This year's successful medical brigade

The medical professionals participating in this year’s medical brigade from the United States were, in the first week, Jonathan Benjamin, Joe Daniels Mulholland, Dana Rubin, Catalina Hoyos, Emily Kemper, Christine Tulikangas and in the second week Joe Daniels, Emily Kemper, Christine Tulikangas and Anisha Nadkarni. We are very grateful to all the brigade, to Dot House Health of Boston for facilitating this brigade, to Joe Daniels Mulholland for coordinating all the preparations, to Peter Loewinthan for 25 years of organizing and coordinating these medical brigades and to Kara Denny for her invaluable guidance and support.

This year again the brigade was accompanied by the team working to address domestic violence who this year too were again accompanied by our beloved friends Lyn Styczinski and Len Greenberg. The brigade was also very much supported by Dr. Luz López and her team from the University of Boston’s School of Social Work and their Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health. We are very grateful to Dr. López for her support and guidance over many years promoting the vision of inter-institutional cooperation which is a central principle these medical brigades seek to promote.

We also appreciate very much the help of Nicaragua’s Health Ministry and Estelí’s Departmental Health Authority for the personnel and resources they made available so as to get the most of of the brigade’s visits to local rural communities.

On behalf of the Superemos Foundation, Sindy Alvarado Castro and Ariel Torres Hidalgo supported the year’s medical brigade coordinating medicines, transport and interpreters. The brigade had support too from students of the Medical School of the local campus of Nicaragua’s National Autonomous University and the local UNFLEP University as well as local general practitioners Itzel Pérez and Kevin Flores.

The brigade served the communities of Sontúle and El Regadillo in the municipality of Estelí; Guingajapa, Paso Real, Santa Clara, El Jícaro in the municipality of San Nicolás and El Hornillo, Chagüite Blanco, Monteverde and Las Tablas in the municipality of La Trinidad.

The brigade provided care to a total of 1990 patients including over 700 children and 1200 adults.