We are excited to have Vretta offer its support for the FSU Rotaract Haiti Awareness Trip 2015 (HAT’15) for participating students at Fanshawe College.

The HAT’15 is a social consciousness trip planned to provide participating students at Fanshawe College with the first-hand international exposure to what they have learned in the classroom. Through this trip, students will interact and witness personal testimonials from people living in situations that are different from what they experience here in Canada.

Through this initiative, students will be involved in,

• participating in daily informal cultural exchanges and dialogues with business and community leaders in Haiti,

• participating in micro-credit business seminars for Haitian female entrepreneurs, followed by onsite field work,

• volunteering at an orphanage and participating in outdoor phys-ed school events with various principals, teachers & students (two elementary schools in Port au Prince, one high school in St. Marc, and one inclusive within the high rural mountain village of Gilbert),

• meeting with community social workers, pediatric nurses, and doctors at medical/malaria clinics, and volunteering at a malnutrition centre in Cap Haitien for two days.

Every participant has their own reason for wanting to participate in HAT’15, however, we, as the organizing leaders (professors from Fanshawe College), are impressed with the general interest shown by students to grow richer in spirit and build a deeper compassion for the human condition.

We cannot help but recognize the mature forward thinking of students who were eager to experience something that surpassed a classroom and we thank Vretta for its support for this initiative. Our plans are similar to what was organized this past spring. It won’t be glamorous, it won’t be comfortable (physically nor emotionally, at times) but it will be rich in authenticity every step of the way.

Teresa Park Fanshawe College Click here to learn more about the experiences of two of our students who participated in HAT’14.