A Volunteer’s Experience at the Roberto Clemente Clinic
The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic is a non-profit clinic that provides 24-hour primary care to the 27 impoverished communities in a nearby radius. The clinic is open to everyone and provides general and emergency medical care, dental care, ambulatory surgery, lab work, and preventative health education. The clinic offers eager volunteers a unique experience in the medical and community service fields. Over the years, the Roberto Clemente Clinic Volunteer Program has received volunteers from various backgrounds to perform hospital volunteer work, summer internships abroad, and to improve the lives of the community members of the Limon, 1 region.
At the Roberto Clemente Clinic, volunteers can participate in a wide range of duties from community outreach and education programs, to working directly with patients in need. Recently, a group of 15 nursing student volunteers from Catholic University of America from Washington, D.C. came to Nicaragua to volunteer with the Roberto Clemente Health Clinic located in the rural community of El Limon 1, Tola, Rivas. They not only provided help in the different areas of the clinic, such as assisting nurses with sutures, providing IV fluids, filing patient information; but also, helped the community to meet specific needs beyond the typical scope of emergency and on-the-scene health.
The Catholic University of America gave educational talks on Sexual Reproductive Health, with a focus on the menstrual cycle, sexual reproductive organs, as well as different birth control methods and protection and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s). Volunteers also gave talks on nutrition, hygiene, dengue and other illnesses prevention to patients waiting for medical consultations and students from public schools. Volunteers also participated in the vaccination campaign presented by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health. This program allows children and the elderly to receive much needed vaccines and Catholic University of America volunteers were able to travel to local schools and homes to administer these much needed medications. While the clinic works to meet the needs of local community members, they desperately need volunteers from a variety of expertise to educate and improve the health and livelihoods of those within the Limon, 1 region of Nicaragua.
To learn more about the Roberto Clemente Clinic or to volunteer, please visit this link and read more details about our program. You may also call Juan Muñoz, Executive Director, 410-369-0512.