Students travel to Cambodia

Media Credit: Chris Jones

Fatin Badran, Doni Warwer, Bianca Zdenek, Stephanie Mantey, Danielle Dobrot, Abrar Jondy and four other nursing students are traveling to Cambodia in May 2010 to help children receive medical care. The students also plan to teach Cambodian orphans English and basic living skills.

via CAAI News Media

Chris Jones

Issue date: 2/15/10

On May 10, nursing students will be going to Cambodia to provide the children there with medical care that will consist of physicals and the treatment of malaria patients. Some of the students attending include Kevin Fitzpatrick, a senior from Swartz Creek in the college nursing program; Stephanie Mantey, a senior in Medical Technology; Fatin Badran, another nursing senior who volunteers at Oakland University for their Martial Arts for Autistic Children; and Donald Warner, who had once been a construction business owner. The reasons for going on this trip are as diverse as the students themselves.

“I just thought it’d be interesting to see the world and try and make a difference in their lives for the short time we are there,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I [have] always wanted to do a study abroad trip,” Mantey said. “For people who are into pre-med, there are not many.”

“I watched an episode of 'Oprah,' featuring doctors across the borders,” Badran, who has also participated in Kits for Kids, the Detroit Zoo Boo, and a breast cancer walk, said. “Since then, its something I have always wanted to do.”

The students also plan to teach English to Cambodian orphans and how to wash their face and brush their teeth. The trip will be around two weeks long and will cost $3,000 to $4,000, including airfare and spending money.

“Some of the trip is going to be paid by a summer project [I did] through the honors program,” Mantey said. “The rest is coming out of my own pocket.”

After this, some of the nursing students, such as Badran and Mantey hope to take additional trips into countries. Others, like Fitzpatrick, would prefer to stay and impact the community of Flint to the best of their abilities.

“The University holds trips to the Dominican Republic and I can definitely see myself doing that,” Badran said.

“I wanna see how this works out,” Mantey said. “I would love something like this in the future.”

Chris can be reached at cwijones@umflint.edu.