A Match Made in … VCU

By Eric Peters

VCU graduates Mohamed Ibrahim and Richard Hubbard first met briefly three years ago. Neither can remember much about the first time their paths crossed, but doctors in Bangladesh won’t soon forget how the two men have powerfully impacted medical care in that country. 

When they first met, Ibrahim was a sophomore studying biology in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences and Hubbard was a second-year VCU School of Medicine student. While they had their VCU experience in common, neither at the time realized how dedicated the other was to improving human health around the world.

Perhaps the timing wasn’t quite right for them to make that important connection.

In the time since that meeting, Ibrahim and Hubbard have accomplished astonishing things separately to improve health around the world.

Hubbard established the Basic Needs Program, an orphanage and primary school in Bangladesh, which became a federally recognized charity in December, and Ibrahim co-founded the VCU chapter of United2Heal, which so far is responsible for sending an estimated $1.4 million worth of medical supplies to countries around the world including Syria and Egypt.

It was only a matter of time before the paths of these two influential VCU students would cross again.

In March, well before anyone could have foreseen an April factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,000 people and injured thousands more, Ibrahim sat among a room full of students and listened to a speech Hubbard was giving. Hubbard shared a story about a young boy he knew in Bangladesh who had recently died because his doctors didn’t have access to the most basic medical supplies needed to treat asthma.

“Richard was sharing awful stories of things that should never happen and I thought this was perfect timing,” said Ibrahim.

What quickly followed was a second meeting between the two young men, but this time – thanks to work completed in the interim – each was armed with a cache of invaluable resources, and they finally made their connection.

Ibrahim had a storage room full of United2Heal medical supplies and Hubbard a list of hospitals in dire need of those supplies.

Ibrahim’s core United2Heal team was instrumental not only in filling the storage room with supplies, but in organizing an April 12 fundraiser to finance their next big shipment.

Comedians, dancers, the VCU Men’s Basketball Team, the Bangladeshi Student Organization and The Global Art Initiative (a branch of United2Heal), which supplied items created by Bangladeshi artists, all helped make the fundraiser a success.

The result of combining all these resources is a United2Heal at VCU shipment scheduled for this month that will deliver medical supplies estimated at more than $500,000 to Bangladesh, a country that was already in need before April’s factory collapse.

Hubbard’s experience in Bangladesh was instrumental in planning the shipment.

“Factors we consider when shipping medical supplies include practicality and connections,” said Ibrahim. “Richard was a key factor; he already worked with hospitals in Bangladesh and connected us with three that served the poor.”

Those three all happened to be in Dhaka, the city where the factory collapsed.

“When [the factory collapse] happened, it was another moment where things aligned perfectly for us to help,” said Ibrahim. “It allowed for our shipment to be on the front lines.”

“It’s all about who you know in Bangladesh,” said Hubbard, who made most of his hospital connections in 2007 while completing undergraduate medical research. “You have to learn who is trustworthy and who is not.”

Connections like these help United2Heal at VCU ensure the supplies they ship are used properly.

Hubbard said while some health care providers are located closer to his primary school in Bangladesh than are the hospitals he chose to receive the supplies, he ultimately made his decision based on organizations he trusted the most.

“Sometimes the poorest people are treated by the most dishonest people,” he said.

United2Heal at VCU wants to ensure their high-quality supplies are used properly.

Ibrahim said 90 to 95 percent of the materials United2Heal at VCU ships are sealed and unexpired while the rest are expired by U.S. standards but are still safe, sanitary and functional.

United2Heal at VCU gets materials from a handful of health care facilities and suppliers in the Richmond area, sometimes offsetting up to $1,500 per week in hospital disposal and storage costs said Ibrahim.

This summer’s shipment will include items such as bandages that prevent bed sores, which can lead to serious infections; 75,000 masks that prevent the spread of tuberculosis; and sterile urinary catheters that can prevent urinary tract infections.

“Some of this seems small, like clean needles, but it is not necessarily a given that these hospitals have these supplies,” said Hubbard.

He tells the story of how street vendors sell medical supplies in Bangladesh.

“The hospitals don’t stock many supplies, so they give patients a list to go out and buy things like sutures and bandages,” he explained. “In emergency situations though, if even a certain test tube is needed and they don’t have one, you die …. test tubes are included in this shipment.”

It is this urgency in global health that has motivated Ibrahim, Hubbard and those involved in their organizations to accomplish what they have, and it is what will continue to push them as they move forward.

Ibrahim will begin his first year at the VCU School of Medicine this fall and Hubbard has been accepted to a residency program in anesthesia at the University of Pittsburgh.

Before they knew the country’s health care struggle was about to be compounded by an unspeakable tragedy, strife in Bangladesh brought Ibrahim and Hubbard back together, each more willing, capable and equipped than before.

This time has proven to be far more beneficial than if they began their collaboration upon that first meeting.

“Each of us was doing amazing life-saving things and it all came together,” said Ibrahim. “He needed supplies and we needed a place to send supplies.”

One might say the timing was just right.