Community Service & Volunteering
Global Brigades National
Global Brigades is the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. Since 2004, Global Brigades has mobilized thousands of university students and professionals through nine skill-based service programs to improve quality of life in under resourced communities. As a secular, international nonprofit organization, we mobilize student volunteers and professionals to empower communities in developing countries with programs that improve quality of life while respecting local culture and improving the environment.
Our Mission
Global Brigades is a volunteer student-based collaborative dedicated to the research, design, and construction of socially responsible, environmentally sustainable solutions to problems in the developing world. Ultimately, extended relationships between brigades and communities will result in not only the implementation of a variety of projects, but also the accumulation of a vast wealth of knowledge from which future students and communities can learn.
The Global Brigades Model
GB was founded with only Medical Brigade trips, but after several brigades, volunteers noticed the same kinds of diseases afflicting the community members and looked to the source of the problem. Doing so caused the realization that there needed to be more sustainable methods of improving quality of life, resulting in the creation of Public Health and Water Brigades. Soon, GB expanded into not only health brigades (Medical, Public Health, Water and Dental) but also development brigades such as Environmental, Architecture, Business, Microfinance and Law. This holistic model encompasses all the aspects of providing communities with the tools to sustain a healthy and self-sufficient way of living, from clean water and medical and dental services to micro-loans and public health infrastructure as well as legal empowerment and environmental protection.
Where Do We Work?
Global Brigades focuses on countries where family members survive on less than $2 per day and where medical and economic needs are severely neglected and resources for basic services are low. Honduras, Ghana, and Panama were selected based on their high need for services in their rural areas, strong on-the ground partnerships for sustainability, accessibility to logistical needs, and safety. Through in-country full-time staff in Honduras, Ghana, and Panama, Global Brigades is able to work with communities to ensure sustainable work and perpetuate on-going services in between brigades.
Columbia University Global Brigades (CUGB)
On campus, we are a student-run multidisciplinary club dedicated to providing sustainable development solutions in Honduras, Panama, and Ghana. Moreover, we maintain an on-campus initiative to educate the wider Columbia community about our organization's efforts and the current standard of living in Honduras, Panama, and Ghana. Over the course of the year, we have many fundraisers, panels, movie screenings, and article discussions on the quality of life in Honduras, Panama, and Ghana. Funds raised over the course of the year are used to purchase medical supplies, and equipment for other brigades when students travel to Honduras, Panama, or Ghana over Winter Break.
Brigades We Currently Run
Medical Brigade
Dental Brigade
Public Health Brigade
Water Brigade
Microfinance Brigade
Business Brigade
Environmental Brigade
Human Rights Brigade
Brigades We Hope to Run
Architecture Brigade
Global Brigades is the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. Since 2004, Global Brigades has mobilized thousands of university students and professionals through nine skill-based service programs to improve quality of life in under resourced communities. As a secular, international nonprofit organization, we mobilize student volunteers and professionals to empower communities in developing countries with programs that improve quality of life while respecting local culture and improving the environment.
Our Mission
Global Brigades is a volunteer student-based collaborative dedicated to the research, design, and construction of socially responsible, environmentally sustainable solutions to problems in the developing world. Ultimately, extended relationships between brigades and communities will result in not only the implementation of a variety of projects, but also the accumulation of a vast wealth of knowledge from which future students and communities can learn.
The Global Brigades Model
GB was founded with only Medical Brigade trips, but after several brigades, volunteers noticed the same kinds of diseases afflicting the community members and looked to the source of the problem. Doing so caused the realization that there needed to be more sustainable methods of improving quality of life, resulting in the creation of Public Health and Water Brigades. Soon, GB expanded into not only health brigades (Medical, Public Health, Water and Dental) but also development brigades such as Environmental, Architecture, Business, Microfinance and Law. This holistic model encompasses all the aspects of providing communities with the tools to sustain a healthy and self-sufficient way of living, from clean water and medical and dental services to micro-loans and public health infrastructure as well as legal empowerment and environmental protection.
Where Do We Work?
Global Brigades focuses on countries where family members survive on less than $2 per day and where medical and economic needs are severely neglected and resources for basic services are low. Honduras, Ghana, and Panama were selected based on their high need for services in their rural areas, strong on-the ground partnerships for sustainability, accessibility to logistical needs, and safety. Through in-country full-time staff in Honduras, Ghana, and Panama, Global Brigades is able to work with communities to ensure sustainable work and perpetuate on-going services in between brigades.
Columbia University Global Brigades (CUGB)
On campus, we are a student-run multidisciplinary club dedicated to providing sustainable development solutions in Honduras, Panama, and Ghana. Moreover, we maintain an on-campus initiative to educate the wider Columbia community about our organization's efforts and the current standard of living in Honduras, Panama, and Ghana. Over the course of the year, we have many fundraisers, panels, movie screenings, and article discussions on the quality of life in Honduras, Panama, and Ghana. Funds raised over the course of the year are used to purchase medical supplies, and equipment for other brigades when students travel to Honduras, Panama, or Ghana over Winter Break.
Brigades We Currently Run
Medical Brigade
Dental Brigade
Public Health Brigade
Water Brigade
Microfinance Brigade
Business Brigade
Environmental Brigade
Human Rights Brigade
Brigades We Hope to Run
Architecture Brigade
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