Domestic Partnerships: The Key or Not To Be?

By Laura Edison  

With the expansion of the GlobeMed network to 33 chapters comes the opportunity to form 14 new partnerships between students and health organizations. One thought has surfaced during this process: since we want to help people living in poverty no matter where they live, why don’t we partner chapters with health organizations in the United States? Unquestionably, health disparities exist in our own country just as they do in Uganda, Guatemala, and Nepal, and, in the words of Executive Director Jon Shaffer, “as an organization working to lessen these disparities, we have a responsibility to engage in these issues whether they are in our backyard or in a distant country.” That being said, GlobeMed is happy to announce that it is now searching for potential domestic partnerships, and has now found one promising organization.

GlobeMed has actually been working domestically since its modern inception in 2007, and the work has demonstrated strong advantages. The University of Michigan chapter is currently the only one with a domestic partner; in fact, they partnered with Joy-Southfield, a community education and health clinic in Detroit, in the days before GlobeMed as we know it was formed. Their partnership with Tiyatien Health in Liberia came later. They now maintain a dual partnership in which they raise funds and plan GROW trips for Tiyatien while volunteering time and manpower to Joy-Southfield. Ashley Hagaman, outgoing Chapter Advisor and former UMich Chapter Co-President, says of their partnership with Joy-Southfield, “to be connected to a community that is so close to home is really important to our chapter. Learning just how much disparity and cruel poverty there is in the States puts things like structural violence, institutional oppression, and racism right in front of your eyes – it’s something that really hits you square in the face.”

In addition to emphasizing the reality of the issues, a domestic partner may also help to generate more support for our cause. The Loyola University chapter, for example, was recently rejected by potential corporate donor because of GlobeMed's lack of local involvment. The business owner wrote in a response email, “You state your cause champions local awareness, but you're building a clinic in Guatemala.  Surely you know there are so very many needy and deserving people within our own borders that should be the focus of our generosity” Although this potential donor may have been inadequately informed about the campus education proponent of GlobeMed, his response does bring up some important issues. We are striving to build a worldwide community, and such a community needs to include those far away from us as well as those near to us. Seeing health disparities first-hand in the United States may help us better understand and empathize with international causes, thus making domestic partnerships a key catalyst in furthering the involvement and passion of everyone involved. Moreover, domestic partnerships will further GlobeMed’s efforts to shift the current paradigm on global health equity: global means local, too—solidarity includes our neighbors.

Well then, why doesn’t every chapter have a domestic partner as well as an international partner? The answer to this is simple: it’s difficult. Each chapter already has a partner organization abroad, and for each to have both a domestic and an international partner would likely be highly problematic, at least at this stage in our development. Incoming UMich Co-President Amy Yang as well as former Co-President Katie Schmidt both agree that it's difficult to give each organization the time and resources they both deserve when the chapter’s efforts are split down the middle. At least until our chapters develop the capacity and resources to support two, perhaps we should stick to having most chapters’ primary (and only) partner be in the United States.

A potential problem with a domestic—as opposed to international—partnership, however, may be that the United States already has so many “charitable” bureaucratic forces at work that it's difficult to find a place for student volunteers to fit in and be listened to. It may be a little more difficult to find a domestic organization that we would want to partner with—one that fully understands and aligns with GlobeMed’s purpose, model, and movement. The University of Michigan chapter, fortunately, found one such organization in Joy-Southfield. If we can find more, we definitely have a responsibility--in following our mission statement--to form domestic partnerships in order to help those around us.

We are excited to see what our expanding network will do.  

**Picture: University of Michigan chapter Co-Campaign Coordinator Jae Kwak helps at the check-in desk at Joy-Southfield's community health fair in May 2010.