By:Alec Moore
Throngs of college coeds will be traveling to exotic locales this summer, but while many of those students will be working on their tans Hillsborough High School grad Nicole Roscoe will be working on something much more meaningful to her.
Ms. Roscoe, who is finishing up her first year at Drew University in Madison, will devote two weeks of her summer to helping orphaned and impoverished children in the Central American country of Honduras.
"I’m a little nervous, but I’m also excited and I’m really looking forward to working with the children," said Ms. Roscoe, who has never before traveled overseas to undertake a humanitarian effort such as the Honduras Project. "I really can’t wait to get there and see their faces, they’re so cute," she said of the children she will be working with.
For her trip abroad, Ms. Roscoe will be joined by a delegation of 25 fellow Drew University students, along with faculty advisors, who all volunteered for the school’s Honduras Project. The humanitarian effort organized by the students will provide aid in the form of labor, funding, clothing and medical supplies to children in two Honduran orphanages in Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital, and in the village of San Pedro Sulla.
Another aspect of the trip which Ms. Roscoe is excited about is the prospect of being immersed in a Spanish-speaking culture. Ms. Roscoe was hesitant to claim fluency in the language, but said that with five years of Spanish study under her belt, she is considerably proficient.
The group will divide its time equally between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sulla, spending one week at orphanages in each town.
Ms. Roscoe said she and the other students will be spending their mornings working alongside Honduran builders on a wide range of construction projects and then devoting their afternoons and early evenings to the children.
In addition to the Honduras Project, Ms. Roscoe is involved in a bevy of extracurricular activities on the Drew campus, including serving as a student ambassador and as news editor for the college newspaper.
In the fall, Ms. Roscoe will be taking on the role of resident advisor of her dormitory.
The Drew delegation will leave for Honduras on May 22 and return to the States on June 5. Members are responsible for covering the cost of the Central American excursion on their own, but are encouraged to seek out the support of local community organizations. The Hillsborough Rotary Club is contributing $400.
