Alongside International is a Christian humanitarian organization presently focused on reaching people who have been negatively impacted by HIV/AIDS, especially widows and orphans.

Alongside will be organizing a trip of 25 medical professionals for an outreach trip to Nigeria in August 2006 to enhance the level of health among 8 communities. They will concentrate on four areas:

1. Providing medical care to no less than 2562 patients. The Alongside International team will be carrying Physician Travel Packs to personally deliver medical aid. These packs are purchased from Health Partners International at a cost of $540 each and contain an average of $5,500 (wholesale value) of medicines, vaccines, medical supplies and devices.
2. Educating the communities in the area of nutrition, maternal care, hygiene and sanitation and educating youth about how to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS while they are still virus-free.
3. Empowering the communities to apply the knowledge to carry out their own basic medical care.
4. Establishing sources of clean community water by drilling at least 2 water wells during this mission.

Alongside leverages each donation. All funds are directed towards the project itself, nothing goes toward administration. It costs $3,500 to send one medical professional to Nigeria for 2 weeks. This covers the cost of the flight, food and ground transportation. Participants are completely responsible for raising their own funds to make the trip. Medical supplies are only as useful as the person able to use them, hence the importance of sending the medical team.

Stephanie Garon & Jason Peetsma