Campaign Story

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Supporters

Doctors for Doctors & Nurses for Nurses provides full scholarships to aspiring medical and nursing students in rural Nicaragua. We’ve already supported two students, but we need your help to continue growing and empowering youth to become agents of change in their own communities.

We work with local partner organizations to find young people with high potential in areas where medical care is sparse. When students graduate, they will improve access to care and the heath knowledge of local populations.

What makes us different from other initiatives?

We believe that young people should be empowered to follow their dreams and that development should be locally managed.

We are more than just a scholarship program.

Due to an absence of student loan programs, high poverty rates and an overall lack of resources, there is a drastic shortage of health care professionals in rural Nicaragua. The nearest clinic is often a day’s journey away, and due to road conditions, some cannot access a hospital even in an emergency. People have a right to better care and many young people feel compelled to help, but lack the resources for formal training.

With a constant shortage of doctors and nurses combined with with this year’s outbreaks of Zika and dengue, fighting for quality healthcare in Nicaragua is more important than ever.

Doctors for Doctors & Nurses for Nurses creates opportunities for rural Nicaraguan youth to become health care professionals and support their communities.

BRANDON is our newest student from a small rural community in Nicaragua called Ostional, where his family runs a small storefront out of their household. His community is currently experiencing difficulties in their access to healthcare and Brandon has the inspiring dream to become a doctor and help.

About a year ago, Brandon’s family sold most of their belongings to fund his first year of medical school.

Brandon’s parents have seen him work incredibly hard to get where he is in school and they share his passion for giving back to their community. Unfortunately, they are unable to support him through the rest of his medical education.

Brandon has seen first-hand how a lack of medical care has impacted the people in his community. There are insufficient supplies to treat even common diseases such as dengue, kidney disease, malaria and respiratory illnesses. With a growing population and very few doctors and nurses in the region, the situation is only getting worse.

Brandon knows he can make a difference in his community and is dedicated to completing his degree. The only barrier in his way is the financial cost of medical school.

That’s where the Creating Care Campaign comes in!

Please join us in our mission to provide Brandon with a full scholarship to medical school – $18,000 for three years of tuition, medical supplies, textbooks, accommodation, and transportation; along with academic and personal support throughout his education. While donations of any size go a long way in Central America, any amount, no matter how small, will support Brandon in his journey to become a doctor.

Brandon will provide medical care to several thousand patients each year. Over a lifetime, this means that your contribution has the potential to improve the health of tens of thousands of patients.

Check out the things that Brandon could access with your donation:

$6400 Medical School for an entire year: This includes tuition, medical supplies, transportation, housing, food, and local student support from when school starts in February to when it ends in November.

$960 Medical School Dorm for 1 year: This provides safe housing and allows Brandon to focus on his studies. He’ll live close enough to the school to bike or walk for his commute.

$525 Medical Residency for 1 month: Throughout his school, Brandon has medical placements close to home where he’ll be examining and treating patients. This money covers his residency for 1 entire month of treating patients while learning.

$235 Tuition for 1 month: Tuition for 1 month in a Nicaraguan medical school is only $235 for Brandon! This allows him to go to classes and take in essential information that will undoubtedly save lives.

$120 Textbook for Medical School: Textbooks in Nicaragua are published in Spanish and can be even more expensive than textbooks in North America. This is due to increased costs in publishing and transportation of the books.

$80 Stethoscope for Brandon: We all know it: one good stethoscope can last a career and save so many lives through diagnosing conditions accurately. Giving Brandon the essential tools he needs to be the best doctor he can be is an essential component of supporting his entry into medicine.

$65 Healthy Meals for 1 month: Eating healthy will keep Brandon fueled to learn in medical school. A popular Nicaraguan dish is Gallo Pinto, a rice and beans dish commonly served with chicken or fish.

$25 Visit Home to see Family for 1 month: Transportation back to his home community (~4 hours one way) is not only essential for Brandon’s mental health, it’s essential for his connection to helping his community. This is how we create sustainable support for Brandon’s home community, Ostional, Nicaragua.

Please note that when you click to donate, you will be presented with an OPTIONAL donation to chuffed.org. You can opt out of this payment by clicking on the ‘edit’ button to the right of the donation amount. There is also an additional credit card fee that is approximately 3% of your donation.

Doctors for Doctors & Nurses for Nurses Society is a registered Canadian charity. Our charitable registration number is BN: 79775 9123 RR0001.

Tax receipts will be issued upon request for donations over $25. Please forward your confirmation of donation from Chuffed.org to [email protected] and we will issue a tax receipt before the year’s end.

A special thanks goes to our friend and famous Brazilian musician, Bruno Capinan, for donating his music for the campaign video!

Anonymous

8 years ago

$25

Shaun Pepper

8 years ago

$65

Lorie Young

8 years ago

$25

michael tindall

8 years ago

$100

Ben Rogers

8 years ago

$25

Anonymous

8 years ago

$50

Curtis Woodford

8 years ago

$120

Stacey Hellas

8 years ago

$25

Anonymous

8 years ago

$50

TAYLOR STANLEY

8 years ago

$25

Eduardo Carrera

8 years ago

$30

Craig Townson

8 years ago

$120

Sench Kathiravelu

8 years ago

$50

Michael White

8 years ago

$20

D Man Turnbull

8 years ago

$51

Michelle Cochrane

8 years ago

$200

Alexandra Stokes

8 years ago

$50

Sara Clefstad

8 years ago

$50

Bridge Street Foundation

8 years ago

$1343

Anonymous

8 years ago

$10

D Man Turnbull

Great cause …… Love to contribute

8 years ago

Jesse Smith

Good luck Brandon! from Jesse and Gillian

8 years ago

Saman Alavi

Way to go, you guys! I’m so, so proud to see how far DFD has come in these few years. I can’t wait to see what your team does next!

8 years ago

Andrew Wilson

If you want to know more about why DFD/NFN works out of Nicaragua, you may like this episode of Development Works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ-AjFEhCMg

8 years ago

Michelle Cochrane

Hi Gordon – Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we apologize for not describing this sooner. We have added the following message to the campaign page to clarify the additional fee: Please note that when you click to donate, you will be presented with an OPTIONAL small donation to chuffed.org. You can opt out of this payment by clicking on the ‘edit’ button to the right of the donation amount. There is also an additional credit card fee that is approximately 3% of your donation.

8 years ago

GORDON H TURNBULL

I WAS SURPRISED AT THE ADDITIONAL FEES YOUR SYSTEM AUTOMATICALLY WANTS TO ADD. YOU NEED TO DESCRIBE THIS BEFORE YOU GET TO THE PAYMENT PAGE.

8 years ago

Judy Thayer

This is a great cause! Please consider donating!

8 years ago

Michelle Cochrane

Andrew Wilson

Mike Carlson

Peter Ash

Taylor Leppik