Students Head to Guatemala on Nursing's First Study Abroad Trip

Five nursing students packed supplies this week that they’ll take to the small village of Nueva Santa Rosa in Guatemala. The students are enrolled in a short-term study abroad course, the first for nursing. They’ll be joined by Christine B. Kavanagh, instructor of nursing, at a clinic in a remote area of coffee plantations southeast of the capital, Guatemala City. The Penn College group will join a larger group of volunteers from Glens Falls Medical Mission, a group based in Glens Falls, New York. The students gathered this week to pack luggage with a variety of donated items, including picture books, toothbrushes, stuffed animals, and touches of Penn College that include Wildcat hand sanitizer donated by Penn College Health Services, and Penn College backpacks donated by Admissions. Many of the other items were donated by fellow students and nursing faculty via collection stations set up by the Student Nurses' Association. Students making the trip are Kelsey L. Maneval, of McAlisterville; Christina M. Mossman, of Wellsboro; Ashley M. Otto, of Lehighton; H. Alex Simcox, of Montgomery; and Katherine Santoianni, of Williamsport.