8:45 a.m., Feb. 1, 2011----On a week-long service trip abroad, Alex Albanese, a University of Delaware junior majoring in communication, joined a medical missions team that treated sick Hondurans.

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Through the Global Medical Brigades, an organization of students working towards a positive change in third world countries, Albanese diagnosed various diseases and illnesses under the advisement of certified doctors, dentists, and pharmacists.

In order to treat the Honduran patients with the medicine they need, Albanese and his group transported over 1,000 pounds of medication 1,500 miles south to Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital. Enhancing the lives of many, over 700 Hondurans were treated by Albanese and 25 other students in three days.

They received dental help, a consultation with a doctor, as well as medication from a certified pharmacist. Each brigade member paid for all transportation, medication, and trip expenses with the help of donations and fundraisers so that all health care was free of charge for the Hondurans.

Albanese, a student typically immersed in communication theory, said he took full advantage of his time in Honduras. He treated patients with real problems, utilizing the instructions of professional doctors around him. “Short of completing a certified program in health care, I will otherwise never again treat patients with impending physical problems,” he said. “It was great to act as a nurse in triage taking their weight, temperature, and blood pressure, which was my favorite.”

Although Albanese said he enjoyed nursing, he and his patients benefited the most from his Spanish language skills. “As a rusty Spanish speaker, I was nevertheless expected to diagnose the symptoms of frantic, fast-speaking Hondurans desperately in need of health care. Under pressure, my job was stressful because of the language barrier. But my Spanish speaking skills proved to be just what was needed to give aid and be of service to this needy population.”

Albanese said he learned so much Spanish that he now aspires to finish a minor in Spanish as well as study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country next fall.

“I'm so glad that I decided to participate in Global Brigades, because I not only joined a nation-wide movement to bolster a third world country, but gained a new found perspective upon the poverty that is real and happening in our world today,” he said.