By: Elena Panora-Jara
Contributor
The School of Nursing is collecting donations to support healthcare efforts in Peru during an upcoming service-learning trip.
The donation drive is seeking items such as eye drops, reading glasses, lotions, oral hygiene products, vitamins and over-the-counter medications– all based on the needs of the community’s students will serve in Cusco.
“We do what they need, not what we think that they need,” Maria D. Krol, interim executive director of healthcare programs and organizer of the donation drive and trip said. “It’s about what the area needs and wants.”
Those who are interested in donating health and personal-care items or making monetary contributions can drop off donations in Room 311 located in the Human and Health Services building by Oct. 13.
By working with the communities, the service-learning nursing group is able to identify what they are in need of.
This way, monetary contributions directly fund the purchase of needed supplies, along with helping rebuild clinics in Cusco, Peru.
The trip is an opportunity for senior nursing students to experience what providing healthcare is like in Cusco and actively participate in it.
Though the nursing program only allows senior nursing students to attend, anyone in the university donate to their cause.
Over the course of 10 days, from Oct. 14 to Oct. 24, students will work with a team of medical professionals to assist underserved communities, help provide care and supplies and gain hands-on clinical experience.
The nursing group’s goal is to provide patients with a one-stop shop for their medical needs while using donations to cover any necessary medical expenses.
“They come in, they get evaluated, they see the doctor, and they get their medication,” Krol said. “If they need a referral, they have a referral and they know where to go to be seen.”
After learning about the service-learning trip, nursing major Maddelin Olivares, a freshman, agreed with its cause.
“South American countries usually don’t have a lot of access to healthcare,” Olivares said.
“It’d be very nice for them to have that accessibility.”
Nursing major Simon Salsato, a sophomore, said that he believes this experience would likely enhance their learning and sharpen their skills for senior nursing majors interested in attending.
“You’d probably be helping someone, if not many people, and have an impact on their life that they can remember,” Salsato said.
