DU is home to dozens of unique clubs, including that of the Global Medical and Water Brigades. Over spring break, members of this club ventured to rural Nicaragua to provide water and medical relief to communities in need. This was the chapter’s fifth spring break trip visiting either Nicaragua or Panama.

“These trips are an extremely humbling and enlightening experience,” said fourth-year club president Yingyot Arora. “In college, it is easy to become extremely absorbed in your personal bubble—this trip provides a great opportunity to step back and reflect on the big picture and what is truly important.”

For the first three days of the trip, the volunteers visited the community of La Laguna, where they set up a medical clinic and saw nearly 1,000 patients.

“This clinic provides an opportunity for community members to get access to medications and medical care they don’t normally have access to,” said third-year club co-president Haley Umans.

During this year’s medical brigade, students worked to triage the patients, shadowed both American and Nicaraguan doctors and dentists during consultations, assisted in the pharmacy and led educational sessions for children in the community.

“On our second clinic day, we encountered an 86-year-old man with severe osteoporosis from over 70 years of working as a farmer,” said Arora. “Throughout the whole visit, this man had a smile on his face and was genuinely happy and appreciative to be there. He brightened the day of every single person who had the opportunity to work with him.”

For the next two days, members participated in the DU chapter’s first ever water brigade in another Nicaraguan community—one without any previous access to safe, clean drinking water. During this phase of the trip, volunteers worked alongside locals to build infrastructure that would give the 70-person community access to potable water.

“Since the men in the community were working side by side with us, I had an opportunity to have great conversations with them,” said Umans. “They were so grateful that we were there working with them. It was a nice reminder that although we come from such different places, we all were still working for people to have the basic necessities.”

Their yearly trip is a compilation of all the hard work the members of the Global Medical and Water Brigades Club dedicate to make it possible. Throughout the rest of the school year, the club fundraises for the brigades and for medications to stock the pharmacy, in additional to educating its members on the work they will be doing. Although this necessitates a lot of commitment and year-round work, the gratitude of the communities makes it all worth it in the eyes of the members.

“It was really touching to see the raw emotion and how a group of college kids like us truly have the power to make a difference in people’s lives,” said second-year member Della Turque. “It was a really special moment.”

To get involved with the Global Medical and Water Brigades Club, contact

dumedbrigades@gmail.com.