INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS International Health Brigades

Peace Initiatives – International Health Brigades

Haiti clinica salud 2010Since 2000, our international health promotion program Peace Initiatives has reached over 46 distressed communities in Latin America and Africa with limited or no access to health services and training. Our health brigades have helped thousands of people in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Ghana, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Peru and Haiti, through medical care and health education. Currently, Peace Initiatives runs two projects:

  1. An educational project to create new community health promoters in Haiti
  2. Mobile health clinics that visit various sectors in need in the face of the ravages caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

We aim to

  • PROMOTE control of social determinants of health aimed at the empowerment and sustainable development of communities that suffer from social exclusion and extreme poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • IMPROVE access to health care services in remote and poverty-stricken communities.
  • DEVELOP civic values, such as cultural sensibility, civic participation, resilience, ethics, and coexistence, in our volunteers.

We do it by…Haiti ICI 2010 2 edit

  • Offering our resources, experiences and ideas to enable locals to take responsibility for the health of their communities.
  • Providing capacity building to health promoters, traditional midwives and grassroots leaders in health, thus strengthening existing organizational structures. Midwifery training focuses on basic sanitation, primary health care, emergencies and mother and child health.
  • Encouraging and establishing collaborative networks and alliances for resources and capabilities from all sectors – local, regional, national and international, public and private.
  • Strengthening sustainable community development infrastructure through local and external resources, construction and small businesses.
  • Offering specialized health services linked to emergency situations and capacity building objectives of grassroots leaders.

To achieve all this, the program recruits and trains health, education and general volunteers. The only requirement to be part of this effort is to have the desire and passionately work for social justice, particularly for marginalized populations.

The values that guide our work

Iniciativa Comunitaria en Haití (2010)

  • We believe in people.
  • We promote and respect community participation, leadership and prominence.
  • We walk in alignment with the community.
  • We acknowledge the power of hope, which is cyclical.
  • We respect the values of the local culture and residents.
  • We are all responsible for each other.
  • Solidarity is the foundation of our work.

GIVE US A HAND | DONATE

Your support is needed to continue this important work. You can make a donation, become a volunteer and/or donate medications. Checking Accounts at Banco Popular
: PUERTO RICO #030-36-3462 /  HAITI: #030-69-5295

Contact email:  jlvargas@iniciativacomunitaria.org / fsoto@iniciativacomunitaria.org