Halloween event will support medical aid to children

The Student Alliance for Global Health (SAGH) is in the Halloween spirit and at its open house/fundraiser on Halloween, members will offer something special for adults and children who stop by between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. this Friday.

Emeritus Professor Robert Binhammer, Ph.D., will read ghost stories at the event.

Tarot card readings, astrology birth charts, face painting, henna tattoos and ghost stories read by Emeritus Professor Robert Binhammer, Ph.D., are among the activities. SAGH is asking for a $5 donation. The event will be in the lower Storz Pavillion in Clarkson Tower on campus.

Funds raised will go toward the 2014-15 selected charity, Movimiento Sonrisa.

The organization provides funds for medical procedures and care for high-needs children and well as emotional support for the patients and family members in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Medical students who traveled to Bolivia last summer will have a table where they will be talking about their experiences of working with the charity. A portion of the proceeds will also go toward funding the spring break medical service trips.

“Halloween is such a loved holiday, because for one day of the year, everyone has the opportunity to unleash their creativity (costumes), and concurrently visit the idea of the supernatural,” said Constance Mietus, a UNMC College of Medicine student and member of SAGH. “It’s a day when we can ‘comfortably’ think about death, and for many it’s also a time when we can visit our feelings about the afterlife- particularly thinking of our loved ones who have passed.”

Mietus said she and her colleagues were drawn to the idea of Halloween because it is a theme that occurs in several cultures.

“We’ve all heard about Dia de Los Muertos, or how the Japanese light lanterns to float down the river to guide their ancestors home,” Mietus said. “With these considerations in mind, I came up with the idea of having a Halloween Open House to showcase some of the light hearted traditions that cultures use to approach such heavy concepts.”

The Student Alliance for Global Health promotes local awareness of cultural and linguistic health issues, provides more sensitive health services within Nebraska, educates and informs students from all UNMC graduate programs about global health issues, and promotes and facilitates placement of students on international rotations and exchanges.