Nearly 55,000 orphans are in desperate need after a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the country of Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010.
With the death toll reaching approximately 230,000 – nearly a year later – the blood and tears still flow.
A group of Moorpark College students- along with Sandra Hunter, an English professor at Moorpark College, will embark on a life changing journey to visit Haiti and give their helping hands to a cause that will not only benefit the people of Haiti, but the professor and her group of students.
What occurred at Haiti on one day can happen anywhere in the world – at any time.
Hunter said she put the trip together with the two classes she is teaching and has a door open for any student who wants to join her on this once in a lifetime experience.
“One of the pros of this particular trip is to look at potential for channeling students into careers that have not only to do with non-profit or non- governmental organizations and work in several countries, but also developing agricultural ideas, energy ideas, conservation ideas, and environmental ideas that we can then develop in engineering that would just not only be for Haiti or for third-world countries but something that we can bring back to America as well,” said Hunter.
The group will be working with Greg Barshaw, who is the head of a charity in Haiti that is setting up two orphanages for victims who need a home.
“What Greg is doing is actually building lives of these young amputee victims so that when they leave the orphanage at age 17 or 18 and they have the means at which to support themselves and that is incredible to me,” said Hunter.
“He is doing something really creative and giving these kids a chance to actually make a life of themselves and make a living for themselves as well.”
The trip will take place over the course of four days, where the students will be able to see the sustained impact of the massive earthquake and get an opportunity to visit the tent communities set up by Red Cross to house and feed the locals affected by the disaster.
What Barshaw wants to do is redistribute aid from the cities to the town and villages where people came from through the churches in order to help form a community again.
“I would really like to see this as a career option for students,” said Hunter. “Let’s bring the community back to Haiti and at the same time let’s bring the community into the community college.”
