Written by Rosali Vela and translated by Ebony Bailey

Throughout these eight years in which MEDLIFE has worked with low-income communities in Latin America, we have always thought that the volunteers should be recognized for their hard work during the volunteer trip. With that in mind, we have dedicated ourselves to improving the conditions for our volunteers, starting with giving each participant a variety of materials that will help them after their experience in Latin America or Africa.

We know that a volunteer trip with MEDLIFE is more than simply a touristic trip. A trip with MEDLIFE is an experience that involves bringing help to communities that normally don’t receive it; it is visibly improving the lives of hundreds of people in need by bringing medicine, education and development to them. Because of this, every volunteer will receive a participation certificate that recognizes his or her work and service during his or her trip.

These participation certificates can be used on personal resumes, CVs or any other purpose that the student requires.

Apart from this, the volunteer trip folders contain materials such as brochures on how to stay involved with MEDLIFE, postcards, participation and destination stickers, among other materials.

50:50 campaign participants who raise more than $100 for the MEDLIFE fund ($200 overall) will receive an honorable mention, granting them a scrub and a special certificate that highlights the amount they raised for the organization. The 50:50 campaign rewards will vary based on the amount fundraised. Volunteers who raise more than $175 for MEDLIFE ($350 overall) will also be issued a special certificate and will receive an official hoodie that includes the MEDLIFE logo and a 50:50 reference logo. For more information the 50:50 campaign, click here.

For all of the volunteers that come from universities where there is not yet a MEDLIFE chapter, we will give you an expansion folder. Essentially, it is the same folder that all of the volunteers receive. But it also contains instructions on how to start a new chapter, along with posters and a MEDLIFE banner to help you get the word out about your MEDLIFE chapter on campus. We are very happy to meet new students who have the passion and drive to start chapters in their universities.

These improvements are being applied little by little to the volunteer trips, and we are happy to have the opportunities to recognize all of our volunteers for taking action and involving themselves in changing the world.