Vassar Haiti Project

Vassar Haiti Project Medical Initiative member Nicole Bronson writes about her upcoming trip to Rwanda through the organization FACE AIDS.  Nicole will be working with HIV/AIDS patients in rural and urban clinics, hospitals, and orphanages.

This Winter Break I will be travelling to Rwanda for two weeks with FACE AIDS.  FACE AIDS is an organization that allows students to make a difference in fighting HIV/AIDS while also promoting global health equity and social justice.  The campaign FACE AIDS has going on now is the Adopt A Health Center Campaign.  This campaign raises money to help Partners In Health renovate the Nyamirama Health Center in Rwanda.  Not only will this health center contribute to better healthcare in the area, but it will also contribute to a sense of community and hope.  As part of my trip to Rwanda, I will be visiting this health center, meeting community members and experiencing how FACE AIDS and Partners In Health make a difference.  I will learn about what makes a good health center, how it is run and what is needed.  I will apply the knowledge I gain from visiting the Nyamirama Health Center to help in the building of VHP’s new clinic in Fierville.  Sharing my experience visiting different clinics and hospitals in Rwanda with the medical initiative of the Vassar Haiti Project will hopefully lead to the success of the new clinic in Haiti.  It’s great to know that Partners In Health work in Rwanda will serve as a helping model for our clinic in Haiti, another area Partners In Health is heavily invested in helping.  And if anyone wants to get involved with FACE AIDS at Vassar come to a ProHealth meeting or stop by when ProHealth tables in the college center!