“The largest student-led organization for global health and holistic development ”
What We do
Global Brigades is an international, non-profit organization and a registered charity in Canada. Their goal is to sustainably transition rural communities out of the poverty cycle through a Holistic Model of development. Their approach acknowledges that health and economic disparities require a multi-faceted solution.
Think about it: Overall wellbeing includes access to affordable medical care; however, if medications don’t resolve root issues, such as unclean water and inadequate sanitation, then what good is the treatment? How can you afford sanitation infrastructure and medications if you aren’t healthy enough to work and earn a stable income? Poverty is a cycle, which is why GB’s development model is also approached as a holistic cycle.
Holistic Model
The Holistic Model is comprised of six steps that integrate programs of healthcare, clean water access, proper sanitation, access to savings and loans, as well as economic growth. This model is currently at work in partner communities throughout Central America, Greece and Ghana.
Poverty Cycle
The cycle of poverty is the “set of factors or events by which poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention”. - Hutchinson Encyclopedia
Without direct intervention, this cycle is incredibly difficult to break.
Brigades Offered:
Click on the icon to learn more about each brigade type!
How is Global Brigades sustainable?
Global Brigades is centered around the partnerships made with each individual community to engage them throughout the development process and to ensure the holistic model is able meet their unique needs. The holistic model systematically builds community ownership while Global Brigades staff members work collaboratively with them to execute each program in order to reach the community’s health and economic goals. The end goal of this partnership is to sustainable evolve into a relationship of impact monitoring.
"We are successful when the community is empowered to lead its own development"
Programming of the holistic model projects occurs year-round through Global Brigades staff members local to each country. Bringing students into the model through a brigade (volunteer trip) acts as a driver of change to offer resources, skills, and funding to the organization.
Sustainable Development Goals
Global Brigades’ development work is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations. They three main components of the holistic model align with the three SDGS outlined below. Global Brigades also works indirectly towards three supplementary SDGs.
Sustainable Program Initiatives
These are the main programs in action within the holistic model. Global Brigades staff ensure these programs continue year-round, even when brigades are inactive. They work to prepare communities prior to a brigade coming in and they continue to work with them after the brigade leaves, furthering the developmental impact beyond our one-week volunteer experiences in each community.
Community Banks
Local leaders are identified and trained by our staff and volunteers to organize Community-Owned Banks to provide critical financial services to the community. Local governments recognize these banks as legitimate institutions allowing them to provide access to savings and loans.
Access to Capital
Community banks provide access to savings, loans and financial literacy. Through regular trainings, our staff and volunteers work to creating a culture of savings in the community alongside the creation of the banks. Saving demonstrates the value of longer term horizons, goal setting, provides for a safety net, and capitalizes local banks with funds available for entrepreneurs to take loans or create micro-enterprises. In addition, access to loans and education on responsible loan usage allows communities to further grow their businesses.
Income Growth
Our staff identify business opportunities and facilitate consulting projects between the volunteers and entrepreneurs to help small businesses grow. Staff and volunteers help entrepreneurs determine the financial return on potential investments and whether loans are a prudent tool for growth.
Investment
Volunteers and donors contribute the essential funds for community-owned banks to lend to local businesses for their investments. The funds are repaid and recirculated back into the local economy, exponentially growing the accounts. Commonly, our banks start with just a few hundred dollars, but will grow grow within 2-3 years of having more than $10,000 USD. For communities averaging about 100 homes and making less than $2 it can be life-changing.
Clean Water System
Water systems are designed, planned, and budgeted with partner communities, international volunteers and the support of our local staff of engineers. Designs take into account accessible water sources and community needs with the goal to provide clean water piped directly to families’ homes.
WASH Leadership
Local leaders are identified by the community to serve as the community’s Water Council, which collects monthly water fees from households to operate and maintain the constructed water system. This locally empowered team ensures the future sustainability of the project once construction is complete and receives regular follow-up from our local staff. A Basic Sanitation Committee is also trained to carry out in-home assessments of Public Health projects, such as latrines, clean burning stoves, and water storage units.
Mobile Clinics
Mobile medical clinics help to bridge the gap in health care accessibility by bringing care directly to rural communities. These clinics are staffed with local health care professionals to provide free care and medications to the community including general consultations, vision screening, pap-smears, and more.
Dental Care
Dental professionals, along with volunteer’s assistance, provide free dental care services including cleanings, fillings, and extractions. Workshops are also implemented to educate the children in the communityon preventative dental care as well as providing fluoride treatments.
Community Health Entrepreneurs
Select community volunteers are trained by Global Brigades staff to act as Community Health Workers (CHWs). They provide basic health care and medications to their community in order to help bridge the gap in limited health care accessibility. CHWs may alsorefer patients requiring a greater level of care toGB’s Patient Referral Program, where sponsors can help to fund advanced care.
Regular Health Care Access
Supported by hired local doctors and Global Brigades alumni doctors, the program will provide access to consultations on a quarterly basis.
Clean Water System Construction
Once designed, clean water systems are constructed with local community members working alongside volunteers and local engineers. Systems include the collaboration between community members, government and Global Brigades. Construction may take several months to complete and can include several large scale components, such as dams and storage tanks.
Healthy Household
Volunteers, masons and families work together to implement projects to improve health, hygiene and sanitation. Eco-stoves to target respiratory diseases, latrines and water filters to decrease the spread of infectious diseases and parasites, and water storage units and showers to improve hand washing and hygiene. Through collaboration with Community Banks, families save in order to contribute financially to their WASH infrastructure, thus investing in their own health.