Contact: Amy Keeling, WWU’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, (360) 650-3811.

Western Washington University students abroad for a quarter of study in the Dominican Republic assisted the German relief organization GTZ in assembling more than 5,000 packets sent to neighboring Haiti last week.

BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University students studying abroad for a semester in the Dominican Republic last week worked to pack more than 5,000 emergency care packets headed to neighboring Haiti; each packet is designed to feed a family for a week.

WWU’s Larry Estrada, a professor in the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies who is in charge of the University’s program in the Dominican Republic, said the students worked with the emergency-relief arm of the German government, GTZ, to help assemble the packets. He also said they will continue to work in the coming weeks to aid Haitian immigrants and displaced individuals as a result of the Haitian earthquake by organizing blood drives and volunteering at local hospitals.

WWU student Nora Hughes of Bellingham is keeping a blog of the activities of her and her classmates in regards to Haitian relief; view it at http://intercambiohispaniola.wordpress.com

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