J.P. Prodoehl’s journey to founding Han Go International, one of the newest nonprofit organizations at USC, has in no way been a straight path. It began on a medical mission trip to Spanish Town, Jamaica his freshman year.
While his group was taking a tour of the free medical clinic in the area, the fourth-year biological sciences student was inspired to make a difference.
“Those nurses, physicians, the people that ran the clinic, they donated their time ... their whole livelihood. They’re not getting paid that much and their whole point, they see it as their mission to help out the people in their community,” said Prodoehl.
Then, as a self-described shy freshman, he worked up the courage to approach the head of the clinic and ask for her contact information. She gave it to him and he knew that he would start a donation drive to help the clinic to stay afloat.
When Prodoehl got back to America, life took over and he forgot about his plan until one day when he stumbled upon this contact information as a third-year student. This moved him to finally make good on his promise.
Prodoehl started small. He reached out to the clinic, found out what medical supplies they needed, then began what turned into an incredibly successful donation drive last year. In its first philanthropy event, Han Go collected over $2000 worth of medical and dental supplies.
Motivated by his initial success, Prodoehl wanted more. He knew the best way to help people and clinics in need was to create a nonprofit organization. In this way, he could build a stable and more sustained effort to assist in one of Han Go’s core values: That everyone should have access to basic healthcare.
Many places across the world and the United States lack essential resources such as toothbrushes, medications, antibiotics and many other fundamental medical supplies that most Americans take for granted. Han Go is attempting to alleviate this issue.
The name Han Go comes from the Jamaican proverb "han go, paki come" — when you extend a helping hand, good things come back to you. Prodoehl decided on this name to keep the foundations tied to its roots, the medical clinic in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
It is their goal to have one donation effort abroad each semester and as well as donations to the free medical clinic in Columbia. Over winter break, Han Go will be sending a large donation of medical supplies to Colombia with a group of USC students going there on a medical mission trip.
Prodoehl attributes Han Go’s early success to the board members, fellow USC students Ryan Anderson, Celine Peksenar, Aaron Fox, Anna Cook, Karlye Denner and Colby Hathaway.
“[Their] collective optimism and energy is really the engine that thrusted this thing forward,” said Prodoehl.
Currently, the team is collecting supplies for local clinics and to send to South America. The drive will run through Dec. 1.