Giving Back

Since 2017, Nested LLC has participated in multiple medical missions endearingly named Project Nido (Project Nest), with Partners of Andean Community Health (PACH). Project Nido provides free medical & dental care to the indigenous population of Ecuador. PACH’s mission is to foster sustainable health care systems and communities in Andean Ecuador by providing education, resources, and enduring solutions through supporting its Ecuadorian non-profit clinic, Fundacion Internacional Buen Samaritano Paul Martel (FIBUSPAM). PACH has ongoing medical mission trips that provide high-quality, affordable medical care to local communities that have little or no access to medical, dental, and vision services.

2024 Project NIDO

Join Nested on July 20-26, 2024 for Project Nido, its annual medical mission to Ecuador in partnership with Partners for Andean Community Health (PACH)!

PACH’s mission is to foster sustainable health care systems and communities in Andean Ecuador by providing education, resources, and enduring solutions through supporting its Ecuadorian non-profit clinic, Fundacion Internacional Buen Samaritano Paul Martel (FIBUSPAM).

Volunteers will participate alongside FIBUSPAM staff on mobil medical clinics for underserved indigenous communities in the Chimborazo Province. Volunteers play an important role in the medical caravans, while gaining a unique cross-cultural experience. Roles can include: prescribing (by medical provider) and distributing reading glasses, providing dental education to children, and supporting community projects. No medical experience nor Spanish language abilities is needed to volunteer. More information can be found on our 2024 Project Nido Flyer.

2024 Project Nido Fellows

Seva

Marketing Strategy Design Intern
Seva is a dedicated senior at Georgetown High School with a strong passion for art and a keen eye for creative content development. As a Marketing Strategy Design Intern, she brings her unique blend of artistic talent and strategic thinking to the team, crafting engaging materials for service-minded organizations.

An accomplished athlete, Seva competes on her school’s varsity tennis and track and field teams, demonstrating the same drive and discipline she applies to her work in marketing and design. She is also deeply interested in entrepreneurship and the role of human behavior and psychology in business strategy, always exploring new ways to connect these insights to effective marketing solutions.

In her free time, Seva enjoys hip-hop dancing, and spending time with her friends, infusing her vibrant energy into all her endeavors. With her diverse skills and a passion for making an impact, Seva is a dynamic addition to any team, ready to tackle challenges with creativity and strategic insight.

Serena

Serena is a junior at Yorktown High School. Serena assists with organizing supplies for our annual trip, writing grant and donation letters to help fund our efforts, and is part of the social media management team. When taking part in the trip each summer, she works with the children of the parents who are seeing doctors, and connects with teenage moms to help them to have a better lifestyle. She enjoys soccer, working with kids, and spending time with friends and family in her free time.

2023 Project NIDO

In July 2023, Nested embarked on its 5th annual medical mission to Ecuador, Project Nido! Watch a VIDEO about the 2023 trip here!

The Nested Project Nido team of more than 30 people was composed of individuals and families with teens, and included: physician assistants (PA), physical therapists (PT), doctors, registered nurses (RN), health educators and teens. The group traveled to Ecuador to participate in a medical caravan to support the staff of Hospital FIBUSPAM and to provide consultations, acute medical care and treatments to several dozen individuals in two indigenous Ecuadorian communities in rural areas around the hospital. Several patients also received referrals for further care and successfully scheduled follow-up appointments at Hospital FIBUSPAM.

The health educators from Nested worked with women in the communities to identify their greatest needs in the area of women’s health and provided them with education & products, including ways to alleviate symptoms and resolve issues surrounding prolapsed uteri, painful menstrual cycles, and menopause. The women were provided with free menstrual cups, pessaries, ice packs, and heating pads. The team also provided the patients with hand sanitizer, toiletry kits (soaps, lotions, deodorant), oral health care products (toothbrushes, toothpaste) and condoms as well as crayons & coloring books for the children.                                                                             

In addition to providing acute medical care and health education, the team also contributed to Project Prosperity, a new joint effort between PACH and Hospital FIBUSPAM to provide teenage mothers with income generating skills, health education, and medical care. 

 The Project Nido team provided each young woman with free general medical, pediatric, and gynecological care for themselves and their babies. Project Nido’s teen volunteers also reviewed computer literacy with the mothers and spent time exchanging stories. In addition, the group visited an in-patient home for elderly people and for people with disabilities where the team spent the day playing bingo and wheelchair basketball and other activities.

2022 Project NIDO

In July of 2022, Nested embarked on its 4th annual medical mission to Ecuador. The trip was a huge success as Nested supported the care of almost 300 Ecuadorians in need. In addition to focusing on providing healthcare to remote indigenous populations, this year’s mission trip was particularly special because Nested also dedicated a full day of service to cater to Venezuelan* refugees living in Ecuador. Since 2020, PACH and FIBUSPAM have been working diligently to provide free and low-cost healthcare options for Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador.

The Nested mission trip consisted of consultations and acute medical care and education with specialists such as dentists, gynecologists, chiropractors, ophthalmologists, physician assistants, and ENTs. They also received free medications upon prescription, exams, and even glasses when necessary. Several received recommended treatments for more severe ailments and many booked follow-up appointments. Health educators also worked with women to identify their greatest needs in the area of women’s health and provided them with the education and products they needed to help address some of the issues they were facing. This included working to find ways to alleviate symptoms and resolve issues such as prolapsed uteri, painful menstrual cycles, and menopause. The educators provided women with free menstrual cups, pessaries, ice packs, and heating pads.

In addition to providing acute medical care, the project connected the FIBUSPAM clinic and PACH with the Venezuelan community in Ecuador. From this project, Venezuelans in Chimborazo and throughout Ecuador know about the subsidized and low-cost services provided by FIBUSPAM year-round and that the care is free from discrimination and prejudice.

Project NIDO 2022 Statistics

• 87 lbs of donated supplies carried by our # team members
• 278 patients treated, ranging in age from 2-92
• 175 toothbrushes donated
• 100 pairs of eyeglasses distributed
• 250 sanitary pads, menstrual cups, heating pads & other medical assistant aid products

*Due to severe shortages of medicines, doctors, and healthcare facilities in Venezuela, migrants typically sustain significant periods of time without access to healthcare before, during, and after migration (Human Rights Watch, 2019). Almost 30% of Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador are unable to access healthcare (UNHCR, 2021). Ecuador struggles to provide enough resources for its population, containing only 1.4 hospital beds and 2.2 physicians per thousand people. The overwhelming pressure of such a large influx of migrants on Ecuador’s National Health System has made it harder to provide Venezuelans with the care they need.

2019 Project NIDO

In April 2019, Nidhi and the Nested team participated in the Project Nido medical mission trip where they helped provide health education and medical services to indigenous communities of Ecuador’s Chimborazo Province. Working in partnership with PACH Ecuador, Nested provided a combination of medical and dental services to over 600 children and adults in a three-day time period! Project Nido 2019 was a unique trip focused on women’s health, vision care and dental health education to address the underlying causes of many of the patients’ medical complaints.

2018 Project NIDO

In May 2018, Nidhi and the Nested team participated in the Project Nido medical mission trip where they helped provide health education and medical services to indigenous communities of Ecuador’s Chimborazo Province. Working in partnership with Trek Coalition and PACH, the Nested team provided high-quality medical care to 883 Ecuadorians in need during the five-day trip! Project Nido 2018 focused on public health issues that affect women & children, cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care, eye chart exams & dental health screening as well as education on various health topics, including dental hygiene, water consumption, education about female anatomy and family planning.

Nested Team at Project NIDO 2018 in Chimborazo Province, Ecuador

In 2017, Nidhi, with Nicole Hakenson, Grace Roman, Mario Fuentes and others, volunteered to help provide medical services to the west coast of Ecuador from the devastation caused by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2016.  The team traveled by bus with local PACH doctors, dentists and staff and found all the buildings leveled to the ground with significant flooding and infrastructure damage. Among 70 surrounding village communities, there was one free standing, stable building that had a generator capabilities and served as a church (see photo). Prior to our arrival, leaders of those villages traveled to their communities and spread the word our visit. When the team arrived at the building, they learned that hundreds of Ecuadorians had traveled by foot or horse to seek much needed medical care.

Project NIDO 2017 clinic in the only stable building left standing after the 2016 7.8 magnitude earthquake