Ujimaa Medics

About Us

WHY WE DO IT

Leave No Homie Behind

Six years ago our hearts broke again when we lost another young person we never thought we would, taken far too soon. The fact that he was shot just a few blocks from one of the biggest and best hospitals in the country, and died on the way to another on the other side of town seemed to add grievous insult to grave injury. At his viewing, standing beside his casket, Amika became convinced that the hood could do better, that we could stabilize people if we knew how. Martine consulted first responders and added to her own medical training to develop the first version of our training that was shared with just a few family and friends. After more loss, we knew we couldn’t live with ourselves if we did not act, and finally taught our first public workshop in Fall 2014. Our first Train the Trainer was Spring 2015. UMedics was born.

A year and a half later, we couldn’t be more proud of our trainers and our communities. Watching an 11 year old teach how to treat a pneumothorax wound still brings tears to our eyes. It’s incredibly clear to us that when our people are armed with information and confidence, we are the best decision makers for our bodies and those in our communities. We’re excited to see what more we can accomplish together in 2017.

Asante Sana
Amika & Martine
UMedics Cofounders

Request a Workshop

Private and Public Workshops are Available .

HOW YOU CAN DO IT

Let us teach you...

01.

— Skills to give you the ability to handle our most terrifiying, helpless, moments.

02.

— Skills you need to possess but we hope you never have to use.

03.

— The Courage and the Knowledge to save lives

Ujimaa: (Swahili) Collective Work and Responsibility

South and West Side Chicagoans live in abject terror of falling victim to gun violence. While we work hard to change to the systemic causes of such violence, we want our communities trained in emergency first response skills.
So gather your friends, neighbors, team, school, church, mosque, block club, fraternity, sorority, gang, book club, or any other kind of group you may belong to and let us teach you the skills to keep us alive in crisis.

UMedics cofounder, Martine Caverl, was at the scene of a shooting

And had to respond...

OUR FOUNDERS

Amika Tendaji

Amika Tendaji

UMedics Co-Founder
Martine Caverl

Martine Caverl

UMedics Co-Founder

DONATE

Help us continue this important organizing work by making a donation.

All contributions are cherished and appreciated!