Melissa's VIDA Volunteer Adventure!

This summer I'll be going with VIDA and a club from my school to Costa Rica and Nicaragua for two weeks! I'll be on the veterinary team, helping to provide free veterinary care to underserved communities! The trip costs me $2,050, as well as my airfare, which will be around $700. Please help me get to Central America and gain this invaluable experience that will help me in becoming a future veterinarian!

VIDA is an organization that sends pre-med, pre-dental, and pre-veterinary students to Central America to provide free medical, dental, and veterinary care to people in communities who would not regularly have the opportunity or the funds to receive this care. The particular trip I'm going on will be to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with a club I joined here at the University of Arizona. On our trip we'll be starting out in Costa Rica and making our way to Nicaragua, setting up clinics along the way to provide medical, dental, and veterinary care. Specifically, the medical team will be performing physicals, and giving general medical care to afflicted patients, as well as writing up prescriptions and educating people on the basics of hygiene, such as hand-washing. The dental team will be performing teeth cleanings and extractions and educating people on the importance of dental hygiene. The veterinary team will be providing immunizations as well as spay and neuter surgeries to patients.

This trip is an incredible opportunity for those going! We are able to dive into our prospective fields and gain experience we would not normally have the opportunity to without having a degree first! This trip also allows us to give back to underserved communities in Costa Rica and Nicaragua and changes their lives!