The earthquake that rocked El Salvador on Saturday created aftershocks felt as far as Charlottesville.
Eleven members of the University community finally arrived home safely on Tuesday, after being trapped in the South American nation while awaiting a flight to the United States.
The group, which included seven nursing students, a medical student, an undergraduate history student, a sociology graduate student and a faculty member, was in El Salvador representing the University in Nursing Students Without Borders, a program dedicated to improving health care in impoverished nations.
The group arrived at the airport near San Salvador, El Salvador's capital, on January 3 and traveled to their base of operations in San Sebastian, a small village two hours drive from the capital.
While in San Sebastian, the group educated local teachers on issues including reproductive health and personal hygiene, according to fourth- year nursing student Esther Miller.
Though the group did not directly provide medical services to the residents of the village, they lent their medical experience and education to Salvadoran Red Cross nurses to help improve the level of health care in one of South America's poorest nations.
On Saturday, the group left San Sebastian for the ride to San Salvador and their return home. They had almost reached the airport when their van began to shake much more than usual -- even on El Salvador's bumpy roads.
"The driver thought we had a flat tire," Patti Goerman said. "The police told us at the airport about what had happened," said Goerman, a sociology graduate student and Spanish TA who served as a translator for the group.
The group was advised to return to San Sebastian because of safety concerns in the aftermath of the quake, measuring a powerful 7.6 on the Richter scale, which triggered landslides that left many homes and many lives buried under piles of mud and debris. The latest count totaled 683 deaths due to the disaster.
When they returned, they found the small village was barely touched by the destruction that rocked many of the towns they saw from their van and that no residents were seriously injured.
"We saw two villages on the way back to San Sebastian that had considerable damage," said Miller. "We saw telephone poles down and people wandering around looking at the damage to their homes."
Aftershocks continued to shake the days and nights of the group as they helped the townspeople recover from the uncommonly powerful quake.
"I was so impressed with the way people there were helping each other," Goerman said. "They are amazing people."
Read More
Faculty Senate Executives hear from Rector Sheridan and Vice Rector Wilkinson
By Xander Tilock and Grace Traxler | 16 hours agoRectors were in attendance for part of Wednesday’s emergency meeting and were asked about the interim president selection process.
Student leaders weigh the future of self-governance after Ryan's departure
By Brendon Bordwine | 2 days agoThe University has a historical tradition of student self-governance, which allows students to take part in decision-making processes.
Faculty discuss Ryan’s resignation at a United Campus Workers town hall
By Grace Traxler | 3 days agoFollowing the news of University President Jim Ryan’s resignation under pressure from the Department of Justice, hundreds of University faculty and staff attended a town hall meeting July 2 to discuss how the University got to this point and what will come next.
