CGI U Commitment: Improving Health in Indigenous Pemón Villages
CGI U Commitment-maker: Yongjun Heo, Swarthmore College
Yongjun Heo of Swarthmore College is committing to expand the work of his student-led group Pemón Health, which he founded in 2007 to combat preventable illnesses in the indigenous village of Uriman in the Bolívar State of Venezuela. After spending the summer of 2007 assisting a doctor in Uriman, Yongjun returned to the village with 10 students to implement an incentive-based waste management program. As part of that program, which also will be continued in 2009, students distributed goods such as bed nets, donated shoes, and staple foods to villagers. In 2009, under the guidance of university professors, health care professionals, and village leaders, Heo and Pemón Health will expand their efforts to include agricultural, educational, and direct-service initiatives that will help villagers create cost-effective community projects that focus on local environmental and health improvement.
Learn more at www.pemonhealth.org.
PROFILE
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