Staff

NDI co-founder and Executive Director, Tabatha Parker recieved her naturopathic medicine degree from National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Tabatha lives on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua with her husband and family. As medical director, Dr. Parker sees patients in NDI’s free community clinic and oversees all staff, interns and volunteers at NDI's site in Nicaragua. A speaker, teacher and naturopathic physician, Dr. Parker has dedicated her life to finding solutions to global health problems thru natural medicine and community development. Her passion inspires people to become active in social justice issues. She is an active member of the American Herbalist Guild, California Association of Naturopathic Medicine, Global Health Council and the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

Dr. Jum Nguyen - Primary Care Naturopathic Physician

Dr. Jum Nguyen graduated from Bastyr University in 2007 and her desire to continue international volunteer work has lead her to Ometepe Island soon thereafter. In 2002, she received her Masters in Public Health, with a focus on Community Health Intervention and Prevention, at MCP Hahnemann University. Some of the volunteer experiences she participated in internationally included working with various natural healers in Belize through the Cornerstone Foundation, helping to contain unwanted weeds on a natural reserve in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, and joining a medical brigade which ventured into the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. Jum enjoys indulging herself in the Great Outdoors, and her dream is that one day everyone will have access to at least their most basic healthcare needs.

Olivier Juarez NDI Nicaragua Intern Supervisor

Olivier Salomón Mora Juárez of Esquipulas, Ometepe has joined the NDI team as our on-the-ground internship supervisor. Olivier works close with all foriegn interns that come thru the NDI program, coordinating project deadlines, doing community surveys, and overseeing internship schedules and projects. Dedicated to preserving the environment on the island of Ometepe, Olivier is a welcomed addition to the Team NDI Nicaragua. His dedication to improving island health in all areas and overall good-natured personality allows interns to feel at home. In 2008, Olivier managed both the DIOSA women's health project and the joint water project with Health Bridges International and NDI. His famiiarity with the locals has made implementing community surveys very easy for our team!

Born and raised on the island, Nestor Guzman farms watermelon, rice, beans, yucca and other crops. Nestor has helped in both the development and implementation of community outreach projects, including Farmers Outreach and Sponsor a Team. He also assists with various administrative assistant jobs as needed and is the NDI chauffeur during global health courses. Nestor works with volunteers who come to the island, teaching them about planting and harvesting. His wealth of Nicaraguan knowledge, island culture and farming makes him an asset to Team NDI.

Jacqueline McGrath ND first visited Mexico in 1993 for a semester abroad, as part of her Anthropology and Latin American Studies training at the University of Florida. After several years of informal study of traditional healing methods during travels in Central and South America, Jacqueline moved to Portland, Oregon in 1999 for medical school at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM). As a student, she volunteered as a medical interpreter and later sought out shifts at community clinics serving Portland's Spanish speaking population. Dr. McGrath participated in the Oregon Mexico Health Professionals Exchange as an NCNM host in 2004 and an ambassador to the Mexican state of Jalisco in 2005. Always a proponent of global public healthcare, she applauded NDi's work in Nicaragua and decided to follow suit in Mexico. In May of 2005 Dr. McGrath emigrated with her family to Bacalar, a small town in Mexico's southernmost state of Quintana Roo. While maintaining her medical license in the United States, she volunteered for a year of social service through Mexico's Secretary of Health system and was granted a license as a primary care physician. After participating on a medical brigade in Nicaragua in December of 2007, Dr. McGrath has had the great privilege to create an NDI site in the Yucatan peninsula.

At sixteen, Ari Neubauer's first job was in the realm of social justice, community organizing with ACORN in Austin, Texas to reform the juvenile crime punishment system. Since that time, he has worked in systems administration for various businesses, most recently with Executive Networks, Inc. A 2007 visit to the NDI site in Ometepe, Nicaragua inspired Ari to both return to the island soon and try to work with NDI in any capacity possible. He currently resides in Oakland, California.

Anthony Trujillo- NDI Volunteer Tony Trujillo was born in

Venezuela

and has lived in Guatemala, The Republic of Georgia, the U.S. and a short time in Nicaragua during his lifetime. He is a student studying Global Studies and Spanish at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. In summer 2007 and 2008 he has traveled to Ometepe to work with NDI as a non-medical volunteer. He is helping NDI with anything from administrative duties to translating for brigades. He is also working on a documentary/ video about NDI and hopes that it will be of great benefit to the organization.

Clinical Herbalist and Nutritionist, studied medical herbalism, naturopathy, Tibetan medicine, Chinese medicine, health sciences, nutrition and psychology through Naropa University, University of Colorado Boulder, The North American Institute of Medical Herbalism, The American Herbalist Guild, and extensive internship and apprenticeship. He is in private practice in Boulder at the Mandala Integrative Medicine Center and is the clinical director for StillRiver Health LLC. Ben gathered his clinical momentum while working in Guayaquil, Ecuador with leprosy, and apprenticing with Don Agustin Grefa in the rainforest, and came back to intern in the states with naturopaths and MDs. He is currently working towards a Doctor of Nursing Practice. Ben started his work in Nicaragua with NDI in 2006, and loves leading brigades, teaching about herbs, formulation, facilitating group process, and if coerced, can sing like a nut.

Blog

NDI Staff