Bryan Reaka, a faculty member in WKU’s Department of Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences, will be leading a Habitat for Humanity International Global Village short-term service trip to Trinidad and Tobago on May 19-27.
The team will consist primarily of members of the WKU Campus Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, alumni and others who are willing to carry out the vision statement of Habitat for Humanity International and become a world where “everyone has a decent place to live.”
The Global Village Program of Habitat for Humanity International is a building and cultural exchange program. Habitat, and its Global Village Program, challenges persons from all walks of life to work with each other and impact persons living in substandard shelter in the world. Participants are challenged to get their hands dirty and toil under the sun with people from different backgrounds, usually people with whom they would not normally have interacted, and watch all the barriers disappear, creating room for mutual understanding, respect and appreciation.
Activities for the trip include building with the peoples of Trinidad and Tobago, visiting some locations in the host country, and interaction with people on a real world level to gain an appreciation for the culture and lifestyle.
In addition to Reaka, participants include: Abigail Ernst of Belleville, Ill., a former WKU student and Habitat Campus Chapter member; Jeffry Edwards of Murray, an Architectural Sciences major; Daniel Puckett of Bowling Green, an Advanced Manufacturing major; Andrew Austin of Utica, a 2012 Advanced Manufacturing graduate; Jack Rudolph of Bowling Green, head of WKU’s Department of Agriculture; Abby Greenwell of LaGrange, a 2012 Public Health graduate; Elizabeth Ebelhar of Owensboro, a Communication Disorders major; Shelly Baker of Princeton, a 2008 Physics graduate living in Rockledge, Fla., and her husband, William Baker; Christina Billings of Elizabethtown, a 2012 Radiology Technology graduate; and Jennifer O’Rourke of Americus, Ga., an employee of Habitat for Humanity International.
Contact: Bryan Reaka, (270) 745-3251.