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Mar 16, 2004

Louisville students help village

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The world of university education is changing. What was once considered a cloistered life in an ivory tower has now become an interactive experience in the real world…a world that for the students in our next story includes Belize. Jacqueline Woods reports from Gales Point.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

Ideally, every student who gets the opportunity to attend university will also give something back to their community. That’s a responsibility the University of Louisville does not take lightly. In fact, the university’s students not only work in the United States, but extend their services internationally to countries like Belize.

Dr. Bernard Strenecky, Dir., Intl. Programme, Univ. of Louisville

“The philosophy is that everyone in the world is connected and we must serve everyone, and that the is responsibility of an educated person.”

Presently, there are sixty-six students providing services for eighteen different projects taking place across the country. In Gales Point Village, the community centre has been transformed into a multi-purpose health facility giving care to families who otherwise could not afford it.

Dr. Bernard Strenecky

“The thing that we are amazed at is the health of the people, how good it is in the community. We did not expect that. Overall, the people in this community are healthy. We are doing a lot of work in the area of dentistry, that appears to be one of the primary needs of this community.”

The twenty-three faculty and students include dentistry and nursing students, medical communication specialists, and students who are in the process of becoming physicians. Director of the international programme, Doctor Bernard Strenecky says the free medical and dental clinic is all part of the university’s interdisciplinary training.

Dr. Bernard Strenecky

“Many times when students go to university, a physician will go to the university and be with us for twelve and thirteen years and they will only meet another doctor. What would happen if doctors and nurses and dentists all work together for the betterment of patients, and that is what you are observing here.”

The clinic will last for one week, but the university’s students will continue making annual visits to the community. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.

A number of Belizean students are studying at Louisville, in specific areas that will be of particular use to the country when they return home. There are three doctoral candidates in education, two masters candidates in town planning and psychology, and Dr. Strenecky is now looking for dedicated scholars to embark on a strenuous Ph.D. programme in psychology. He can be contacted at email address bernies@louisville.edu.


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