Without their equal passion for social justice, Laura Van Dyke and Brad Lewis might never have met.

For Bainbridge, this equal passion promises an opportunity for bringing a movement to the forefront of local advocacy.

Starting this November, the two will host events ranging in speaking engagements to fundraisers for public health programs in Lesotho, Africa and Haiti.

Van Dyke, a recently retired civil engineer and longtime island resident, and Lewis, a basketball coach and math teacher at Bainbridge High School, first came together under the same roof in Boston.

Despite the fact that Lewis had taught two of Van Dyke’s daughters, the two had never formally met. But by chance, the two had both sought a volunteer position with the nonprofit Partners in Health, and were simultaneously sent to join 60 others for their first training at the organization’s East Coast headquarters.

It was a coincidence driven by their own separate eye-opening experiences.

Van Dyke first became introduced to Partners in Health after reading “Mountains Beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder.

The book tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer who makes his way from Harvard to Haiti to Russia spreading the idea that the “the only real nation is humanity.” This philosophy defines Partners in Health, the charity he helped found, and hit a whole new conceptual realm for Van Dyke.

It didn’t take long for her to put down the career that she had spent half her life doing to start a new path driven to spread the idea of health as a human right.

Without having a job lined up with the organization or any other prospects waiting for her, Van Dyke left her job as a part owner in a consulting firm where she worked as a civil engineer.

“What I started realizing, because I don’t have time, I wasn’t open to whatever could come my way,” Van Dyke said.

“It wasn’t until I read ‘Mountains Beyond Mountains’ that I was struck with the simplicity and the, ‘Oh, the well should take care of the sick.’”

Lewis discovered the organization while on a completely different path in South Africa.

After winning a travel grant last spring to join Earthwatch in conservation research, Lewis decided to make more of his trip to Africa. He left Bainbridge a week early to make connections with organizations and schools in the region. His thought was to not only bring his studies with Earthwatch back to STEM students, but also bring opportunities for international involvement to BHS as a whole.

In that first week, he came across Partners in Health and was asked to join their new community volunteer program, Engage.

The answer was “Yes.”

Lewis first became aware of public health needs in the 1990s while he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, Africa.

His roommate woke up one morning with a swollen jaw. There was no other choice but a four-hour horseback ride to reach the nearest clinic and an overnight stay with a cousin. Several days later he returned with his tooth pulled.

Just the shear travel commitment to get health care to the community struck Lewis. He saw it again while in South Africa for the Earthwatch program.

“It was a reminder of the need out there,” Lewis said. “I was committed to: ‘I got to do more.’”

The two have been busy planning events since being selected as community coordinators for Partners in Health and their Boston training in early October.

Van Dyke has partnered up with Saint Cecilia Parish to raise funds for malnutrition programs in Haiti and has thus far raised about $2,000. Meanwhile, Lewis has started the Social Justice League at the high school to support tuberculosis programs in Lesotho, as well as host fundraising and awareness events for community organizations.

The goal is to raise $10,000 each for Lesotho and Haiti.

Lewis explained that by bringing awareness events to Bainbridge he hopes that people will realize how fortunate we have it here.

“And realize we are part of a world community,” Lewis said.

“To at least get the high school students to start thinking globally. The reason we go to education is to hopefully apply it to the greater world,” he said. “If there’s any passion in them, maybe you can focus your skills on justice for the world or even locally.”

Thus far, Van Dyke and Lewis have held their first event at Bainbridge Cinemas where they hosted a film showing of the new documentary “Girl Rising” for International Day of the Girl. They had more than 200 people show up.

They have also made connections through Saint Cecilia’s with an orphanage in Haiti that has a Partners in Health clinic. They are in the process of making travel plans and raising funds to take a group down during the next Spring Break.

While all this is happening, Van Dyke also explained, they are working hard to bring Farmer, the cofounder of Partners in Health, to Bainbridge.

“I really want everyone to know what (Partners in Health) is doing,” Van Dyke said. “I truly believe to have peace in the world, we need to work on social justice.”