In The Spotlight ...
Larissa Landis
Early Childhood Education Major
Class Of 2010
Telford
Twenty-year-old Larissa Landis returned to her classes at Montgomery County Community College in January after arriving home safely from a church mission trip to Haiti, but her heart and thoughts continue to be with her Haitian friends.
Larissa, with 26 other volunteers from Souderton Mennonite Church, went to Haiti on Jan. 9 for their annual weeklong mission trip. During prior visits, they helped with two water projects: Water for Life, which involves drilling wells for clean water; and Tree of Life, which involves bottling clean spring water from the mountains.
During this visit, however, the volunteers literally felt the ground move under their feet on Jan. 12 when a 7 magnitude earthquake hit 70 miles away in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Usually, the volunteers share their time between two villages: Labaleine and Passe Bois d’Ormes. While the group was en route from one village to another, the quake struck and their jeep was jolted off the road.
“We didn’t know what was happening,” Larissa said. “The jeep was pulled so hard some of the lug nuts actually came off the wheels. Women and children came running out of their homes into the streets. We got everyone away from the buildings.”
Throughout the next few days, they continued to feel the aftershocks.
“Since they didn’t know if their homes were secure enough, we decided to move everyone outside to sleep. We pulled the mattresses and blankets outside and slept together in a big group. We prayed together and sang songs to comfort them,” she said.
Larissa tried to keep the children calm by playing and singing to them. At the College, she is working on her associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education and will graduate in the fall of 2010.
Fortunately, there was not much damage to the homes and buildings in the villages, and there were only a few minor injuries. When the mission group heard about the destruction in Port-au-Prince, they tried to help.
“A doctor and a nurse in our group took medical kits and baby supplies,” she said. “We helped the Haitians gather fresh fruit growing in the area, such as pineapples, and sent a truckload of fruit with five-gallon bottles of water.”
Members of SMC have been helping Haitians for several years and have developed lasting friendships. This recent trip was the fourth mission trip for Larissa, whose parents and siblings have also volunteered on trips as well.
