Student Leader Makes a Global Impact

Published: 9/25/2026

From Interact Club to Proving Medical Resources to a Hospital in Uganda

Mia Mervin, Class of 2026 is currently a Public Health Student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. This article was written in May of 2026, just before her high school graduation.

Leading Beyond Borders: How Cooper Student Mia Mervin Is Bringing Hope to Uganda

As Interact Club president, Mia Mervin leads with compassion, initiative, and a deep commitment to serving others. This year, she spearheaded an international effort to equip Berakhah Busamaga Medical Hospital, a public hospital being constructed in Uganda, partnering with Project C.U.R.E. and the IRONMAN Foundation to help expand healthcare access for the surrounding community. On campus, Mia also helps foster belonging through Cooper Connects and the School’s International Celebration, while organizing service opportunities that address food insecurity, special needs advocacy, and intergenerational outreach. Whether coordinating local volunteer efforts or traveling abroad to evaluate healthcare needs in Uganda, Mia demonstrates how empathy and action can create meaningful change.

What begins as a service project becomes a life-changing mission. In this Cooper Stories feature, Mia Mervin, Class of 2026, shares how her work with the Uganda Berakhah Choir led to a partnership with Project C.U.R.E. and a growing effort to improve healthcare access in rural Uganda. Through leadership, compassion, and determination, Mia demonstrates what it means to be a responsible citizen and leader in a global community.

Leading Beyond Borders: How One Cooper Student Is Helping Bring Healthcare to Communities in Uganda

For Mia Mervin, Class of 2026, a service opportunity became something much more than a volunteer project. It became a mission.

As Service Chair of Interact Club at The John Cooper School, Mia was introduced to the Uganda Berakhah Choir when the choir came to Cooper and Ms. Crane introduced her to the group through her involvement with Interact. Mia organized several drives through Interact for sleeping materials, food, soap, and hygiene products. While many people attended performances and events, Mia found herself wanting to spend more time with the children and learn about their lives. She helped organize performances and local meet-and-greets and spent hours building relationships with the traveling choir members.

The more time she spent with them, the more she wanted to understand the challenges facing their communities in Uganda.

"I always had a place in my heart for service," Mia said. "I grew up with my brother having Down syndrome, and that shaped how I see the world and the importance of helping others." What started as curiosity soon evolved into action.

Mia recognized an opportunity to connect the Berakhah Choir's mission with Project C.U.R.E., an international nonprofit organization that collects surplus medical equipment and supplies from hospitals and healthcare providers in the United States and ships them to underserved communities around the world. Every Project C.U.R.E. cargo container can carry approximately $450,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment, but shipping those containers overseas often costs around $35,000.

Working closely with Jo Sullivan, Executive Director of Houston Project C.U.R.E., Mia helped establish a partnership between Project C.U.R.E., the Berakhah organization, and healthcare leaders in Uganda. Berakhah was already constructing a building for Berakhah Busamaga Medical Hospital, a public hospital that will be opening shortly and serve a catchment population of approximately 550,000 people. Currently, there is no hospital in the immediate Berakhah area, requiring people to travel long distances for hospital care, a journey many cannot afford. The building was in place, but the hospital needed equipment and supplies. Together, the partners developed a strategy to help equip the hospital and support surrounding healthcare facilities.

Before medical supplies could be shipped, the team needed to understand the needs on the ground. Mia helped raise funds for an assessment trip that allowed trained Project C.U.R.E. personnel to travel to Uganda, meet with local healthcare professionals, inventory resources, and evaluate Berakhah Busamaga Medical Hospital as well as nearby clinics. The assessment would provide the foundation for future shipments and long-term planning.

Then Mia had the opportunity to travel to Uganda herself. For ten days, she worked alongside Project C.U.R.E. leadership, healthcare professionals, government officials, and community leaders. She visited hospitals, health clinics, orphanages, and schools throughout the region. She learned how Uganda's healthcare system operates and gained a firsthand understanding of the challenges facing patients and medical providers.

"There are government hospitals and private hospitals," Mia explained. "The private hospitals are often out of reach for much of the population. The government hospitals are where most of the work gets done, but resources are very limited."

Doctors shared stories about operating under significant constraints. In one hospital, medical staff told her they had gone two weeks without gloves because there was no funding available to purchase additional supplies. Physicians often used their own money to acquire basic materials needed to care for patients.

The needs extended far beyond medical equipment. Mia met children who shared textbooks because there were not enough books for every student. She saw families living without access to clean water and children working in fields before sunrise to help support their households.

"In one of the neighbors was a teenage girl, and I asked her about school," Mia recalled. "She told me it was too expensive and that she couldn't afford to go. It broke my heart."

Some of the stories were especially impactful. During her visit, Mia met a young girl suffering from a condition that would have been relatively simple to treat in the United States but had become increasingly serious because her family could not afford surgery. After sharing the child's story with supporters, Mia helped raise approximately $350 to fund the procedure.

"It changed her life and her family's life," Mia said.

Yet alongside the challenges, she found hope. She witnessed healthcare workers serving patients despite limited resources. She met community leaders working to improve conditions for future generations. She saw schools, clinics, and hospitals being built and expanded. Most importantly, she saw people determined to create a better future for their families.

"People there work so hard," she said. "It's unbelievable. It makes you appreciate people who wake up early and work for what they have, for survival."

The experience confirmed something Mia had long suspected about her future.

"I know I want to do something like this in my career," she said. "I always thought I wanted to work globally, and this trip confirmed that."

Mia plans to study Public Health in college and hopes to continue working in areas related to global health, healthcare access, and humanitarian service. In the meantime, her work continues. The Project C.U.R.E. assessment determined that at least four 40-foot containers of medical equipment and supplies would be needed to fully equip Berakhah Busamaga Medical Hospital. Funding for the first container has now been completed, and the container is being prepared and packed for shipment to Uganda. It will include hospital beds, patient monitors, an X-ray, lab supplies, consumables, surgical and birthing equipment, and much more.

Now, Mia and the partners are working to secure funding for three additional containers and pursuing a Rotary Global Grant. While in Uganda, Mia met with Rotary members, presented the project to them, and connected them with Rotary members in The Woodlands whom she knew through her experience with Interact. The effort is expected to be a multi-year project, and Mia hopes to return to Uganda this year to continue the work.

"There is a warehouse down the street with millions of dollars of medical equipment ready to send to Uganda," Mia said. "People are dying. We have so many resources that could help. The only thing standing in the way is the fundraising needed to get the supplies from Houston to Uganda."

As The John Cooper School celebrates this year's theme of Responsible Citizens and Leaders, Mia's story serves as a powerful example of what that means in action. She saw a problem, built partnerships, mobilized resources, and inspired others to help. Through compassion, perseverance, and a commitment to serving others, she has demonstrated that meaningful leadership can begin with a single relationship and grow into an effort capable of changing lives around the world.

"There is a huge issue," Mia said. "It's not like there's nothing we can do. We just need people to turn their attention to it."

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