Global Initiative for Village Empowerment (GIVE) is a youth-run organization started in 2006 that aims to relieve poverty and the plight of HIV/AIDS in the rural community of Kanyawegi, Kenya. GIVE addresses these issues through four areas of focus: Nutrition and food security, economic development, education, and health. With respect to health, over past two years teams of primarily medical students have gone and implemented projects that emphasize and address the determinants of health linked to poverty. Projects thus far, have involved providing running water to the medical clinic, training community health workers, advocating for sufficient drug supplies, and supporting an HIV anti-retroviral dispensary. While these projects are not clinical-based, they do give students the opportunity to see another side of health care delivery. Projects are fueled by advocacy and entail a great deal of cooperation between the community, the local health care staff, and various Kenyan government bodies.
To learn more about GIVE, visit their website at http://www.givesociety.org/home