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Claire Young and her husband James are currently on the trip of a lifetime, travelling the world in an overland camper.
As a part of something they call This Big Road Trip, they were most recently in Santa Ana, Nicaragua. Claire, who is a family physician, was volunteering her time in a clinic located in a very poor rural area, and is requesting help giving the people there a better quality of life.
For five weeks, Claire worked as a medical volunteer at the Roberto Clemente Clinic. One of their biggest issues is a lack of clean drinking water, which results in frequent parasitic infections.
“The difference in needs between Canada and Nicaragua is almost unimaginable,” Claire explains. “Things really go back to basics in Nicaragua. Stuff we take for granted, and don’t even consider part of healthcare anymore, is a number one priority for them. Things such as water, food and sanitation.”
She says that most people in the area have to drink contaminated well water, resulting in health problems. Then, the medication they receive to treat infections are again taken with the same water.
As well as providing medical consultations, the clinic that Claire volunteered at also runs a number of community programs, including one to provide free, clean water to the schools and health centres.
The clinic has a small water filtration system and is able to cover four out of the eight schools in the area.
They would like to expand the program so that they can provide it to all of the schools, but do not have the funding needed to do so.
“Since the socioeconomic crisis last August, lots of NGOs have left and it’s extremely hard to get support for these people, despite the fact their situation is even worse than before,” says Claire.
That’s why she has begun a fundraising campaign to help them provide safe water for the program. Her goal is to raise enough money to run the water program for one year, which adds up to $5,000.
She’s set up a GoFundMe page to collect donations, and so far they have raised just over $2,000.
Claire and James are now continuing their journey, and are currently in Costa Rica. however, Claire has no plans to stop her humanitarian efforts.
“The time I spent there had a fairly profound effect on me; so much so, that it has actually changed my planned career path when I return to Canada,” says Claire.
“I plan to continue to do humanitarian work in resource poor areas around the world. My next stop is working with the Venezuelan refugees in Columbia.”
If you would like to help raise money for the clean water program, click here.
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