Global Health
Technologies
Design Challenge
Project Sites

• MEXICO
• HONDURAS
• GUATEMALA
• NICARAGUA
• HAITI
• BOTSWANA 
• LESOTHO 
• MALAWI 
• SIERRA LEONE
• SWAZILAND
• TANZANIA
• ECUADOR

CALL for Global Health Technology Design Challenge PROJECT IDEAS

Nicaragua

Currently, Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America, and the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. A decade of guerrilla war in the 1980's between the Contras and the Sandanistas led to debilitating setbacks that continue to plague the country, including the closing of numerous schools and medical clinics.

In July 2008, Beyond Traditional Borders worked with a medical mission team from the University of Texas Medical Branch of Galveston (UTMB)  at the Maria Luisa Ortiz (MLO) Medical Clinic in Mulukuku, Nicaragua.  The MLO clinic was established in 1990 and serves an estimated 13,500 patients per year, focusing on healthcare for women and children, family planning, and cervical cancer screening. Every year, a team of nurses, physicians, and students from UTMB join MLO in meeting these medical needs at the Mulukuku and remote satellite clinics, providing essential health care to underserved communities throughout the area.

		BTB built a ventilated fuel-efficient wood-burning stove at the Maria Luisa Ortiz Cooperative, reducing indoor air pollution in the kitchen.
		BTB brought the Diagnostic Lab-in-a-Backpack, enabling medical outreach teams to diagnose common illnesses in remote clinical settings.
		BTB provided the maternity ward at the Women's Clinic with their first incubator and bilirubin phototherapy lights, both built for less than $50.

BTB Partners in Nicaragua

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB)

The Global Health Track at UTMB is an opportunity for medical students to study the many dimensions of global health and development, and gain hands-on experience working in settings around the globe.  As part of the global health program, students intern in underserved communities around the world. 

Website: http://globalhealth.utmb.edu/about/about_the_center.aspx

Asodenic

Asodenic is a micro-credit organization in Nicaragua that provides small loans to aspiring entrepreneurs among the poorest of the poor to attain a better life for themselves, their family, their community, and their country.

Website: http://www.asodenic.org.ni/