Winter Term in Service Trip to Vietnam Spotlighted in Newspaper

January 2, 2007

January 2, 2007, Greencastle, Ind. - "'When Lauren Krivoshia travels the globe, she wants to be more than just a tourist," begins an article in today's edition of Kansas' Lawrence Journal-World. "'Last year I studied abroad in Italy,' the Lawrence native said. 'I just felt really selfish the entire time I was there. It was just me. I wasn’t helping anyone else.' The 2003 Free State High School graduate, now a senior at Indiana’s DePauw University, is about to trek to the other side of the globe -- and this time she’s not just going to pick up a few postcards and lie on the beach."

The story by Sophia Maines continues, "Krivoshia will help build houses, assist medical clinics and learn about sustainable living and Vietnamese culture in a three-week service trip to Vietnam.The journey, part of a winter service program organized by DePauw, begins Wednesday."

The text notes, "Krivoshia, who studies photography at DePauw, has been down this path before. In January 2005, she took a similar trip to Equador, where she assisted medical clinics in the small communities near the capital city of Quito. 'It was the best learning experience I’ve ever had -- things you can’t learn in classes,' she said. 'It’s real life. It changes your world views.'"

Maines reports that more than 20 DePauw students will be making the trip to Vietnam, where they will provide assistance at a hospital for the treatment of leprosy, build home for leprosy patients, and "also will assist in local microcredit efforts. Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank earlier this year won the Nobel Peace Prize for the spread of the microcredit system, which issues loans to poor people in an effort to help them rise out of their impoverished conditions." The article also describes how Krivoshia successfully solicited a Lawrence hospital to donate medical supplies for the trip.

Nishita Trisal, a DePauw senior who is coordinating the trip to Vietnam, tells the newspaper: "We’re participating in a global society. It’s really about learning mutually from each other and learning by interacting with people."

Read the complete story, which includes a photo of Lauren Krivoshia, at the newspaper's Web site.

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