{"id":1048,"date":"2018-02-09T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T14:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/infectious-disease\/?p=1048"},"modified":"2018-12-28T12:19:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T18:19:07","slug":"going-global-supporting-unmc-los-chavalitos-in-nicaragua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/infectious-disease\/2018\/02\/09\/going-global-supporting-unmc-los-chavalitos-in-nicaragua\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Global – Supporting UNMC & Los Chavalitos in Nicaragua"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Florescu will be joining an upcoming medical service trip to Los Chavalitos clinic in Managua, Nicaragua, sponsored by UNMC\u2019s Student Alliance for Global Health.<\/p>\n

L\"\"os Chavalitos Clinic is the outreach of APUSAN, a Spanish acronym meaning \u201cAssociation of Pediatricians United for the Health of the Children.\u201d\u00a0 APUSAN was founded by a small group of ambitious young Nicaraguan medical residents in the early 1990s.\u00a0 The doctors, who saw a multitude of children in advanced stages of diarrhea in the emergency departments of the hospital where they worked, knew that diarrhea can be prevented and should not be a major cause of childhood death, as it was in Nicaragua (and in many underdeveloped countries).\u00a0 They knew that education of the parents was the key to prevention and they formed APUSAN, a legal corporation in Nicaragua.\u00a0 However, they had no funding to put their dreams of preventive measures into action.\u00a0 Through unpredictable, but fortuitous circumstances,\u00a0 UNO social work professor on sabbatical in Nicaragua, learned of the aspirations of the APUSAN physicians and engaged her Rotary Club back in Omaha to support the mission of the Nicaraguan MDs.\u00a0 One of the Rotary members brought the cause to his Omaha church, Countryside Community Church.\u00a0 Subsequently, between the active support of the district Rotary Clubs and Countryside Community Church, a small structure in an impoverished Managua community was purchased and Los Chavalitos (\u201clittle kids\u201d) Clinic opene<\/span>d in 1994.\u00a0 From the beginning, and to this day, the front of the building has both the Rotary Club emblem on it and the words \u201cCountryside Community Church\u201d emblazoned on it.\u00a0 It is truly an \u201cOmaha\u201d product in the heart of this Nicaraguan capitol city, Managua.\u00a0 There is no government funding and the clinic provides primarily free care, with a small proportion of patients paying on a sliding scale.\u00a0 Private donations sustain the clinic on an ongoing basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" UNMC began sending individual student volunteers to work at Los Chavalitos in 1995 and the first SAGH-sponsored medical service trip took place in Nicaragua in 1996, with 13 participants.\u00a0 UNMC has offered the service trips to Nicaragua annually since 2000.\u00a0 The SAGH medical service trips, which also take place in Jamaica and a Native American Reservation, have grown in student participation since the first trip.\u00a0 Twenty-two years there will be 41 UNMC students in Nicaragua participating in one-week SAGH medical service trips.\u00a0 Of these 41 students, nine of them will be based in Managua, volunteering under the auspices of the Los Chavalitos medical director.\u00a0 Every day the group will go into the neighborhoods served by Los Chavalitos and establish \u201cpuestos\u201d (posts) in one of these communities \u2013 perhaps the home of a community leader, a school, or a church, and provide immunization services to the community members, and will also offer vitamin A, anti-parasite pills, and fluoride treatments.\u00a0 The presence of the UNMC group is well-publicized in advance, so that the community members can plan to take advantage of the free services offered, which have been approved by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (and it is the government who provides the vaccines that the group uses).\u00a0 Four of the\u00a0student members are physical therapy students, who will spend part of their time serving in other sites with a geriatric population and severely handicapped children.<\/span><\/p>\n

The UNMC students (from medicine, nursing, pharmacy and allied health) volunteering through Los Chavalitos typically serve up to 1000 patients during their service week.\u00a0 All of these activities take place in community locations (not on the clinic premises), which eliminates the need for client transportation (requiring both time and money) to receive valuable services.\u00a0 The student participants see\/experience first-hand the living conditions of a poor population and have ample opportunity to directly interact with the local personnel.\u00a0 It is a valuable lesson in cross-cultural communication and demonstrates the value of serving the under-served.<\/p>\n

To donate to help fund the upcoming SAGH Nicaragua medical service trip (to help defray trip expenses):\u00a0 cash or check (payable to SAGH\/UNMC and put SAGH Nicaragua on the bottom left corner of the check.\u00a0 Please send to the attention of Sara Pirtle at campus zip 5700, or mail to the address below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To donate to directly assist Los Chavalitos with their community outreach and clinical services, cash or check payable to SAGH\/UNMC and note \u201cLos Chavalitos\u201d on the bottom left corner of the check.\u00a0 Please send to the attention of Sara Pirtle at campus zip 5700, or mail to the address below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

985700 Nebraska Medical Center<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Omaha, NE\u00a0 68198-5700<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Content courtesy of\u00a0Sara E. Pirtle, MBA<\/em><\/p>\n

IHME Program Manager<\/em><\/p>\n

SAGH Advisor<\/em><\/p>\n

402 559 2924<\/p>\n

www.unmc.edu\/ihme<\/p>\n

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