Stefanie Hinman to spend spring break in Uganda

By Colleen Gundlach

When peace talks began in 2006, the country of Uganda had been embroiled in a civil war for 21 years. As a result, 1.8 million people now live in camps for internally displaced persons, and 2

College Sophomore Stephanie Hinman, a certified EMT, has also served as a lifeguard at Tobey pond.

million children have been orphaned.
It doesn’t sound like a locale in high demand for college students during spring break. Nonetheless, from March 13-25, while many fellow students bask in the sun in Miami and Palm Beach, Norfolk native Stefanie Hinman and her college roommate, Elizabeth Durante, will be opening their hearts and sharing their skills with needy Ugandans.
Hinman became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) two years ago, while a high school senior. She worked on the Norfolk Ambulance, and helped to organize an emergency medical services program at Connecticut College, where she is a sophomore. For her, it was natural to look for an opportunity to apply her EMT skills to serve more people, and she decided to look in the direction of Africa.
“We found a posting on the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Web site,” says Hinman. “It was from Jaquie Law, a student at Vassar, who said she was leading this trip and looking for EMTs to join her. We signed up.”
This trip is not the first such project for Hinman. She has traveled with a group of youth from around the country to Biloxi, Mississippi on a mission trip to help those less fortunate than herself. She currently runs an after school program for children at a homeless shelter.
When she and Durante take off on March 13, they will travel to Kaberamaido, Uganda, where they will work in a hospital, a clinic, and an orphanage, all operated by a charity called Asayo’s Wish. Hinman and Durante will be joining six Vassar College EMTs, two physicians, and a public relations person. They will provide medical care and supplies, and teach first aid and sanitation practices.
As a result of the civil war, Uganda’s children are at extreme risk. According to Amnesty International, between 20 and 65 thousand children were abducted and used as child soldiers by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army. The country’s infrastructure and education system has been seriously eroded, and access to healthcare has been severely compromised. “The children need simple things such as basic healthcare, water, food, shelter and love,” says Hinman. “These people have never known what we identify as ‘human rights’.”

Hinman is paying all her airfare and travel expenses, but has done some fundraising to purchase medical supplies. Fellow Norfolk residents have been most supportive. To date, she has received donations of $500 from the Church of Christ, $500 from the Lions Club and $150 in contributions from individuals. In addition, she and Durante raised $500 from a benefit concert they organized at Connecticut College.
Combined with money raised by the Vassar group and donations from many medical service providers, the group will be taking thousands of pounds of medical supplies to Uganda. “These supplies include things like gauze and IV (intravenous) items that we take for granted in the United States,” says Hinman. “Indeed, there are many things we discard here after one use because it isn’t worth it to clean them. In rural Uganda, they could save a life.”

For more information or to donate to this project, go to www.asayoswish.com.