Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders, better known as MSF, is a club at San Diego State University (SDSU) that aims to fulfill the international organization’s main goals of delivering aid to those in need. The Friends of MSF club is full of opportunities to volunteer, generate funding for those in your community and offer any kind of assistance to those in need no matter race, religion, gender or political affiliations. 

The Friends of MSF club at SDSU is like an individual extension of the international medical organization called Médecins Sans Frontières. The organization itself provides medical relief to anyone affected by epidemics, armed conflicts, disasters or those excluded from healthcare. The vast majority of aid that comes from the Friends of MSF club is appointed to the homeless population in San Diego. 

Dani Moreno, a fourth-year student at SDSU and member of the community outreach committee in the club, shared why being a member of Friends of MSF is so rewarding. 

“I truly believe that equity, especially in terms of necessities and healthcare, is a topic that concerns all of us as a society,” Moreno said. “It is so special to see young college aged students put their studies and passions to such powerful usage.”

Meeting bi-weekly on Tuesdays in the Union from 7 to 8 p.m., the Friends of MSF club has around 30-40 active members. Any student of any age or major can join the club; it is not just exclusive to pre-med or public health majors. Sometimes there are more than the 30-40 active members present because students are permitted to attend the general meetings to get a feel of what the club is all about. 

The meetings begin with the executive board recapping what the Médecins Sans Frontières organization has been doing around the world. Throughout the meetings, they recap the past couple weeks since the last meeting, discuss service events and talk about anything else coming up. Every once in a while, there will be a guest speaker at the meetings too. Sometimes, members also play fun activities towards the end, like medical trivia and discuss medical ethics. 

Many of the service events that the club plans work with food banks and other organizations that help the homeless community. The last service event, planned by Elena Moorehead, took place in January and partnered with Streets of Hope in Downtown San Diego. At the Streets of Hope location in downtown, the members of Friends of MSF collaborated with the organization to assemble food bags. Once assembled, the members put food bags in wagons and broke off in groups to deliver them to people experiencing homelessness. Along with this service event, the members also assembled bags during one of their general meetings for the LA relief fires. 

Elena Moorehead, longtime member who holds a position on the events committee in the Friends of MSF club, talked about how much she enjoys planning these events and being a part of them.

“We provide so many options for service events,” Moorehead said. “We usually at least try to have one a week. My favorite part of these service events is that you can make a connection with so many people in your community regardless of age, race, gender or culture.”

Along with weekly opportunities to give back to your community, the club has the amazing chance to help on a much larger scale that arises every spring break for members of the club.

On March 29, around 15 of the club’s members flew to Costa Rica for this year’s service learning trip. Friends of MSF is able to do this trip every year during spring break because a federal grant fully funds every member’s transportation cost to the location. Last year, the club traveled to Peru, but this upcoming trip is to Costa Rica. The selected members flew into the capital of Costa Rica and stayed with local families for one week while commuting to provide medical aid to a rural community there. The medical aid consisted of the standard physical and even some dental work. 

Joining the Friends of MSF club at SDSU is an amazing opportunity to get involved with your community and meet new people, all while making a meaningful impact on the world around you.