Business profs bringing students to Haiti

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: SUSAN CHLIPALA
Two instructors from the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business took a group of eight students on an awareness trip to Haiti in February.

Instructors from the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business led a small group of eight students to Haiti for an awareness trip over reading week in February.

The trip will be reprised in 2015, but this time the group will be travelling after the winter semester ends.

“We found going over reading week was really difficult,” said Teresa Park, an instructor in the School of Business who also co-led the trip. “We just lived in a thirdworld country for a week so it was really hard coming back to the pace here.”

“They didn’t have any time to reflect and decompress on what they just came from.”

The purpose of the trip is strictly awareness, Park says.

“For some young people it may change their focus in life,” she said. “It might give them more direction. It might be something they may really attach themselves to.”

Last year, Park said the group gained awareness of Haiti and its people.

“We visited several schools last time we were there. An orphanage, a clinic,” she said. “It was really important to learn about the culture, the community, what it was like for them.”

Park had nothing negative to say of her experience in February.

“I loved the experience,” she said. “I loved being able to share that with the students. I was really impressed with the growth we saw in the students in seven days.”

“A lot of them didn’t know what to do with all that emotion. We’d seen so much and a lot of it was good and a lot of it was bad … It makes them feel a little guilty – but I think it makes them better people inside.”

A lot of last year’s itinerary will stay the same, Park said. This year, the group will be adding a trip to Cap-Haïtien – the northern-most point in Haiti.

There, the group will visit a nutrition centre.

“A lot of the time [the children] are malnourished, so that will be a little overwhelming for the group,” she said. “It’s such a good thing knowing they have types of things like that where they are trying to help out the people in the community and the younger ones.”

“It’s a good time for us to go in and see what we can do while we’re there.”

One major change for the upcoming trip is that it fits under the umbrella of London’s Rotary club, which will be sponsoring the trip.

The trip costs $1,600, which includes flight, lodging and food. With sponsorship from the Rotary, Park hopes that students will pay $1,000 after fundraising is done.

“Our max is 16 people in total,” she said. “We had eight people at our last meeting with people who are seriously interested in going.”

“If it’s something that even piques your interest – it’s probably something you should do. It’s [not] life changing for everybody, but it’s not something you can erase from your mind. It’s now a part of you and it’s always there. What you do with it is up to you.”

The trip will go on students’ co-curricular record as well. Both staff and students are encouraged to participate.

The group will be travelling with Rayjon Sharecare, an NGO out of Sarnia. Rayjon offers awareness trips for people interested in gaining experience in the Caribbean area. Visitn rayjon.org for more information.

The next meeting will be held upstairs in the Student Centre November 30 from 12 to 2 p.m.