By Allison Mudge
After the earthquake in South Asia and hurricanes in Central America, the International Student ‘ Scholar Institute (ISSI) is working to support and contact students who may have been affected by the disasters.
“First and foremost, we’re trying to provide support for the people within our community most affected by the tragedies,” said Scott Quint, dean and director of ISSI. “We’re making sure they feel they have a place they can go to address concerns … that they feel safe and their families feel safe.”
The earthquake killed at least 53,000 people, The Boston Globe reported Sunday, the same day another quake hit Pakistan. The initial reports yielded no immediate casualties or damage, according to The Globe.
Hundreds were killed and at least half a million displaced in Central America as a result of Hurricane Stan. The institute is joining forces with students who have direct contacts to organizations working to provide relief in affected countries, Quint said.
“I saw the pictures and some articles in the Guatemalan newspaper and I just felt bad that I wasn’t doing anything,” said Jose Contreras, a middler international business major who moved to the U.S. from Guatemala four and a half years ago. “We lost a lot of land and stuff, but people-wise we didn’t lose anyone.”
Contreras and Liliana Lopez, a student from El Salvador, are combining efforts to help with relief in both countries. They contacted the Guatemalan and El Salvadorian consuls, he said, to see what they could do to help.
“They gave us a few ideas, like hosting a Central American reunion kind of thing, kind of like a fundraiser where people could go and donate some money and have some fun,” Contreras said.
Student groups are also organizing a candlelight vigil, Quint said.
As for Wilma, the most recent hurricane to strike Central America, Contreras said he and Lopez will continue to focus their efforts on their home countries.
“Mexico, compared to our countries, is a very rich country,” he said. “They have a lot of resources. In our countries, the government doesn’t have enough money to pay and rebuild.”
Business professor Fareena Sultan echoed Quint’s statement on raising awareness both on campus and in the local community. She is primarily involved in the earthquake relief efforts, she said.
Sultan made announcements within the College of Business, at faculty meetings and to various departments on campus “so we can have a concerted effort to get goods and donations to the affected areas as soon as possible,” she said.
Students looking to donate can visit ISSI, which has a list of items most appropriate to drop off, though “money is usually preferable,” Quint said.
Students can also donate money through organizations like The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Red Cross.
The most needed items are winter clothes, blankets, sleeping bags and tents. Any students who can spare these items are encouraged to bring them to ISSI. Sultan said she would be happy to talk to any students interested in helping out as well.
Sultan said there is a need for an awareness effort in addition to solicitations for donations and clothing.
“I think it’s good for us to do whatever we can to assist,” Sultan said.
She reminds her students that even a dollar can go a long way.
“I know most students don’t have much, but they have old sweaters they can give,” she said.
One positive side effect of such tragedies, Sultan said, is that they tend to bring communities together.
“It’s a nice opportunity for students to work together for a common cause,” Quint said. Although students of Indian and Pakistani descent may not be accustomed to working together, “it’s a human condition issue, not a political one,” he said.
