December 9, 2002

Seven students planning to visit Haiti during the winter break are seeking funds for the 10-day trip.

The group, led by the Rev. Paul Holland of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, will be volunteering in a home for the dying, an orphanage, a hospital, and various parishes during their trip, from January 2 through January 12.

Donations will be used toward travel to Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, and for gifts to parishes and hospitals.

The students were selected based on interviews last spring and have so far raised $4,000 of the $7,000 needed, through fund-raising events they have organized.

"We realize that 10 days isn't much time, but we do what we can," says UConn senior Becky Eleck, who went on the trip last year. "It changes how you look at the world. You start to realize what you really need and what are just luxuries."

Eleck, who plans to go to medical school when she graduates, says her experience made her pay more attention to American foreign policy and issues of social justice and human rights.

Those who wish to donate to the program may send a check payable to the Haitian Experience, to St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 46 N. Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT 06260.

Cans and bottles are also being collected to raise funds. These may be dropped off at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church at the above address.

For more information, contact Eleck at: beckyeleck@yahoo.com or the Rev. Holland at: 860.429.6436.