About Us:
Global Brigades
Global Brigades is a volunteer student-based collaborative dedicated to the research, design, and construction of socially responsible, environmentally sustainable solutions to problems in the developing world. Ultimately, extended relationships between brigades and communities will result in not only the implementation of a variety of projects, but also the accumulation of a vast wealth of knowledge from which future students and communities can learn.
Who We Are
Global Brigades began at Penn State in 2007, with the goal of helping the impoverished villages of Honduras in collaboration with one of the country’s most highly regarded nonprofit organization, Sociedad Amigos de los Niños, led by Sister Maria Rosa Leggol, a recent nominee of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Water Brigades were started at Penn State in 2010 to expand the pre-existing Public Health and Medical Brigades. We went on our first trip to Honduras over Spring Break 2011, to Ghana over Winter Break and Honduras over Spring Break in 2012 and 2013, and to to Ghana over Winter Break and at the end of the spring semester 2014, and to Honduras over spring break and after spring semester 2015. We are looking to recruit dedicated students to volunteer their time to travel to villages throughout Honduras, Nicaragua, and Ghana and gain valuable experiences while helping others!
What We Do
Global Water Brigades (GWB) is a movement of passionate students and professional volunteers from around the world dedicated to improving access to clean water and sanitation. GWB designs and implements water systems to increase access and quantity of water and to prevent communicable illnesses in communities with limited access to clean water. Our current projects are in Central America and Ghana where hundreds of student volunteers travel annually to implement our community-based water projects with our local partners. Our in-country team members work with water experts and community leaders to design large-scale water systems for the entire community. Once the water system is blueprinted, volunteers work side-by-side with community members to implement and provide the education for maintenance through the creation of “community water counsels.” We also spend time with the youth of the community teaching about water-relevant health and conservation.