SDSU Receives $589,000 from the Bixby Foundation
to Provide Family Planning for Baja California Colonia

SDSU students to provide public health services as part of the Viidai Project

Contact:
Gina Speciale
Media Relations Specialist
San Diego State University
speciale@mail.sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO (Wednesday, April 16, 2008) — San Diego State University’s Graduate School of Public Health has received $589,000 from the Fred H. Bixby Foundation to support SDSU’s VIIDAI Project which works with indigenous Mexico colonias and migrant camps to provide public health services. 

The donation will support outreach activities and operational expenses over the next five years to improve family planning services and reproductive healthcare for the indigenous community in Colonia de San Ramon, Baja Mexico. 

SDSU public health students survey young mothers in the Baja colonia.

An original smaller donation from the Bixby Foundation allowed VIIDAI (Viajes Interinstitucional de Integracion Docente) to conduct an assessment of the community which revealed an incredible need.  Teen pregnancies run rampant in the community of about 4,000 people, with one third of the women having their first child by the age of 16.

“These people reached out to us and said that they wanted to do something about the problems facing their community, in particular helping the young women understand the importance of family planning,” said Stephanie Brodine, head of the epidemiology and biostatistic division of SDSU’s Graduate School of Public Health. “Thanks to the colonia’s forward-thinking leaders and the generosity of the Bixby Foundation we are able to help for the long-term.”

On April 18, approximately 175 SDSU students, faculty, staff and other participants from the Universidad de Baja California (UABC) Tijuana, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and San Diego area and Ensenada Rotary clubs, will participate in the semi-annual trip to the Baja colonia. 

With a home base established at a local elementary school, participants will spend four days providing clinical, psychological, dental services and nutritional counseling to the community, in addition to teaching fifth and sixth graders, as well as the young mothers, about family planning. 

“It is critical that we work with those at this young age since on average these women are having children in their early teenage years,” Brodine said.

Fifth and sixth grade students are trained as peer counselors during a recent VIIDAI visit.

The family planning initiative, dubbed the Bixby program, trains fifth and sixth grade students as peer educators, as well as the school principal and teachers, to continue the program throughout the rest of the year. 

During the biannual visits, SDSU participants go door-to-door meeting young mothers and teaching them why family planning is so important.  The community they work with has a high average family size, with most having between 5 and 12 children.  UABC faculty and VIIDAI co-director Dr. Miguel Fraga make additional trips to the colonia on a monthly basis in order to evaluate the progress between VIIDAI visits.

The VIIDAI Project was initiated 10 years ago by SDSU’s Graduate School of Public Health, started out with just 30 participants and has grown to send more than 175 each trip.  As of fall 2007, more than 500 medical and graduate students and faculty have participated in the VIIDAI Bixby program. 
                         
For public health students, the program is giving them invaluable field experience. 

“Our students are able to work across disciplines with other cultures helping solve problems that are critical to public health,” Brodine said.  “They also learn how to do rapid assessments of communities which will be an incredibly useful tool in their careers, including in the post-disaster setting.”

Other public health issues addressed on the trips include lack of access to safe drinking water and screening for parasites.   Another major public health initiative underway addresses poor nutrition and anemia. With the support of Rotary, a new school kitchen is being built and a new lunch program initiated.

San Diego State University is the oldest and largest higher education institution in the San Diego region. Since it was founded in 1897, the university has grown to offer bachelor’s degrees in 81 areas, master’s degrees in 74 areas and doctorates in 16 areas. SDSU’s approximately 34,000 students participate in an academic curriculum distinguished by direct contact with faculty and an increasing international emphasis that prepares them for a global future. For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu.

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