By Lauren Heafy, Curamericas Global Intern

Students from the Spanish Honor Society (SHS) at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida have made a great contribution to Curamericas Global. Inspired by Curamericas’ work, club leader and teacher Rhiannon Reichenbach motivated the 30+ students in the SHS to take action in the name of a great cause. Realizing the impact that cellular communication has on rural health care provision, the SHS began planning a Used Cell Phone Drive.

Cell phones are often needed by our in-country personnel and are a key part of the emergency response plans in each community. The more people that are equipped with phones, the greater the ability of our staff to communicate and provide prompt responses. Within the communities, phones can be used to reach nurses who can provide on-site care or arrange for transportation to a clinic. The phones are also used to reach the lead staff of the Casa Materna birthing center in the case of a complication or emergency during pregnancy, during labor and delivery, or in the case of an illness with a newborn or child.

The Curamericas-Guatemala staff reported recently that there was an obstetric emergency when a woman came to the Casa Materna late at night. They were able to get transportation for the woman to the hospital for an emergency Caesarean section necessary to save the mother’s and baby’s lives. The mother is doing well, and Mario Valdez, Director of Curamericas-Guatemala, is hopeful that the baby who is recovering in intensive care will survive. Without the Casa Materna and a cell phone, the mother wouldn’t have gotten a hospital referral nor received the transportation she needed to get there for life-saving care. The ability of staff to communicate efficiently contributes to success stories such as this. The donated cell phones will be used by staff who are based out of our two Casa Maternas, including Health Educators, Community Facilitators, and Traditional Birth Attendants.

Through hard work driven by a passion to make a difference, the Cardinal Gibbons High School SHS was able to collect and donate approximately 70 functioning, used cell phones over the week-long drive to be sent to our project sites in Guatemala.

Flyers were posted around the school to advertise the drive and explain where cell phones would be sent and why they will benefit the people of Guatemala. SHS students also made public announcements and spoke personally to classrooms about the importance of the drive and Curamericas’ community outreach services. Cell phone donation was incentivized by attributing students with two community service hours for each cell phone they brought in as well as a free baked good – yummy! The students were able to arrange a donation from Bioresource Technology to cover the shipping fees for the phones and chargers. Based on their huge success, the club anticipates recreating the used cell phone drive again next spring.

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