College students lead conversion of containers to health clinics

Four mobile medical clinics now serving patients in remote, impoverished areas in four different nations were built in fall 2016 by a small army of more than 1,500 Texas A&M student and community volunteers led by a command team that included 24 students from the College of Architecture.

The project was undertaken by [BUILD] (https://www.buildtamu.com/) , a campus service organization that created the clinics from 40’ shipping containers at a site adjacent to the General Services Complex on Agronomy Road.

Built with funds and materials donated by individuals, area businesses and civic groups, the repurposed structures are the latest of a total of 12 container-to-clinic [conversions] (http://one.arch.tamu.edu/news/2015/11/12/creating-health-shipping/) BUILD volunteers have performed since 2014.

The clinics are stocked with medical supplies and shipped by BUILD partner organizations to Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and additional third-world nations, where they serve thousands of patients each year.

The Texas House of Representatives recognized BUILD's efforts with a resolution read on the house floor May 3, 2017 by Rep. John Raney '69.

BUILD students, who hail from almost all of Texas A&M’s colleges, are planning to convert four more containers in fall 2017.

Richard Nira
rnira@arch.tamu.edu