Timmy raises funds for wellness

Give a man a vitamin and you treat him for a day. Teach him how to eat well, and he is fit for a lifetime.

According to its website, Timmy Global Health is an Indianapolis-based, non-profit organization that works to empower student and medical volunteers to participate directly in global development, promote sustainability and tackle international health challenges.

Every spring break, students from the IU chapter travel to Guatemala, where they partner with Association Pop Wuj to set up clinics and provide health care for impoverished communities nationwide.

“Our goal is to be able to leave the area and have the clinic that we started there support itself,” said junior Sonya Jayaratna, the fundraising co-chair for the chapter.

“They don’t have to rely on an outside source to keep healthy.”

Once every semester, a fundraising concert collects proceeds toward the maintenance of Guatemalan clinics and local doctors’ wages.  

“That’s the idea of sustainability,” Jayaratna said. Local bands Busman’s Holiday and the Calumet Reel played Thursday night at The Bishop as part of fall 2011’s benefit concert.

David James, guitarist and lead singer of the Calumet Reel, said, “It was a good cause, and we’re happy to play.”