Union College Students Head to Haiti
January 19th, 2010
I tried to enjoy my three-day weekend, but it was pretty difficult knowing that relief workers in Haiti have been working non-stop since that massive earthquake hit.
Generous people all over America have been supporting the effort through donations to places like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. When Hurricane Katrina hit, we were able to collect supplies like clothes and food, but for the victims of the Haiti disaster, it’s very difficult to get supplies into a country where the infrastructure is virtually gone. And unless you’ve got the bank account of people like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, it’s hard for “normal” people to feel that their contributions can actually make a difference.
College students typically don’t have a lot of money either, which means that they must resort to interesting fundraising measures on campus. Or, in the case of my new heroes at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, you say goodbye to classes for a while and hop a plane to Haiti to pitch in with the effort first-hand.
The five Union College students and one administrator are all part of the school’s International Rescue and Relief program. They are trained to be an integral part of rescue operations and are responding directly to an invitation from Haiti Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive. The group has been assigned to distribute supplies at a hospital clinic and orphanage right in the midst of the devastation. CORRECTION: There are four students and one administrator that went to Haiti. Shortly before they left, their assignment was changed to training rescue volunteers.
One of the many wonderful things about being a college student is the high level of energy with which you take on important tasks, like the one these Union College students have before them. There is no doubt that they will be seeing some truly horrendous sights once they land in the capital of Port-au-Prince, but their energy and determination will carry them through it.
The Haitians need all the help they can get, and their relief effort will soon be six people stronger. Join me in sending many positive thoughts and good wishes to the Union College students, and, of course, to Haiti as it struggles to rebuild.
–Barbara Bellesi
Entry Filed under: News,Special Programs
3 Comments Add your own
1. Scott Cushman | January 19th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Great post. The students are heroes working with other heroes to rescue more heroes. Times of crisis can bring out the best in people.
I work at Union and we will be updating our Web site as we hear back from them … which is unfortunately going to be infrequent because of the limited telecommunications available right now and the amount of work there is to do.
I wanted to let you know that it’s four students and one administrator (for five total), and that even before they left Miami, their assignment had changed from distributing supplies to training rescue volunteers.
2. cbnetwork | January 19th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Thanks for your comment, Scott. We have updated the blog with your new info. We’ll be checking in with the Union College website the students’ progress. Good luck to them!
3. Justin | January 24th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Awesome post. I am one of the students who went and we just got back to Nebraska today. Just to add some more clarifying details. We did do some search and rescue the first day we arrived and then ended up working at the Adventist Hospital in Carrefour, a suburb of Port-au Prince. We assisted with triaging patients, handing out meds, assisting with various functions in the operating room and many other tasks. The plan right now is for the second group of Union students to leave on Tuesday to go help at the same hospital.
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