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Alex Olivero

AO

Global Brigades Campus Chairperson 2025-2026

Hi! My name is Alex Olivero, and I’m from Hurricane, West Virginia. I’m a junior majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Public Health.

I first heard about Brigades from a flier in Honor’s Hall, and I initially dismissed it because I thought it seemed like proformative voluntourism for wealthy students. However, a friend of mine who knew more about Brigades encouraged me to look into the organization more and to consider applying. So, I did some digging and learned about Brigades’ holistic model, which sets it apart from most international volunteering experiences. After further research into GMDB and the chapter here at WVU, I was inspired by how community focused and genuinely good everything seemed. I realized this organization offered me an opportunity to contribute to sustainable change in extremely poor and rural communities without reinforcing colonial or white savior ideas. I am glad to say I’ve been on two brigades now wherein we have worked with local communities and care providers to facilitate medical and dental clinics. In these last two brigades we have also worked on public health projects such as building sanitation stations (Honduras, 2024) and replacing water lines contaminated with dirt (Panama, 2025). This aspect of the brigade helps empower and support the community long after we leave by giving them access to basic hygiene infrastructure and clean water. However, brigaders should not just expect to strengthen communities, they should expect to strengthen themselves. Through the class taught by Professor Brewster, experiences in country, and our nightly reflections on brigade, you will get a new perspective on global health and medicine, social and economic determinants of health, and the role of sociology in medicine. As a part of this organization, I have also forged many new friendships which have sustained me in my college career. Even if you are not very outspoken (like me), the amount of engagement that is expected from brigaders, from small group meetings to volunteering at Pantry Plus, almost guarantees you will make new friends. It is because of brigades that I know many of the people I now call friends, and because of brigades that I added the Public Health minor. If you are looking for a study abroad like no other I would highly encourage you to look into the Global Brigades main page and consider applying to WVU GMDB. If you have any questions you would like to ask me directly feel free to reach out!

Let’s go Mountaineers!