Thanks to the efforts of one of the University's newest charitable organizations, migrant workers in the Charlottesville area will now have access to basic medical care and health education.
Beginning this year, the Migrant Outreach Network, a second chapter of the University's Nursing Students Without Borders group, will provide basic health assessments and education to migrant workers in Albemarle and surrounding counties. Volunteers also will provide migrant workers with transportation to health care facilities.
Nursing students and hospital residents, as well as community members, will be involved in the new program.
"As important as the concept of global community service is, it's also important to have action programs within our own community," current NSWB president Bridget Kuczkowski said. "It's very powerful for nursing students in terms of education, as well as for local community members, to know that indigent communities exist in the local area."
NSWB, founded last fall by fourth-year Nursing student Matthew Walden, has an existing chapter that provides medical services to a community in San Sebastian, El Salvador.
NSWB aims to "broaden the perspectives of nursing students and to better meet the health care needs" of the less fortunate, second-year NSWB member Ann Maushammer said.
In accordance with this goal, Maushammer, Walden and several other students have taken two trips to San Sebastian, accompanied by a physician, dietician and registered nurse.
Civil war, hurricanes and floods ravaged San Sebastian, once home to a flourishing textile industry. Two doctors and three nurses man the village's only medical clinic. As many as 300 patients visit the clinic each day.
NSWB selected the village through contacts with Salvadoran families living in Charlottesville.
On recent trips, the group assessed the health care and education needs of the community.
They also provided medical supplies and clothes and taught health education classes on such subjects as first aid, family planning, infection prevention and hygiene to high school students, men's groups and women's groups. The organization has provided over 3,000 pounds of medical supplies to San Sebastian to date.
Seven more trips to San Sebastian are planned over a period of three years, after which NSWB will choose another indigent community in need of medical care and supplies.
NSWB receives donations from the School of Nursing, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Charlottesville Rotary Club and other local organizations and individuals.
The Albemarle County Rotary Club recently offered to quadruple any donations NSWB receives this month.
However, NSWB will need more financial support to realize its long-term goals, Walden said.
The organization now has about 30 active members and is recruiting more volunteers. Members need not be nursing students, but knowledge of Spanish is helpful.
As the organization grows, Walden plans to expand NSWB to include other nursing schools across the nation.
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