Planning is Under Way for Service Learning Trip to Haiti Over Spring Break

With just over a month to go before UC’s spring break gets underway the week of March 21, many students are likely to be hitting the gym before they hit the beach. Dozens of other University of Cincinnati students are planning spring break trips to far less exotic destinations, yet they say these experiences – involving a lot more hard work than leisure – are significantly rewarding. Planning is underway for one of those trips involving 24 students currently taking a service-learning course in

Africana Studies

, as their seminar, Haitian Culture and Society, takes them to one of the world’s most devastated regions.

The course is taught by Cheri Westmoreland, director of the McNair Scholars Program under Student Affairs and Services. Westmoreland and Jody Ballah, an instructor of French at Raymond Walters College, will lead the trip to Haiti in partnership with the Northwest Haiti Mission.

The students will stay at the mission’s compound in St. Louis du Nord and will take part in three areas of outreach: volunteering with children’s educational and athletics programs, assisting a clinic and supporting community development. “The mission is developing a community assessment program, so a number of our students will be going hut to hut, house to house, to gather demographic information,” says Westmoreland.

UC defines service learning as an experience in which students combine reflection with structured participation in community-based projects to achieve specific learning goals. This participation at the local, national or international level helps students gain a richer mastery of their course content, enhances their sense of civic responsibility and helps students connect classroom theory with practice, ideas, values and the community. Over the previous academic year, 52 different UC academic departments offered 182 service-learning courses.

The upcoming Haiti travelers were required to be immunized against Hepatitis-A. Since they’re traveling to a region that’s swarming with mosquitoes, they’ll begin taking medication to prevent malaria two weeks before the trip, and continue that program a month after they return home. They’re also packing the heavy-duty bug spray.

“This is not going to be a party. But the more our students hear about Haiti, the more they read and the more they explore, the more excited they’re becoming about making a difference. Their lives will never be the same after this trip,” says Westmoreland, who has taken part in three previous service trips to the region – all before the devastating earthquake one year ago.

Students will be carrying desperately needed over-the-counter medical supplies to the mission’s clinic. In addition to their carry-on bag with their clothes and other travel items, students will be hauling an additional 27 duffel bags, each of which can hold up to 50 pounds of medical supplies and items for their service-learning experiences.

Westmoreland’s office in Room 700 of Swift Hall is currently collecting those donations and is seeking support from the UC community. The group hopes to collect all donations by March 11. Items include:

• Children’s chewable and liquid Tylenol
• Children’s chewable and liquid Ibuprofen
• Anti-fungal cream
• Antacids
• Prenatal, children’s and adult vitamins

“An inexpensive tube of antibiotic ointment could prevent skin sores from developing into a life-threatening infection. The children’s Tylenol and baby aspirin could prevent fevers from turning fatal,” Westmoreland says.

She adds that various student organizations including the Darwin T. Turner Scholars Program are assisting in the drive to collect these over-the-counter medications.

“The last time I was there in 2009, the shelves in the clinic were almost empty when we arrived with supplies. They’ll need everything we can take,” Westmoreland says.

Westmoreland recalls that on her first trip to Haiti, volunteers were working in a rural area. Children had never seen a clear image of themselves – there were no mirrors. “We took Polaroid pictures so they would know what they looked like, and then we helped them construct picture frames. I noticed that after we had glued the frames together, some of the children were bringing them back in pieces. They were so hungry, they kept eating the glue,” Westmoreland says.

The compound has a birthing center that provides free assistance, as well as housing facilities for 60 elderly people who live at the compound. There is also a facility for about 60 abandoned children with special needs, as well as therapy and other services to support them.

Westmoreland says on the March trip, the UC students will also be creating little care packages with personal hygiene products for women, as well as a note of encouragement in every bag.

“On my trips there, I’ve discovered the women there want the same things that women do here. Their circumstances are different, but their dreams reflect ours,” says Westmoreland. “These little care bags and the accompanying note will complete the theme of our trip, ‘Restoring Hope in Haiti.’ I’ve seen for myself that these people still have hope.”

UC International Programs has awarded grants totaling $23,575 to 42 students participating on spring break study abroad programs, including some students taking the trip to Haiti. Eight faculty members received a total of $6,123 to lead study abroad programs to Mexico, Guatemala, Italy, United Kingdom and Haiti. 

For more information on over-the-counter drug collections or in-kind contributions for the trip, contact Westmoreland at 513-556-2880; e-mail cheri.westmoreland@uc.edu

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching names UC among 115 American colleges and universities for its 2010 Community Engagement Classification. The foundation issued the announcement earlier this year, naming UC among 35 research intensive universities to receive the classification.