Service trips to Haiti put on hold

Junior Veronica Selzler had been planning a service trip to Haiti since last semester.

Selzler went to the small nation on service trips in 2007 and 2008, and was hoping to go again during spring break. She had been planning the trip with 12 other students through the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Campus Ministry.

“We were planning on going to do service, learn about the country and be in a community with the groups we were visiting,” Selzler said.

 

Ways to donate:

 -Visit unc.edu/haiti to find upcoming events and make a secure gift through the Make A Gift tab.
 -Fill out a form at a PID drive to make a donation through your UNC expense account.
 -Drop spare change into white buckets marked “Pennies for Haiti” throughout campus.
 -Make a direct donation to one of the 25 relief groups listed on the Center for Public Service Web site.
 

 

But when the situation deteriorated after the Jan. 12 earthquake, Selzler’s group had to nix the trip. And the University is now advising the same of all officially recognized organizations that might have planned relief efforts for spring break.

The University’s travel policy forbids student organizations recognized by UNC to travel to any country to which the U.S. State Department has issued “a travel warning that forbids, restricts, or otherwise urges U.S. citizens to defer traveling to a certain country.”

The policy also suspends study abroad programs in countries under the warning, and students cannot receive University funding to use in those countries. UNC’s Study Abroad Web site does not include any programs in Haiti.

The U.S. State Department issued such a warning for Haiti on Jan. 14, after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit two days earlier, leaving thousands dead. This warning is in effect until Feb. 13, after which it will be reviewed.

But the earthquake’s severity is what compelled groups to want to continue their planned trips.

“First, the reaction after the earthquake was everyone wanted to go even more. We were more excited and more ready to help,” Selzler said. “There is so much more that needs to be done, but Haiti doesn’t have the resources to take care of itself, much less a group like us.”

Selzler’s group had planned on staying at either a hotel or a guest house, both of which they heard were uninhabitable after the earthquake.

“We received that information and decided it wouldn’t be intelligent or safe for us to go,” Selzler said. “We would be more of a burden because they don’t have the means to support us.”

Selzler’s group understood the realities of trying to get to Haiti before they learned about UNC’s policies prohibiting group travel.

“If you don’t have a specialized skill that they need, just don’t come right now,” said Mary Sechriest, associate University counsel. “There will be time in the future when they will need less-specialized help.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also “recommends that U.S. travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Haiti.”

Erin Marubashi, co-president of the Campus Y, has urged students not to plan trips.

“The only people that need to go are people that are medically trained,” Marubashi said. “I think eventually there will be trips, but I think spring break is too soon.”

Selzler has not yet given up hope for a service trip to Haiti in the future.

“Everyone still wants to go when it’s possible. Right now there is no way for us to know when that would happen.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.