the Hondurans would not normally have access to," says Montoure, a senior in the College of Health Sciences. On health brigades, students "aim to stop the problems seen on medical brigades before they start, incorporating health education into the mix," Montoure adds.

During the most recent weeklong brigade, students worked side by side with Honduran families in two homes to construct more energy-efficient eco-stoves, latrines, water storage units and concrete floors. Students also taught local school children study techniques.

Global Brigades is the world's largest student-run organization targeted at improving global health and sustainable development, and it was first born at Marquette. Jeff Bodle, Bus Ad '04, and Shital Chauhan, H Sci '04, PT '06, created the first medical brigade in 2003. Since then, the organization has recruited more than 4,200 volunteers from 120 universities worldwide, serving almost 315,000 people in Panama, Ghana and Honduras. This year, 42 Marquette students participated in Global Brigades trips in January and March.

The work starts months before students take off. "Students are busy all year fundraising, reflecting and volunteering together in an effort to prepare for these life-changing trips," says Maly, a senior in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences. "Before anyone even boards an airplane, a bond has been established between every brigader." Participation is based on a competitive application process, and several Marquette faculty and administrators are also heavily involved.

The experience stays with students long after graduation. Ronald Zacker, H Sci '05, who first traveled with the brigades in 2004, has returned nearly every year. Tony Guzzardo, Nurs '09 and a former group leader, met up with the Marquette medical brigade in January. Guzzardo and Kimberly Hanson, H Sci '09, have both gone on to work for Global Brigades' Honduras office, where Hanson is director of data informatics and travel coordinator and Guzzardo is director of the public health program. Other alumni have gone on to start Global Brigades chapters at medical schools around the nation.

Ouimet, a senior in the College of Health Sciences, is already planning another trip. "I hope to return to Honduras with Marquette as a health care provider," she says. "There is no way I could stay away from this program."