World Suicide Prevention Day 2026: What Community Health Looks Like in Anconcito blog community stories costa rica ecuador fimrc fimrc internship fimrc partnerships fimrc programs global health global health volunteer program medical professional mental health peru primary care public health scholars travel uganda volunteer world suicide prevention day Sep 10, 2026

Prevention does not begin with an emergency.

It begins with a conversation a family member feels safe enough to have. A Health Promoter who recognizes that someone is struggling before things get worse. A caregiver who understands that their own emotional well-being matters too. A community where a...

Strengthen What Works: Breastfeeding Support and FIMRC's Community Health Work blog clinical observations costa rica ecuador fimrc global health global health volunteer program medical professional medical student nursing peru primary care professional development public health summer international health fellowship travel volunteer Jul 31, 2026

A new mother in a highland community outside Huancayo has delivered her baby at home. There was no lactation consultant in the room. No postnatal nurse to check the latch. No one to answer the questions that arrive in the first hours of a newborn's life, the ones that determine whether breastfeeding...

A Meaningful Return: How One Group Keeps Showing Up for Costa Rica blog costa rica fimrc fimrc partnerships foundations in global health global health health equity medical professional partnerships primary care public health travel volunteer volunteer experience Jun 05, 2026

The first time Michael Leuchtenberger brought a group to FIMRC Costa Rica, it was 2024. A day of service. A group of young members from a religious organization in Concord, New Hampshire, showing up to help, learning what it means to work alongside a community that is not your own.

That kind of day...

What Global Health Volunteers Learn From the World’s Nurses blog costa rica ecuador fimrc fimrc programs ghvp global health volunteer program maternal & child health medical professional medical student nursing peru primary care professional development public health summer international health fellowship travel travel nursing uganda volunteer volunteer experience May 15, 2026

712 women die every day from preventable pregnancy-related causes. Most of them never saw a doctor. Many of them saw a nurse — or saw no one at all.

In most health systems, nurses are the first point of contact — the ones who assess, triage, educate, comfort, and follow up. In low-resource communit...

The Simplest Tool in Global Health and Why Volunteers Still Have to Fight For It blog costa rica ecuador fimrc fimrc programs ghvp global health global health volunteer program medical professional medical student nursing peru primary care professional development public health travel uganda volunteer volunteer experience May 01, 2026

Soap and water. That's it.

Of all the interventions in public health, handwashing consistently ranks among the most effective at preventing infectious disease — respiratory illness, diarrhea, healthcare-associated infections, even maternal sepsis. It costs almost nothing. It requires no prescriptio...

World Water Day: What Global Health Fellows Learn in Peru and Uganda blog community stories fimrc global health global health volunteer program medical professional medical student peru primary care project bududa project huancayo sihf summer international health fellowship uganda volunteer Mar 20, 2026

Every March 22, the world observes World Water Day, a United Nations initiative to raise awareness about the global water crisis and accelerate action toward universal access to safe water and sanitation.

While often framed as an environmental issue, access to clean water is fundamentally a public ...

Child Health, Community Outreach, and Tuberculosis Prevention in Peru blog fimrc fimrc programs ghvp global health volunteer program maternal & child health medical professional medical student peru primary care project huancayo tb tuberculosis volunteer Feb 27, 2026

Every year on March 24, the world observes World Tuberculosis Day, led by the World Health Organization, to raise awareness about tuberculosis (TB) and accelerate efforts to eliminate this preventable and treatable disease.

In Peru, tuberculosis remains a persistent public health challenge – par...

Primary Care At Its Roots blog costa rica ecuador fimrc 15 years fimrc programs grassroots nicaragua peru primary care project alajuelita project anconcito project la merced volunteer Sep 06, 2017

Primary Care At Its Roots

GRASS·ROOTS (NOUN): THE ORIGIN OR BASIS OF SOMETHING; THE BASIC OR PRIMARY CONCEPT

SYNONYMS: CENTRAL, ESSENTIAL, INTEGRAL

Some say that September is the other January - the school year begins again, the leaves change, the weather cools,

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Primary Care At Its Roots

GRASS·ROOTS (NOUN): THE ORIGIN OR BASIS OF SOMETHING; THE BASIC OR PRIMARY CONCEPT

SYNONYMS: CENTRAL, ESSENTIAL, INTEGRAL

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