UMaine PWH Chapter

Hello, my name is Zoe Stankevitz, and I created this GoFundMe to support myself and my three peers in going to Senegal, Africa, for a two week medical mission trip through Partners for World Health. We are undergraduate students at the University of Maine with fields of study that include nursing, microbiology, biology, and biochemistry; we all have hopes of attending medical school or becoming RNs.

Partners for World Health (PWH) is a Maine-based non-profit organization that regularly goes on medical missions. Our UMaine chapter of the organization assists PWH’s efforts through the collection and sorting of thousands of pounds of medical supplies each year in the Bangor area. Our four students will be accompanying PWH’s trained medical professionals on their trip to Senegal, Africa, in May. This trip will provide local communities across Senegal with free primary care medical camps, maternal and infantile education, and medical supplies to provide a safe birthing education. These generous donations will support the four of us to travel to Senegal, pay for housing fees, and other expenses that come with international travel.

We are focusing on Senegal because large portions of the country have minimal money to fund hospitals, as well as the towns we will be working in are often located quite far from any hospitals. Our primary mission on this trip will be to assist with Project 10,000, a project started by PWH designed to reach 10,000 women. The goal is to provide these mothers with education on safe birthing practices along with a sterile birthing kit. These sterile birthing kits would preferably be given to a midwife and help facilitate a safe and sterile birthing environment. These birthing kits also relieve expenses and costs for these mothers who most likely cannot afford hospital expenses. A birthing kit includes everything needed for a safe birth (for mother and baby), including a baby blanket, a knit hat for the infant, sterile forceps, sterile bulb syringe, etc. This project will ultimately lower maternal and infant mortality rates in Senegal. We all feel honored and very fortunate for this opportunity and would greatly appreciate any donations!! Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Please feel free to reach out to Zoe Stankevitz for further information or questions regarding our project.