Student club aiding Guatemalans will lecture on healthcare access in America

Erik Perez/ Contributing Writer

news@fiu.edu

 

The students and faculty at the University’s chapter of GlobeMed have begun raising awareness on poverty as a hindrance for health access.

GlobeMed, a student-run organization that partners with Escuela de la Calle to provide health care and social services to Guatemala, and education on health equity and social justice to University students, is now fighting to raise awareness on poverty, according to its website.

There are over 50 chapters of GlobeMed throughout the United States, with each one partnered with a different country around the world.

The University’s chapter is the only one partnered with Quetzaltenango, the largest city in Guatemala.

“All of the chapters work with a non-governmental organization partner in a country,” said Eric Feldman, coordinator for the Office of Global Learning Initiatives and GlobeMed advisor. “The core purpose of the club is for them to work on health equity programs focusing both here in Miami and in the town that their partner in Guatemala is in.”

According to Feldman, the discussion on poverty will focus on people’s restricted access to healthcare throughout the world.
Niki Franco, a junior majoring in health administration and GlobeMed’s facilitator, traveled to Guatemala to work with Escuela de la Calle. She has seen the lack of basic medical access that many people living in poverty-stricken communities have to contend with.

According to “Healthy Bodies and Thick Walls: The Dual Relations Between and Economic Status” by James P. Smith, those who are in lower socioeconomic classes or living in areas with high levels of poverty tend to have the least access to healthcare.

Franco said that GlobeMed takes a look at these statistics and encourages students throughout the nation to talk about the issues.

“We have a very social approach to [global health issues],” she said. “We talk about things like race…poverty, access to water, violence, gender equality… a lot of different things that we feel contribute to global health.”
Global Health U, a 30-minute discussion during the first half hour of every meeting, is aimed at encouraging students to talk about ideas and share different perspectives on some of the biggest problems that people around the world face when it comes to access to health care.

These discussions are open to everyone, not just members of the club.

Last month, in honor of black history month, GlobeMed held a discussion on the events that transpired in Ferguson. The discussion looked at race and how it played a factor in health access and social problems.

The debate brought with it one of the biggest turnouts the group has ever seen, along with different voices expressing different ideas.
Franco was happy to see the turnout, as well as the discussion of different ideas and opinions between students.
“It was a very heated topic…but it was interesting hearing all the different takes on it,” she said. “A lot of people had different things to say, similar things to say, and it’s great. We felt really happy to have people so engaged in the conversation.”

This semester the University’s chapter will be tackling the topic of poverty and will discuss the gap between different poverty levels and how this prevents many from having access to even the most basic medical services.

Feldman feels that, through these discussions, students will not only discuss important topics that are too often forgotten about, but they will also be able to learn about how they can get involved with the club and make a difference.

“The purpose of [the poverty discussion] is to explore that topic. We want to provide context for the work that the group is doing internationally,” he said. “It’s kind of neat because, if someone shows up not realizing it’s a club meeting and just wanting to be there to [talk about the topic], then they also might get interested in sticking around and helping out the club or joining the club.”

The event will be held on Monday, March 30, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Modesto A. Maidique Campus Graham Center, Room 274.

Within this discussion, Franco and the GlobeMed team hope they can raise awareness and make people understand that poverty is the direct hindrance to real access to health care.
“[Our goal is] definitely to educate the student body, and our friends and everybody,” Franco said. “My hope is to get people talking.”