Library, Tools, & Resources

Free Medical and Healthcare Guides

Hesperian Digital Commons

Here is a mini-library for healthcare providers/educators to download these files and make digital copies in order to share in-country via flash drive where internet connectivity is poor. They are parsed by chapter, in case you need only certain topical areas.

These free online resources are used by over 20,000 people every day. Help our colleagues at Hesperian continue to provide this essential information to communities in need by giving a gift to Hesperian, or buying directly from them.

Hesperian Health Guides publishes 20 titles, spanning women’s health, children, disabilities, dentistry, health education, HIV, and environmental health. From this page, you can buy, download, or read health materials in English.

Books available:

A Book for Midwives
A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities
A Workers Guide to Health and Safety
Community Guide to Environmental Health
Global Health Watch
Helping Children Who Are Deaf
Helping Children Who Are Blind
HIV, Health and Your Community
Where There Is No Dentist
Where There Is No Doctor
Where Women Have No Doctor
Women's Health Exchange

Hesperian HealthWiki
Use Hesperian’s trusted health information to find answers to your health questions. The HealthWiki is searchable and easy to use to create your own materials.

Resources By Language
Our partners have translated Hesperian health guides into over 80 languages. Choose a language from their list to learn how to get books and materials in that language.

APA’s Division 52 International Research Database Resource

The American Psychological Association's Division 52 (International Psychology) Student Committee has compiled “International Research Databases,” which involved collecting the names of various online research databases located in different countries across the globe. The goal is to highlight the utility of using these databases when designing and conducting research studies, rather than solely relying on databases in the U.S. This direct link to a Google Form (https://bit.ly/3ppwfdA) allows anyone to edit. If you know of databases that are not included in this resource, please feel free to add the information. Special thanks to Rawan Atari-Khan, Chair, Amy Sisson, Co-Chair, and Daniel Balva, Co-Chair, Task Force on International Research Database and Student Chair, Division 52.

Reading Collections and Peer Reviewed Literature

The New Humanitarians
Inspiration, Innovations, and Blueprints for Visionaries

[Three Volumes] by Chris E. Stout, PsyD
Foreword by Mehmet Oz, MD

Volume 1, Changing Global Health Inequities
Volume 2, Changing Education and Relief
Volume 3, Changing Sustainable Development and Social Justice

Welcome to a trip around the world. You will travel to six continents, led by men and women of various ages and backgrounds. Be warned, you may go to some fairly desperate places, but they all have a seed of hope. You will not be traveling as a tourist, but rather as an activist with more than three dozen organizations. Each chapter is a story, a story of need, response, and accomplishment. They are all different, but yet the same as being an inspirational account demonstrating the power of individual triumphant over the challenges of poverty, illness, conflict, or a litany of injustices. My friend, Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, said of the project that it is a counter to the pervasive "pornography of the trivial" that infects much of what is in print these days. I suspect he is correct. Herein you will learn about individuals who have created organizations that:

Break up human trafficking rings and teach citizens how to intervene in other injustices,
Go to conflict areas and put themselves at risk to end the conflict,
Help ensure just elections,
Go to active war zones to administer emergency medical care,
Provide training and loans in order to empower people out of poverty,
Create a new language to help in developing education and job training programs,
Create an ingenious for-profit organization that supports the non-profit work,
Solve a problem of medical supply shortages in the developing world while also alleviating medical waste problems,

Work to stop nuclear war and curb the development of weapons of mass destruction,
Exporting social services training into self-sustaining programs,
Create project-based trainings in order to increase capacity for global projects,
Treat immigrant and refugee survivors of torture in a culturally competent manner that is encompassing and wholistic,
Help boys conscripted into being child soldiers adapt to a normal life,
Create the first non-profit pharmaceutical company to help in the battle of neglected diseases,
Advance education for girls where it is almost unheard of,
Integrate urban environmental design with democracy, civic participation, and social justice,
Bring the philosophy of "it takes a village to raise a child" to formative elementary school years by, blending cultural heritage and inspiring students with the help of parents, teachers, and young adults,
Connect experts from a range of fields to work together on problems such as curing and preventing infectious and epidemic diseases, analyzing the risks of science and technology breakthroughs, and designing enforceable global health and environmental policies, and many more...

Learn more about Dr. Stout's other books at
Amazon's Author Central

Why Global Health Matters, according to Nobel Laureate, Jody Williams

In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines’ goal for an international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines was achieved. Today 162 nations are part of the treaty and it is considered to be one of the most effective disarmament treaties in the world. Its provisions have resulted in more than three dozen countries being completely cleared of landmines. More than 58 million mines have been destroyed in stockpiles. This has resulted in new victims dropping from 20,000 to 4,000 a year. Of course, that’s still 4,000 too many, but this is a success story nonetheless.

In many ways the success of the mine ban movement must be measured beyond the Mine Ban Treaty itself and the changes it has brought about. Our movement demonstrated that when ordinary people come together in common cause, we can create extraordinary change. When we work together with like-minded governments and international institutions, we can help to make the world a better place for everyone and contribute to world peace.

This book is an example of one such collaboration. The contributing authors, from around the world and representing many different professions, have pooled their knowledge about global health issues to share with others. Here they address mental health, poverty, HIV/AIDS, dementia, and PTSD. They tackle tough questions about how to act for change; how to start an NGO; how to establish and build curriculums to deal with aspects of these issues; and how to make continual, sustainable, global improvement.

Issues pertaining to global health are not just medical in nature. Global health is a vast topic, full of interrelated crises. It is affected by disasters of disease, of nature, and of war, and problems are further aggravated by lack or misuse of resources. Healthcare professionals are needed, but so are financial analysts, engineers, political scientists, agriculturists, volunteer coordinators, and so many others. In other words, regardless of your field of expertise, you too can make a difference.

It is my hope, and that of the authors and editors involved, that this book will inspire new projects and improve existing ones as people reading it are motivated to identify problems and work together to solve them.

What Others are Saying
The world is increasingly facing natural and man-made humanitarian disasters that negatively impact the health and well-being of the world's most vulnerable populations. In this current political and environmental climate, it is even more essential to reengage and act in a responsible, sustainable, feasible, and effective manner to "make the world a better place." Chris Stout has compiled an incredible cadre of humanitarian activists, scholars, and scientists from a wide range of academic spheres to share insights on why global health matters and lessons learned from the field. These diverse global health practitioners help shed light on the complexities, scope, and interrelated nature of this work, with an emphasis on understanding the importance of mental health in overall well-being. This book will no doubt serve to inspire a new generation to embrace this meaningful calling, as well as encourage and inform those of us making our way in this essential and complex field of study.

– Valerie Dobiesz, MD, MPH, FACE
Director of External Programs: STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard Medical School

Learn more here. Be sure to buy your copy today on Amazon in paperback or Kindle or PDF-on-demand. All purchases fund the work of the Center. Thank you.

The “Living a Life in Full” podcast is the conversation you always wanted to have with that person who gave an amazing TED talk, or the author of one your favorite books, or that inspirational Olympian you always wanted to know more about.

This show is for the intellectually curious. You want to not just know more about the interesting and the innovative, but also what makes them tick, and maybe even what makes them laugh. It’s graduate-level conversations with those making a difference in the world and the lives of others.

This show brings you new ideas and approaches so you can live a life in full.

The show is equal parts information and inspiration, but without the aphorisms and pablum. We cover a wide range of topics in an engaging way—from Burning Man to The Renaissance Weekend, from the United Nations to top universities, Nobel Laureates to astronauts—we have an amazing Rolodex.

Interviewees are a who’s who of high performance athletes, bestselling authors, high-caliber leaders, world changing humanitarians, innovative researchers, amazing start-up founders, clever life-hackers, paradigm busting thought-leaders and global innovators.

Listen on your favorite platform and get the show notes at http://www.alifeinfull.org/podcast.html and be sure to signup for our Free Monthly podcast subscription: https://tinyurl.com/ALifeInFullSubscription.

Fund-raising and Internet Tools

Part of CGI's mission is to empower others. Two critically important areas are fundraising and web tools. If you click on this link you will see an Excel table we created that provides an up-to-date listing of many such sites, BUT it also explains what they do, informs you how much they charge for transaction fees, gives you my opinion as to what my experience has been with them, and other helpful notes and pieces of advice that I think you will find to be a helpful timesaver.

Helpful Travel-related Sites:
Travel Carbon Neutral
Luggage Requirements
State Department Warnings
World Weather
Customs Service
Travel Documents
FAA - Travel Advisory
Currency Converter
International Travel Health

If you are volunteering on a CGI project or other humanitarian project you may qualify for discounted roundtrip airfare. Airlines select routes around the world that are common for humanitarian travelers and discount them based upon season and availability. Some routes do not have discounted fares. Also, there are no discounted rates on domestic travel. In these cases, Fly for Good searches for the lowest published fare they can find so you can still get a great price on your airfare with the backing of the Fly for Good service team.

Benefits of Humanitarian Tickets Beyond the Fares

Besides being able to offer discounts on our humanitarian contracts, airlines also provide additional benefits. Benefits included, but are not limited to:

Changes to airline tickets with reduced fees often 50-75% lower than regular tickets
Refundable fares with reduces penalties often 50-75% lower than regular tickets.
Free stopovers to cities while traveling internationally.
Add additional piece of luggage beyond the normal 2 piece rule.

Tools for Change
Our Monthly LinkedIn Newsletter to Help You and Your Work

Don't miss the newest edition of our free, monthly LinkedIn Newsletter, Tools for Change, a convenient digest and curated collection of verified news and studies related to Global Health and Humanitarian Intervention. I hope you find it of use.
Please subscribe here.