When a contingent of University of Windsor students heads to Haiti to deliver supplies to an orphanage, Chatham’s Jyl Panjer will be front and centre.
Panjer, who just completed her second year of women’s studies and social work at the university, jumped at the opportunity.
“I just got an e-mail through the school of social work. I didn’t really think about it and applied to it right away,” she said.
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An essay on why she thinks social work internationally is important was essentially the application for being part of the Hearts Together for Haiti mission to Deppe, a community near the border of the Dominican Republic.
Panjer and the rest of the group leave May 17, returning May 23.
For her, it’s the perfect trip.
“I’d been contemplating doing some kind of international work this summer, but I also have two boys, so going somewhere for four weeks isn’t really an option,” she explained. “We’ll just be away for a week, so this is a bit easier to fit in my real life.”
Panjer expects the trip to Haiti will be a real eye opener.
“It’s the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Something like 85 % of the population is poverty stricken, which is hard to imagine, coming from here,” she said.
Panjer said the group is looking for donations to take to an orphanage, including medical supplies such as over-the-counter children’s cough syrup, pain relievers, bandages, gauze, etc.
“The other big thing is children’s underwear. A lot of children don’t have clothing and they’re sitting on the dirt ground picking up parasites that way,” she said.
The university group will be staying in a guesthouse at the orphanage, “bunk beds and mosquito nets,” according to Panjer.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for me to learn. This is something I could never learn at school – people, language, culture, how to be grateful for what I have here,” she said. “People say even when you go and give a child a toothbrush, they are so excited. I can’t imagine my children being excited over a toothbrush.”
To contact Panjer to co-ordinate a donation, e-mail her at ijyl@live.ca. All items need to be donated by May 14.
