By Lily Moseley, News Correspondent
A new student group on campus, with chapters at other universities around the world, will allow students yet another opportunity to travel abroad and offer their services to developing areas.
Global Brigades is an international organization with a vision “to improve equality of life, by igniting the largest student-led social responsibility movement on the planet,” according to its website. Students involved in the group take part in service programs and projects in under-resourced communities.
The organization has nine areas of focus: architecture, business, dental, environment, law, medical, microfinance, public health and water. Northeastern currently houses a microfinance chapter, founded by Jennifer Hughes who is also the president of Global Brigades NU, and an environmental chapter headed by Rebecca Feely.
Rather than functioning as a large organization, Global Brigades operates in smaller groups at different universities. Chapters of the organization are established individually at universities as students take on leadership positions in the area of their personal interest.
“There was a chapter in Ireland [where I’m from] and I made excuses not to go on the brigade there; I regretted it instantly,” Hughes said. “I came to Northeastern thinking there’d be a chapter, but there wasn’t.”
A Northeastern microfinance brigade to Honduras, set to take place spring break of 2013, will focus on increasing financial literacy and helping families in rural communities improve their economic situations. Volunteers will assist people in joining community banks, opening savings accounts and taking out loans.
“I really liked the fact that [Global Brigades] is a student-led initiative,” Hughes said. “There are other microfinance opportunities specifically for certain majors, but [Global Brigades] is interdisciplinary and extracurricular. It takes a holistic approach.”
The brigade focuses on those most in need, whom they describe as people with an average family income of less than $2 per day, an average education level of fifth grade, limited or no access to microfinance and members of communities with high biodiversity at risk of environmental degradation.
“[The brigade] focuses on microcredit and finance education. We teach people about financial literacy, budgeting and how to pay back a loan,” Hughes said. “We also interview the community members one-on-one to determine where the money would have the best impact [on the community].”
While plans for Northeastern’s environmental brigade are still underway, there is speculation that the two brigades will run in tandem during spring break.
According to the Global Brigades website, environmental brigades focus on “reforestation, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and education.”
Volunteers complete their service “through interactive workshops and the building of physical structures,” the website said, and they “provide the education and physical assistance necessary for these families to sustain long-term behavioral change which will benefit the well-being of not only themselves, but also their surrounding physical environment.”
Students participating in the environmental brigade interact with community members, plant trees, build greenhouses, participate in waste management and educational activities and take part in group discussions and community gatherings.
“For every one student who goes [on an environmental brigade], a family plants 10 trees,” Hughes said. “The main idea is to educate community members about how to best utilize their land. [The brigades] have helped [community members] increase their crop yield.”
While the major focus of Global Brigades is on the trips themselves, volunteering for a brigade can be too large of a commitment for some students. There are less encompassing ways to get involved in the organization, however, by participating in fundraising to help students who are going on the brigades pay for their trips.
Hughes said the opportunity to volunteer and make a real difference in the lives of people struggling around the world presents a fulfilling and enriching experience for students.
“Global Brigades provides a great experience for students to do hands-on international development in the area of their major and of their interest,” she said.
Global Brigades meets on Mondays at 6 p.m. in 410 Ell Hall. Multiple spaces for both the microfinance and environmental brigades are available, and each brigade requires approximately 15 students.
Contact Jennifer Hughes at [email protected] for general information about Global Brigades, and for information specifically regarding the microfinance brigade. For information about the environmental brigade, contact Rebecca Feely at [email protected].
