Volunteers

Dr. Karen Spizer — Oakland, CA

Dr. Karen Spizer is an internal medicine doctor at Kaiser Walnut Creek. She is interested in women's health, and trained with PINCC to perform VIA and cryotherapy so she could volunteer with our teams. She has gone to Central America in 2009, and will accompany us to Kenya and Uganda in August 2010.

Dr. Erin Cox — Oakland, CA

Mariam Nabaale — Uganda

Mariam Nabaale is the Matron in Charge at Kayunga Hospital, Uganda. She squeezes out time to train in cervical screening and treatment during PINCC’s visits, and marshals her nurse-midwives’ schedules to include training as well. “There are so many women who come here too late, with invasive cancer. We must learn the way to stop this terrible disease”, she told us. In Uganda’s main hospital in Kampala, 70% of women’s deaths are from cervical cancer. Mariam hopes her daughter’s generation will not have to watch their mothers and grandmothers die of this preventable disease.

Amelia Coplan — Oakland, CA

Amelia Coplan was the first volunteer to accompany the PINCC founders on a mission.  She had just graduated college in November 2005, when the 3 intrepid adventurers headed for the Mosqito Coast of Honduras, working in La Ceiba, Limon and Ciriboya. Her inventiveness and unflappable spirit made her a favorite of the other medical teams we traveled with.  After the campaign, she became PINCC's ambassador to Nicaragua, helping to start our program there.  Amelia is now enrolled in nursing school.