Honduras Poverty 'Eye-Opening' for Wayne College Student

Usually, extreme poverty is communicated to U.S. citizens on television commercials. Ben Starke saw it first hand recently.

Starke, a student attending Seton Hall University, traveled to Honduras on missions trip and supplied medical care to more than 750 people in a war stricken region. The team went with Global Brigades, the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization.

“It was an eye-opening and humbling experience,” Starke said. “To see it right in front of you, that’s real life. Commercials don’t do it justice.”

Starke said a doctor has never examined some of the people he met there.

“The nearest doctor for them is 80 miles away,” Starke said. “They have no cars and no roads either.”

Starke is a biochemistry major at Seton Hall in the pre-medical track. He wants to either become an orthopedic surgeon or a cardiologist.

The Seton Hall community and dedicated Global Brigades members collaboratively raised a total of $15,000 to purchase medical supplies for the people they visited.

Students held bake sales, organized canned drives, and partnered with a nonprofit organization called The Pulsera Project to sell bracelets made by people in Nicaragua. Students reached their goals and hope to inspire other students to participate in their fundraising initiatives and join the brigade.

Dr. Laura Pallitto, director of the university’s Center for Community Research and Engagement and GB faculty advisor, said he was "incredibly proud of our Seton Hall University student volunteers." 

"They provided medical assistance to almost 800 people over a three day period," said Pallitto. "The staff of the Global Medical Brigade in Honduras commented that our SHU students were dedicated, mature and focused. I could not agree more."

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