Four Undergrads To Work at Costa Rican Clinic

While many students will avoid their reading and darken their tans this spring break, the Harvard branch of Federation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) will head to Costa Rica to aid Nicaraguan refugees.

FIMRC is a global non-profit organization that provides health education programs and medical care for the underprivileged. Four undergraduate FIMRC members will travel to a clinic in Alajuelita, a community located near the Costa Rican capital, San Jose.

The Alajuelita population is plagued by contaminated water, underemployment, lack of education, and minimal public utilities, among other health problems such as malnutrition and drug addiction, according to the FIMRC website.

The Harvard volunteers will spend a week working with children in the area, providing medical assistance and promoting health education through skits and other types of presentations.

Volunteers, who will be housed in local homes with English or Spanish-speaking families, will have the option to stay longer than one week. Students cover the cost of the trip, about $900, according to the FIMRC website.

Approximately 13,000 Nicaraguan refugees, mainly single women and children, have fled to Costa Rica to escape poverty and persecution, according to the FIMRC website and Angela M. Mayorga ’09, the coordinator of the trip.

The national organization worked with the Harvard branch in organizing the trip, according to Mayorga.

Vikram Bakhru, the president and founder of FIMRC, said he started the organization after witnessing severe poverty in India.

Bakhru said he believes it is important for college students to devote their time to helping underprivileged populations globally.

“We are overwhelmingly thrilled,” he said of the Harvard trip. “It is important to implement what you’ve learned in class to gain perspective.”

Sameer Lakha ’09, one of the participants, said that all Harvard students should take part in community service.

“You’re getting a Harvard education.” Lakha said. “You have a moral responsibility to understand or be exposed to the problems that are in the world and do something about it.”

Benjamin C. Williams, originally of the Class of 2004, is now the executive vice president of FIMRC’s national branch. He said that college students have a responsibility to help other youth in need.

“Our main goal is for kids to help kids,” he said. “We want our generation to care for our generation.”

Williams said that volunteer opportunities allow college students to escape “the bubble” of insulation and helps them “understand the magnitude” of global issues.