As tubes of unused, expired antibiotics, ointments and generic pills sit in the dumpsters of western nations, Reuters reported that billions around the globe — and here at home — do not have access to basic health services.
Medicine Education and Development for Low-Income Families Everywhere is a non-profit organization that partners with low-income communities in Latin America and Africa to improve their access to quality healthcare and education.
The MEDLIFE chapter at KSU was founded in January by Erin Huenink, who serves as its president, and Melanie Bagyi, who serves as its vice president. Huenink wanted to open a chapter at KSU after she transferred from UGA, where she was a part of MEDLIFE.
During Huenink’s time at the UGA MEDLIFE chapter, she took a trip to Peru, where she helped local communities by providing medical education and medicine in a mobile clinic.
Huenink and Bagyi plan on helping local communities through KSU MEDLIFE. Bagyi said that the chapter is also currently looking to partner with other KSU organizations to volunteer with.
“We want to incorporate [MEDLIFE] into our local communities too, because [helping] starts at home,” Huenink said.
KSU MEDLIFE meets biweekly on Mondays at 4 p.m. in room 135 of the Bagwell College of Education and is seeking involved members and candidates for leadership positions.
KSU MEDLIFE plans to have guest speakers, outdoor service projects and fundraisers in the near future. Members are required to attend meetings regularly and participate in three hours of community service each semester.
In the future, Bagyi said that KSU MEDLIFE hopes to take international mission trips to help those in poverty. The leaders plan on raising money through events to fund scholarships for students who want to go on mission trips but do not have the monetary means.
Overseas, MEDLIFE partners with local medical, educational and other professionals so that it can help in a culturally-sensitive manner while being sustainable, Huenink said.
“It’s not just people come in for a week and … help out and then leave and nothing else happens.” Huenink said. “They really make sure it’s something that continues.”
Bagyi said that the partnership between MEDLIFE and communities abroad is important because the locals know where help is required.
“They build relationships with these communities,” Bagyi said. “You just go in and really get to know [the] community and they say what the needs really [are] there, not just what you may see on the surface.”
MEDLIFE was founded by Nick Ellis in 2005 after working as a translator in Ecuadorian hospitals, according to its website. There, Ellis met Darwin, a young boy in need of heart surgery, but the clinic was only there for a specific amount of time and could not provide the boy with the surgery.
Shortly after, Ellis went home to Maine and raised enough money to fund Darwin’s heart surgery within hours of asking for donations in a Walmart parking lot, according to the MEDLIFE website. It was this act that birthed the organization, which has since expanded to Peru, Nicaragua, Tanzania and parts of Ecuador.
For more information on MEDLIFE, visit medlifemovement.org, and for KSU’s branch, visit owllife.kennesaw.edu/organization/medlifeatksu.
