Check out Yampu-sponsored Ian McHale’s week of fundraising, medical outreach, and community development in Lima, Peru!

Week 6

This past week has been so empowering!! I am now halfway through my MEDLIFE summer internship and its crazy how much I’ve already learned and experienced!!! I am looking forward to what the next six weeks will be like!

A few of my fellow interns had the opportunity of accompanying one of the nurses on a patient follow-up visit to a man named Jorge’s house. Jorge suffers from a rare genetic disease that limits his mobility, and he rarely has the opportunity to go outside.

We, as summer interns, decided that we would work collectively to raise ‪#‎700in7days to sponsor a ramp for Jorge so that he can have easy access to leaving and entering his home.  We identified a problem of one of our patients, we created a plan with the patient and we funded the money to build him a ramp outside of his house. Our goal was $700 in 7 days and we raised $700 in under 7 hours with the total now at $800!!!! How crazy is that!?

(4 photos in Kirua Tanzania)

This week I also spent a lot of time in the office working on the MEDLIFE Fall Fundraiser for a school in Kirua, Tanzania. It is crazy to think that the fundraiser I am creating with my two fellow interns will be used by over 160 student chapters and thousands of students all over the world.

Kirua is a rural agricultural community in the region of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. There are no paved roads that serve the village of Kirua, villagers must hike many kilometers to arrive at a road that is served by public transit with access to a major town. When a meeting was held with the community, they told us how they needed help with the school. The school serves 120 children. It is a simple school house, nothing but a room to teach in, no bathrooms, water, or electricity. They don’t have enough desks, so many of the children must work on the ground.

The school told us that what they needed most was a kitchen and bathrooms for the school. After listening to the communities concerns, MEDLIFE decided to do three projects at the Kirua primary school: a dining hall, a kitchen, and a bathroom project. MEDLIFE is also donating 29 desks and chairs so the children do not have to work on the ground. The kids will live a healthier lifestyle and have a better learning environment.

Thank you,

Ian

About Ian
Hometown: Hamilton, NJ
School: University of Vermont
Major: Biology
Minor: Community & International Development

Ian is a mentor for two awesome mentees Keshon and Kiki, a volunteer at the University of Vermont Medical Center on the pediatric floor, the president of MEDVIDA, his local chapter of MEDLIFE, and a member of the UVM Triathlon club. He loves being outdoors hiking, snowboarding, and camping.

Ian first got involved with MEDLIFE at the University of Vermont by joining his local chapter during Freshman year. He went on his first brigade that summer to Cusco, Peru and it changed his life. During his Sophomore year he became Vice President and Brigades Officer for his chapter. That summer he went on my second brigade to Esmeraldas, Ecuador where he first learned about his current internship in Lima, Peru. In his Junior year he became the President of his chapter at UVM and he is now a MEDLIFE Volunteer Affairs Intern.

His goal for this internship is to connect his Biology major and Community and International Development minor through helping with the planning and implementation of sustainable community development projects that help bring medical access to vulnerable communities.

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