WFU students to serve the poor in other countries
Three Wake Forest University student groups are spending a portion of their winter recess serving the poor and disadvantaged in other countries. This year, 37 student volunteers and seven faculty or staff advisors are traveling to India, Costa Rica and Vietnam.
Wake Forest’s City of Joy Scholars Program has taken 11 student volunteers to Calcutta, India (called the City of Joy), Dec. 27 through Jan. 9 to help the Missionaries of Charity change beds, bathe patients, clean wards and feed and comfort the sick and dying.
Twelve other Wake Forest students have traveled to the Lam Dong Province in Vietnam Dec. 27 through Jan. 9 with the university’s Peacework Ambassadors Program to help build a school in a poor, rural village near Dalat.
From Jan. 2 to Jan. 10, the Wake Forest Catholic Campus Ministry has sent 12 Wake Forest students and one Salem College student to work with Nicaraguan refugees in Alajuelita, Costa Rica. The students will help paint a school and volunteer with children’s programs.
Ten other Wake Forest students planned to travel to Honduras to work on construction projects, but the service trip was canceled due to security concerns related to recent events in Honduras.
All of Wake Forest’s international service trips are student initiated and student led. The trips began in 1994 through the efforts of a Wake Forest student who had visited India, met Mother Teresa and worked among her Missionaries of Charity.
The City of Joy is sponsored by Wake Forest’s Student Development office and the Volunteer Service Corps. The Costa Rica trip is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and the Wake Forest Catholic Campus Ministry. The Peaceworks Ambassador’s trip is sponsored by the Pro Humanitate Center and the Lilly Grant.
NOTE TO THE EDITOR: Student Flight information is below. To arrange coverage contact the News Service at 336-758-5237.
Wake Forest University’s International Student Trips Flight Itinerary
City of Joy Scholars Program, Calcutta, India:
Depart: Dulles Int’l Airport, 9:40 p.m., Dec. 27, United Airlines 7843
Return: Piedmont-Triad Int’l Airport, Jan. 10:51 p.m., Jan. 9, British Airways 222
Contact: Tim Auman, 336-758-5017
Costa Rica Trip, Alajuelita, Costa Rica:
Depart: Piedmont-Triad Int’l Airport, 6 a.m., Jan. 2, Delta 853
Return: Piedmont-Triad Int’l Airport, 11:36 p.m., Jan. 10, Delta 1062
Contact: Julie Ostergaard, 336-758-4214
Peacework Ambassadors, Can Tho Province, Vietnam:
Depart: Piedmont-Triad Int’l Airport, 6 a.m., Dec. 27, Delta 853
Return: Piedmont-Triad Int’l Airport, 12:03 a.m., Jan. 10, Delta 5574
Contact: Mary Gerardy, 336-758-5229
Categories: Experiential Learning, Pro Humanitate
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