As University students flee on study abroad programs and mission trips, some could be spending a few weeks in Haiti as part of a Louisiana National Guard partnership with the country, which is still ailing following a catastrophic earthquake in 2010.
The National Guard first announced the partnership with Haiti on Jan. 18 as a part of the State Partnership Program.
Between LSU and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 30 students are currently contracted with the Louisiana National Guard.
University students enrolled in the National Guard may become involved in ongoing and future projects as a part of their two- to three-week annual training block. The annual training usually occurs during summer breaks, so training should not interfere with schoolwork for the 30 students currently contracted, according to Staff Sgt. Denis Ricou with Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs.
Retired Lt. Col. Reginald Brown also said the effect on ROTC students contracted with the National Guard will be minimal because of the Simultaneous Membership Program, which exempts students from deploying to a foreign country as long as they are full-time students working toward a degree and commission.
Ricou believes the program will go a long way toward replenishing Haiti’s severely damaged infrastructure.
“The partnership will work to strengthen the capacity of the Haitian government,” Ricou said. “[It will] strengthen the capacity of the Haitian National Police and support the activities of the Haitian Coast Guard.”
Although the damage is out of the public eye, the aid provided by the National Guard is still important. The country is still badly damaged, but Haitians are confident the outpouring of humanitarian work will go a long way to restore a sense of normalcy in the country, according to a Haitian embassy spokesman based in Washington, D.C.
Louisiana Guardsmen have already made an impact in their past endeavors. Besides simply constructing buildings and training Haitian law enforcement, guardsmen have been involved in several humanitarian efforts. One such operation involved medical, dental and
veterinary practitioners treating and evaluating 32,423 patients and 2,127 animals during a 40-day operation in the Artibonite Region, according to a National Guard news release.
“It consists of 66 partnerships between 46 states and territories and 65 nations throughout the world,” the release said.
The Louisiana National Guard has been involved in rebuilding Haiti since the magnitude 7 earthquake struck on Jan. 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince.
 
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Contact Joshua Bergeron at [email protected]