By Shane McAdams

Quincy University’s Haiti Connections Club participated in a mission trip to Haiti over Christmas break.

Club members handed out gifts for children from donors and supporters on the trip. Club members also attended community meetings to help determine what the community needed, as well as holding after school activities for students.

The club also helped fund raise for people in need in Haiti. One of the big projects that locals are currently working on is water systems for those who don’t have access to water.

In many places in Haiti the locals have to hike for hours carrying buckets and containers to collect and bring back water to their houses.

The Haiti Connections Club helped fund raise so that these families who would have to hike for hours to fetch water, can have water cisterns built to collect and store rain water.

Quincy University senior Oluwatimilehin “Timi” Ajayi was the leader for the QU Haiti Connections Club.

“It was very satisfying to be able to go to these places in Haiti and interact with the people. It was very life changing for me as well as many of the people we got to help. When we visited one of the families that had gotten a cistern, she told us that it had changed her life. She told us that she used to have to walk for eight hours to fetch water. She told us that her life was no longer misery each day. That’s what you take away from the trip is we are helping people,” Ajayi said.

The Haiti connections club had the most fun with the simple things. The club brought many bottles of bubbles and according to Ajayi , that was one of his favorite things they did in Haiti.

“The bubbles were so much fun. We think of them as these childish things but the kids in Haiti couldn’t get enough of them. They could have played with bubbles all day. It was very gratifying to see these kids enjoy something as simple as bubbles so much,” Ajayi said.

While the impact that the Haiti Connection Club has on the people in Haiti is undeniable, the experience also had an impact on QU students.

“It was one of the most amazing and life changing things I’ve ever done. It has definitely changed my views on the world and made me grateful for the smallest things like running water,” Kylee Waddell said.

For more information on The QU Haiti Connections Club email ajayiol@quincy.edu.