Volunteer: Alix Bronner

Volunteer

Bicol Clinic Foundation, Inc.
Philippines, 2008

Traveling to the Philippines with the Bicol Clinic foundation was one of the most amazing, and rewarding, experience of my life. I had the opportunity to work both in the clinic and in the community with the public health team. Working in the schools was great because the children were excited to learn. We used interactive programs to teach them about sanitation and first aid. The best part was that our message seemed to spread; kids would take home what they had learned and teach their parents and siblings. I think one of the most important aspects of the trip was that we were not only working in the community, but living it. The volunteers had the chance to get to know the Filipino people. We interacted with locals on a daily basis; through these experiences we built relationships in the community. It helped me to better understand the conditions that people in the Bicol region, and impoverished people around the world, face. The impact that was made within the community through clinical aid and public outreach amazed me. We had the chance to reach out into the community through so many mediums: clinics in Buena Vista, Bulan, and the Sorsogon Prison, beach clean-ups, school visits, and even block parties. I was amazed by the clinic-while it looks simple, it has the greatest impact. By the end of the month the wait list to get in the clinic was 600 patients. People traveled 5 or 6 hours just to see the doctors, or arrived at the click at 5 in the morning in hopes of receiving care. The Bicol Medical Clinic provides much needed care for the community, and for some the only medical care they will receive all year. The need for care is overwhelming. As I would walk to the clinic in the morning people would show me their babies and ask for help or while working in the pharmacy people would gather around the windows hoping to get medicine if they couldn't see the doctor. Not being able to help these people was a horrible feeling, but unfortunately I'm just a college student not a doctor.

Working with the Bicol Clinic Foundation has greatly influenced my life, even upon returning to the United States. I am currently studying International Development, because after seeing the marginalized environment that many in the region live in, I realized how organizations like BCF are. I also was inspired to pursue an internship with Save the Children because of my time in the Philippines. It is so important to have humanitarian and aid agencies to help those in need, and I believe that the Bicol Clinic Foundation has made a profound impact on the community it serves. I hope to one day return to the Philippines, to work in the clinic, revisit the schools, see the children and be able to help with this wonderful cause.

Alix Bronner
Tulane University
Volunteer


Want To Join Our Team?

BCF has dispatched more than 150 medical students, in addition to dozens of American and foreign physicians and nurses, to provide care to more than 75,000 patients in the Philippines, Nepal and Haiti, many of whom had never before seen a physician. Our team members also volunteer in orphanages and schools to extend health care to other aspects of life. We’d love for you to be Part of the Start!

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The application and all additional requirements MUST BE SUBMITTED BY January 21 , 2020.