3 Months, 5 Projects, Countless Lives Touched!

Brittney Breuer Start Date: Mar 1, 2024 - End Date: Jun 18, 2024
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Peru
  • Argentina
  • Guatemala

My Travel Story

by: Brittney Breuer Start Date: Mar 1, 2024 - End Date: Jun 18, 2024
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Professional Development
  • Volunteer Trip
It has always been a dream of mine to give back and volunteer in countries less fortunate than ours. First I had hoped to attend a trip to Haiti during nursing school but unfortunately, the trip was canceled the year I was graduating. I then planned a trip to Panama when the borders closed due to Covid-19. I am beyond excited to finally announce I will be leaping to spend three months volunteering in three, third-world countries, starting March 31st. 


My trip will begin in Antigua, Guatemala where I will be volunteering 3 weeks of my time to assist in providing medical care to those in need. The medical settings I will be working in during these times will vary depending on where the highest need is.  Likely many of my experiences will be in low-income, rural settings which can include clinics, elderly homes, facilities for those with disabilities, and/or hospital settings. Guatemala is a predominantly poor country that struggles in several areas of health and development, including infant, child, and maternal mortality, and malnutrition.  Many medical settings in Guatemala are also often understaffed and underfunded, with an average of 1.24 physicians per 1,000 people  (Central Intelligence Agency, (CIA),2024).  I will then be volunteering 1 week of manual labor to support local macadamia nut and coffee farmers in hopes of supporting long-term sustainability and economic development in nearby communities.  
  
After 4 weeks in Guatemala, I will travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I will volunteer for 3 weeks to support their medical needs.  Argentina is a developing country that is experiencing more of an economic boost than Guatemala but still often struggles with ensuring medical access to the rural populations.  They are also often understaffed and underfunded with only 10% of the country's spending going into health (CIA, 2024).

  After Argentina, I will be finishing out my 3-month volunteer trip in rural Cusco, Peru.  Peru also faces many hardships such as a high poverty rate of more than 55% in rural areas, a low physician density of 1.37 physicians per 1,000 people, and a high maternal mortality rate of about 69 maternal deaths per 1,000 women (CIA,2024). This is almost 3 times the rate of ours in the United States.  During my time in Peru, I will primarily be focusing on volunteering in the medical setting, while also volunteering for 1 week in providing animal care.    

 For all these programs I have chosen to go through an organization, called IVHQ. I chose to go through IVHQ because of their commitment to helping stimulate the local economy and enhancing long-term sustainability at each of their volunteer destinations.  Every program through IVHQ utilizes local staff to transport and support volunteers, and local families to host volunteers. IVHQ also encourages any monetary donations to be reinvested into the local economy to purchase items of need, thus stimulating their economy.  

As a volunteer, I do have several fees required.  I have registration fees that go towards supporting the organization and employees. Who ensures I am fully prepared and safe during my travels. I then have program fees that go towards my accommodations and food while abroad. In addition to expenses such as airfare, travel insurance, and immunization costs. All of these are outlined in this fundraiser!

I have spent the last year saving, so I can put my job aside and accomplish this dream of mine while my husband is overseas. Yet, I would like to make this trip as impactful as possible. Therefore, I have chosen to create this fundraiser for those interested in supporting my program expenses and maximizing the donations provided to each community I visit. 

Words can not express the many emotions that come with such an opportunity to travel abroad for only a second time, to help others less fortunate than myself.  In hopes of bringing as many people as possible with me through this journey, I will continue to update this fundraiser, my Facebook, and my TikTok account with my photos, experiences, and emotions of volunteering abroad.  


           -Thank you all for supporting this life-changing journey of mine.  


Also if you or anyone you know would like to join me at any point during my travels please feel free to reach out!


  • Peru
  • Argentina
  • Guatemala

Updates

3

  • First Week In Guatemala Complete!

    First week in Guatemala complete!
    I am so grateful for all the patients I have had a chance to meet, and for all the adventures I have been able to go on already! Please check out my Facebook for more updates on all my excursions!

    This past week I have already taken away so much, it will be impossible to express it all in words.

    A few patients I have seen this week:

    I went to a house call for an elderly lady who is unable to safely make it into the clinic, and who has been having persistently high blood sugars of 400-500. We have successfully been able to bring her down to a fasting BG around 280s. We will continue to follow up next week in hopes of bringing her down further.

    We had a patient who appears to have the starting of Cataracts and is having a hard time seeing. She has been provided liquid eye drops but those are not fixing the true problem. While I recommended she follow up with a Ophthalmologist, that is just not accessible or affordable for many. So instead I learned a common treatment here is a drop of Lemon to each eye, 3 times a day. "Lemons are high in lutein and zeaxanthin, which help against macular degeneration and cataracts. It also is a rich source of vitamin C, which can help reduce inflammations in the eye."

    We had another patient who came in with a dog bite. This poor patient had also gotten bit a year ago in the same leg, from a different street dog. Luckily last year she was able to get several rabies vaccines, then this time she was able to afford to go to a different clinic first where they gave her a tetanus shot and bandaged it, but did not have any antibiotics or dressings for at-home. At our clinic, we were able to provide antibiotics for free, bandages, and much education on how to clean and the importance of watching it for risk of infection. We checked in on her Friday and will return Monday. So far all is looking well!

    I am amazed by the pure happiness all these patients have just to be able to have access to a local nurse, medications, and education. Everyone has been so kind and grateful. I truly have felt like I am making a difference, maybe even more so than I do working in the States at times. I can't wait to see what the following weeks bring!


    Items donated so far:

    Kids Tylenol, Antiseptic solution, Benadryl, naproxen, masks, and snacks for those needing meds while in the clinic.

    Then today I plan to buy a Calendar to coordinate appointments and home visits. More paper for charting purposes, and some smaller syringes and medicine cups so we can portion out liquid medications and creams to be sent home with the patients.
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  • First Day At The Project Site!

    First day at the project site!
    First day of my volunteer project complete!

    Today I have learned:

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