A group of students waits at John F. Kennedy International Airport for their flight to Honduras to take part in a spring break service learning trip through 健康Niños洪都拉斯. 来自阿尔图纳的学生, Schuylkill and University Park campuses—collected 17 suitcases full of donated personal items to distribute to families in the rural villages they visited.
Thirteen undergraduate students at the 阿尔图纳, Schuylkill and University Park campuses observed National Nutrition Month in a fitting way: traveling to Honduras for a spring break service learning trip through 健康Niños洪都拉斯, a 宾西法尼亚-based organization that focuses on helping children with malnutrition.
5名护理专业学生, the program was an embedded international travel component for the NURS 499 course, 外国研究. Eight students in CIVCM 211N (Foundations of Civic and Community 订婚) also made the trip, accompanied by Marianne Adam, coordinator of the Nursing program at Penn State Schuylkill, 和蒂娜·罗斯, coordinator of career services at Schuylkill.
“Immersion in a multicultural experience expands horizons, 通知实践, and enhances understanding of our role in global citizenship,亚当说. “These trips can be résumé builders, but they also give students a greater understanding of what happens outside the United States.”
The students took part in medical and construction brigades, distributing medications and helping to pour cement floors in homes to decrease the risk of intestinal parasites and respiratory conditions. “Cement floors help reduce sanitation and health issues that arise from the soil in the dirt floors,罗斯解释道.
To reach the rural villages they served, the brigade drove up to two hours on unpaved roads. Once there, they served children as young as 4 months. Many were identified as malnourished or stunted (failing to develop properly) and referred to the Healthy Niños Nutritional Rehabilitation Center 恢复性护理.
“The fact is that malnutrition is a vicious cycle,” Rose added. “The goal of Healthy Niños is to help these families and break that cycle.”
Students at the three campuses collected 17 suitcases full of donated items—including hygiene products, 学校用品, 服装, and toys for all ages—to distribute in the communities they visited. One teacher was “so thankful for the 学校用品 that she almost cried,” said Rose. “The Honduran people are so appreciative of anything we offer them. They have so little, and yet they are so happy.”
总部设在东格林维尔, 宾西法尼亚, 健康Niños洪都拉斯 partners with initiatives and programs that offer healthy alternatives, as well as hope for a sustainable future, to children and communities in Honduras that are impacted by adverse environments.
